Share this Story : The Sarnia Observer Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Gilberts: A great baseball story you’ve probably never heard of

Most of you have probably heard, since you were young, that baseball was and is “America’s game.”

Most of you have probably heard, since you were young, that baseball was and is “America’s game.”

While it certainly is true that baseball has been the game of summer south of the border for over a century, that doesn’t preclude the fact that Canada has its own very rich baseball history.

Gilberts: A great baseball story you’ve probably never heard of Back to video

And some of that history has involved Chatham-Kent. Long-time readers of this column know that Jim has recounted many interesting stories – about Rube Waddell, Sam Crawford and Doc Miller, as well as the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, among other baseball stories. And then there are Fergie Jenkins, Bill Atkinson and Doug Melvin.

But if you come to the Kent Historical Society meeting this coming Thursday, April 9, you will learn about another very interesting episode from baseball’s history book that took place in Thamesville in 1947.

Dan Kelly, a retired school administrator, has spent many hours pouring over the old newspaper microfilms at the Chatham-Kent Public Library and he knows a thing or two about the state of baseball hereabouts, especially in the years after the Second World War. He will give us a flavour of that history that evening.

Dan is a lifelong fan of baseball, inheriting that love from his father, Jack Kelly. Dan always knew that his dad was involved in baseball in his younger days, but he could never suss out the details from him. A modest man who worked hard to give his family a good life, he never spoke of his brush with professional baseball. Dan had to get the story from other family members, and from those old newspapers.

One of the things that Dan learned about in the course of his research was the fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates held a tryout camp for prospective young players over the course of a few days in August 1947, at Ferguson Park in Thamesville. Over 300 young men from as far away as Halifax and from around Kent County participated in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

How did this come to pass? Well, it was Fred Ruckle who really got the ball rolling. A lifelong resident of Thamesville, he was a great fan of baseball and had been very active in organizing it in Kent County. He also made acquaintance with George Gibson, a retired catcher and former player/manager with the Pittsburgh team.

Because of Ruckle’s efforts, and also because the time was ripe for Pittsburgh to try some new ideas, the camp was able to move forward. Ferguson Park was also well-known for being a well-groomed baseball venue and the people of Thamesville were very supportive of the idea.

So those 300 young men descended on Thamesville for four days in August. They had to bring their own equipment, find their own way there, and get room and board at their own expense. The town turned its opera hall into a dormitory, arranged for low-cost meals and planned evening activities for players to take advantage of in their off hours.

The 300 men were whittled down to two squads of 20 and 38 who competed in two nine-inning games on Saturday, Aug. 23, at Ferguson Park. Sixteen of those were invited to sign on with the Pirates and report to spring training the following year. One of those men was Jack Kelly, Dan’s father.

Jack ended up playing for the Class D Pirates farm club in Bartlesville, Okla. in 1948. He only played until late May, and then came home. Why he didn’t play the whole season there is not clear, but it could be that he suffered a concussion in those days of aggressive play and no helmets.

Jack was then sent to Sudbury to play for the Garson Greyhounds of the Nickel Belt League, and still with the Pittsburgh organization. There he played for the balance of the 1948 season, secretly marrying his Chatham girlfriend in July. After that, now being married and with a family on the way, Jack’s days of playing professional baseball were over.

The other 15 players signed by Pittsburgh at the end of the Thamesville tryouts suffered a similar fate; none played in the majors, finishing their careers in the farm club system. But they laid the groundwork for future Canadian baseball hopefuls, including the aforementioned Fergie Jenkins.

This is just a very brief introduction to this fascinating episode in Canadian baseball history, which took place right here in Chatham-Kent. Please join us on Thursday evening, at 7:30 in Studio One at the Chatham Cultural Centre to learn more.

The Gilberts are award-winning historians with a passion for telling the stories of Chatham-Kent’s fascinating past

Gilberts: More Tupperville stories from Melba Simpson

Gilberts: A look at Melba Simpson’s Tupperville

Share this Story : The Sarnia Observer Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

© Sarnia Observer