Baseball in Reading

One

THE SIX ERAS OF BASEBALL IN READING

The history of minor-league baseball in Reading can be divided into six eras. In the very early years, from the 1890s through 1918, the city fielded teams in low-level leagues such as the Atlantic, Pennsylvania State, Tri-State, Union, and New York State Leagues.

The second era was arguably the glory days of the game in town. It was a time when Reading was at the highest level of the minors, the Class AA International League, from 1919 to 1932. During those 14 years in the International League, Reading never finished higher than third place (1923). In 1926, the Reading Keystones sank to a record of 31 wins and 129 losses. It was then—and remains to this day—the worst record (lowest winning percentage, .194; most losses, 129) in International League history. In 1927, the Keystones won 43 games and lost 123. That loss total is the second highest in International League history.

Baseball fans were treated to barnstorming big-leaguers (Babe Ruth took a few turns at bat at the old Lauer’s Park) and budding future stars. In 1922, the Reading Keys, as the Keystones were known, were managed by a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Charles Albert Bender. A member of the Chippewa tribe and graduate of the Carlisle Indian School, Bender is credited with inventing the nickel curve, or slider.

Despite all that, fan and financial support eroded and the International League franchise was moved from Reading to Albany, New York, before the end of the 1932 season. Baseball in Reading entered a fallow period of play in the Class A New York–Pennsylvania League in 1933, 1934, and part of the 1935 season. The Boston Red Sox were the parent club in 1933 and 1934, and the Brooklyn Dodgers supported the franchise in 1935. Again, dismal attendance figures doomed the team, and the Dodgers pulled the plug in midseason and moved the franchise to Allentown. From 1936 through 1939, there was no minor-league play in Reading. It was the first of two dark ages of baseball in town.

In 1940, the Reading Chicks opened play in the Class B Inter-State League. Under manager Tom Oliver, the Chicks won the pennant but were losers at the gate. The following year, Brooklyn gave Reading another chance, but disappointing attendance figures (977 average per game) again sent the Dodgers looking for another city.

By 1942, Reading baseball was in what could be considered its darkest age. It was a sad period between the 1941 departure of the Brooklyn-affiliated Reading Brooks and the modern era that began when Municipal Memorial Stadium was opened and the Indians came to town. It was a decade not only without a minor-league team but also without a stadium. Ten years before the first crack of the bat echoed in the night at the new stadium in 1952, baseball fans mourned the passing of Reading’s first great baseball showcase, Lauer’s Park.

That darkest age of ball in Reading began, of course, during a dark period in world history. Reading Eagle reporter Al Cartwright explained that in his lead of an August 18, 1942 story. The return of baseball to Reading seems several years and thousands of dollars away, he wrote. And that’s a conservative effort, war or no war.

In an article that tolled the death knell for old Lauer’s Park, Cartwright continued: The diamond is in the worst shape in its history. Weeds are playing every position. The field has been sabotaged by nature. Outfielders who took their natural stance of hands on knees would almost be invisible now, so high and thick are the weeds. There’s nothing so heartbreaking as those rugged weeds. You haven’t seen a real bush league until you’ve been to Lauer’s Park.

Cartwright noted that some of the stadium structure was in surprisingly fair shape: Grandstand and bleachers, well bolstered by the free-spending J.R. (Reading Chicks) Eddington in 1940 and further improved by Brooklyn last year, are in fine shape, all things considered. The 55-cent seats still are sturdy. However, the writer predicted that any return of minor-league baseball to the storied old stadium was a long shot. Anyone who might have some dreams about reviving baseball here would take one look at the diamond and dash for the nearest war bond.

Thus, in the summer of 1942, and for 10 more summers, nary a cheer for the home team was heard in Reading.

HOW IT ALL STARTED. This 1875 photograph shows one of the earliest formal baseball clubs in the city of Reading—the Actives. The Active Baseball Club was established in 1866, but it was not until 1871 that the first team took to diamonds in Reading and beyond. The first squad was made up of the best players from the Friendship, Schuylkill, and Liberty fire companies. The Actives were financed by Reading hatter Isaac N. Levan, John D. Mishler, and William Wunder. Shown, from left to right, are the following: (first row) Daniel James, right field and assistant pitcher; Leonard Lovett, pitcher; Jacob Goodman, first base; John D. Mishler, manager; Larry Ressler, left field; and Edward Davis, second base; (second row) Jerry Stott, shortstop; John Smith, catcher; William W. Wunder, assistant manager; Mose Dillon, center field; and Pompey Waren, third base. In the days before major and minor leagues, the Reading Actives played teams from the region as well as from Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Their home field was on 19th Street between Perkiomen Avenue and Cotton Street in the city. In 1875, the Actives played 52 games against professional and amateur teams and finished with a 42-10 record. (HSBC