Famous House of David Plays Night Ball at Borchert Field

by Dennis Pajot

In late May 1931 local promoter Eddie Stumpf announced his Milwaukee Red Sox of the Wisconsin State League would play the famous House of David team in a night game at Borchert Field on June 5. The major attraction of the game would be the appearance for the David nine of the great Grover Cleveland Alexander, who had never appeared in Milwaukee. Pete had played his last major league game in 1930, but since playing with the House of David starting that spring, Alexander had not been defeated in a single start.

The Israelite House of David colony had been established in 1903 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, as a religious commune. Of the various requirements, two were a ban on shaving and haircuts. The House of David began playing baseball in 1913 and starting touring in 1920. Since beginning their 1931 tour the team had won 44 of its 51 games, with some major league clubs among the opposition.

The team had purchased the lighting plant from the Kansas City Monarchs of the National Colored League, and transported it from town to town in six huge trucks, to play novelty night baseball. Earlier in the season a crowd of 15,000 attended at Forbes Field to see what baseball at night looked like. Ernie Mehl, of the Kansas City Star, said he saw the Davids play at huge Muehlebach Field in Kansas City recently and it was possible to follow play at night just as easily as it was during the daytime sun.

Eddie Stumpf hoped to borrow one of the American Association Brewers' pitchers for the game, in particular Claude "Bubber" Jonnard, "whose high hard one is especially effective at night." Stumpf ended up using local boy Ralph Blatz. Big Ralph had pitched two no-hitters in the Major AA class of the Milwaukee Amateur Baseball Association in 1929 and had a brief stint with the Brewers in 1930.

The House of David team arrived the morning of the game and were guests of the Brewers' management at the afternoon Milwaukee/St. Paul game at Borchert Field. The David boys were also guests at the home of Harry Laufer for lunch. Harry’s mother made up a big feed for her son's bewhiskered teammates.

Milwaukee Journal June 6, 1931

Art "Whataman" Shires was recruited as "whataumpire" on the bases for the game. Striding onto the field with a burglar’s cap, a dude's cane and a pair of smoked glasses, the crowd did not recognize the Brewer hitting wonder at first.

Milwaukee Sentinel June 6, 1931

On Friday night, June 5, eight thousand curious persons walked through the turnstiles of Borchert Field to see the event. The next morning's Milwaukee Sentinel led its story with "Doll up grandpa in a pair of little Oswald's rompers and turn him loose in the south 40, and you’ll get some notion of the astounding goings-on at Borchert field Friday night...". The paper went on to say that before the game the House of David team "may have looked like the 12 apostles at a picnic, but when play started they looked like a ball club."

Milwaukee's own Harry Laufer, sporting one of the David's most foremost beards, hurled "a game of ball that looked sweet to the experts." Before the game Harry was presented a huge floral piece by some north side businessmen.

Wisconsin News June 2, 1931

Grover Cleveland Alexander—sans beard, being the only player not required to grow one—did not start as originally announced, but worked the last two innings. Old Aleck was without “the German goiter” he had carried in front of him the last few years, as he explained he had remarried and was laying off Milwaukee’s famous product.

Between the fourth and fifth innings the House of David athletes put on their famous pepper game, "of which there is no whicher." The lightning pepper game was so interesting it made the movies, according to the Wisconsin News.

Video from House of David Museum

Wisconsin News June 6, 1931

Years later Eddie Stumpf related a story of the game regarding Art Shires and Walter Christensen. Stumpf recalled each of these men was guaranteed $25 for the game. After the game both Cuckoo and Whataman called on Stumpf and asked "What was the deal we had with you, Eddie?” Stumpf replied “You know what it was–25 bucks apiece." "Yeah, but you drew 8,000. We didn’t figure on 8,000," Christensen told the promoter. "Neither did I," answered Stumpf. "You'd have wanted your $25 if nobody turned up. That what you get now, $25."

Another game with the House of David team was set up for Friday, July 3 at Borchert, the profits to provide funds to send the national championship band and the drill team of the American Legion from the Electric Post to the national convention in Detroit. The band and drill team were to give an exhibition before the game. It was at first reported arrangements were to be made to broadcast the Schmeling-Stribling fight taking place that night in Cleveland through an amplifier hookup, but later announced round by round reports of the heavy-weight titled match would be given. Unfortunately as neither the Milwaukee Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal nor Wisconsin News were published on Saturday, July 4 or Sunday July 5, the game apparently never was reported on in the papers.

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Sources:

Milwaukee Journal April 26, 1930; May 27, 31, June 6, 7, 1931; January 3, 1955
Milwaukee Sentinel June 1, 5, 6, 17, 27, July 2, 3, 1931
Wisconsin News June 2, 3, 6, 1931
Wikipedia—House of David Baseball Team entry; accessed April 9, 2010

Don't Blink, Part II

In the 1940s, Milwaukee Journal photographer Frank J. Scherschel took a series of high-speed photographs of the Brews in action. We have previously seen Scherschel's view of the pitcher's art, but now we see what happened when he trained his camera on the plate.

FROZEN BASEBALL

Stroboscopic light, which makes possible exposures at 1/100,000 of a second, gives the statuesque quality of this picture, taken by Frank J. Scherschel of the Milwaukee Journal during a recent night game in Milwaukee. The picture shows Barney Walls, Milwaukee second baseman, about to hit the ball. Though you can see the stitches on it. It was just a white streak to him. The catcher is Rush Hankins.

(collection of Paul Tenpenny)

Although Scherschel's photos are undated, this would seem to have been taken during the 1940 season (at or around the same time as the other one), based on the presence of both Walls and Hankins. They shared only that one season in Milwaukee - Hankins was a Brewer in 1938 and 1940, while Walls was on the team for 1939 through the first half of 1941 and again in 1946.

Putting Hankins, himself a Brewer, behind the plate also tells us that the caption is incorrect and this photo was not actually taken during a game. Seems logical—somehow, I doubt that the "stroboscopic light" system was inobtrusive enough to set up just outside of the batter's box in an actual game. Batting practice also seems unlikely given the darkness, so perhaps the photo shoot was conducted after a game.

William Rush Hankins had a very short tenure with the Brews. He came to Milwaukee from The Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League in 1938. He played 92 games in a Brewer uniform that season, putting in service all around the diamond with 65 games as an outfielder, 22 as a catcher, and 5 as a pinch hitter. The Milwaukee Journal noted that, in the off-season, he "kept in shape during the winter by officiating in basketball games down in Henderson, Tenn."

Hankins was sent to the Brewers' farm club in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. With the Grays in 1939, he hit .329 and earned himself another stint in Milwaukee for 1940.

The 1940 season was a disappointing one for Hankins. Although originally billed as a "scrappy understudy" by the Journal, he spent most of 1940 "in a terrific slump" and after the season he was sold outright to the Eastern League's Wilkes-Barre Barons.

Barney Walczak, who adopted the nom de baseball "Barney Walls" partway through his rookie season in 1939, was a local Milwaukee boy. Like Hankins, Walls had a similarly disappointing 1940, although in August he was still reportedly drawing interest from the Chicago White Sox. And like Hankins, he would soon trade in his Brewer uniform, but in Barney's case it was for olive drab. In July of 1941, he left the club to enlist in the Army. He would find himself and was stationed at Aberdeen, Maryland where he played with the camp's baseball team.

When Walls returned to the Brewers in 1946, his prime years were behind him, and he spent the season struggling for a place in the lineup, losing regaining and losing again his regular position at second base. At the end of the 1946 season, the Boston Braves bought the Brewers for their top farm club, and Walls was shipped down the Braves' ladder, first to Hartford (Eastern League) for 1947, then to Topeka in the Western League.

After his baseball career ended, Barney moved to California. He went to work for the city of Long Beach in 1949. In 1956, he became the the city's Personnel Director, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1979.

Ironic that Scherschel would choose these men as subjects for his high-speed photos. Their careers with the Brewers, which started with such promise, flashed by like the flare of his stroboscopic light.

Happy 100th, Baseball!

In 1939, baseball celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding by Abner Doubleday in an upstate New York cow pasture in 1839. That birthday was celebrated (as such special events aften are) with pomp, circumstance... and a logo.

And not just a logo, but a patch.

For the first time since the founding of the sport, all clubs wore the same patch on their sleeves.

This wasn't limited to the 16 clubs in the majors; teams at all levels of organized baseball wore this patch during the 1939 season. Although this seems commonplace today, it was groundbreaking at the time, as the separate and competing franchises all came together to recognize their shared heritage.

The Brews were no exception. Here we have the sleeve patch proudly displayed on the road flannels of player/manager Minor "Mickey" Heath:

The Centennial was marked by the opening of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The location was chosen based on the report of a committee which in 1905 was charted to research the game's origin. Based on what appears to be little more than local hearsay, they decided that the game had been founded there by a young man who would go on to become a Civil War hero, Major General Abner Doubleday. The Hall of Fame chose an inaugural class of five, the finest sportsmen the game had to offer: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner.

The federal government did its part to honor the National Pastime's anniversary, issuing the first of what would be countless postage stamps celebrating the game. In this wire photo, Commissioner Landis is seen buying the first sheet:

Baseball's Czar Buys First Centennial Stamp

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y.—Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, High Commissioner of baseball, is shown, right, as he buys the first baseball centennial stamp from postmaster-general James Farley at Cooperstown, N.Y., as baseball's centennial was celebrated today, June 18th. Looking on, center, is Ford Frick, president of the National Baseball League. The stamp is the first baseball postage stamp ever issued by the government. After buying the stamp, Commissioner Landis dedicated the National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839 at Cooperstown.

I love those Centennial caps. Outstanding.

Event covers commemorating the Centennial, and featuring the same stamps Landis was photographed purchasing from Farley, were issued by many groups involved with the sport. Again, the Milwaukee Brewers did their part:

1939 Baseball Centennial event cover
(Author's collection)

Although the entire story behind the Centennial was almost certainly made out of whole cloth (Doubleday's connection to the game wasn't even suggested until 1907, a decade and a half after his death), the celebration remains a wonderful example of how baseball values its history.

Even the dubious parts.

(h/t: Bruce Menard and Uniwatch for Landis photo)

The First Night Game at Borchert - Kansas City Monarchs, 1930

by Dennis Pajot

On September 3, 1930, the Kansas City Monarchs played a game at Milwaukee's Borchert Field. The unusual story here is that it was a night game—five years before lights were installed at Borchert. [See Appendix at end of article.]

The "national colored champions" took on the Milwaukee All-Stars, a group which local promoter Eddie Stumpf (who managed the local Castor-in-Oils in the Wisconsin State League this season) got together from "the best available pitchers and sluggers performing outside the organized baseball fold." Tack Thayer was the leading hitter in the Wisconsin State League, reportedly hitting in the neighborhood of .475. Eddie Corey and Rube Lutzke were stars on the Racine club of that league. (Walter Lutzke had played 148 games in the infield for the 1920 Brewers, then two years in Kansas City, before a five-year stint with Cleveland of the American League, where he hit .249 mostly as the Indians third baseman. Rube had played 1928 and 1929 at Newark of the International League. Ed Corey had a cup of coffee with the 1918 Chicago White Stockings and played parts of minor league seasons with Louisville and Buffalo). Steve Cozington (who had played with the American Association Brewers in 1920 during his 11-season minor league career) had been “knocking the cover of the ball” for Manitowoc. Also in the fold for the All-Stars was Clary Hackbarth, who recently had signed with the Brewers, (but would appear as a pinch hitter only one time each in the next two seasons), Frankie Romans, the “little Waukegan pepper box” and leading catcher in the State League, plus George Metten, a former star in Kenosha. Stumpf had three pitchers lined up for the match. Two former American Association umpires, Jim Murray (behind the plate) and Bill Kuhn (bases) would umpire the game.

The Monarchs, who recently had played a night game in Kenosha, consisted of "a great crew of entertainers and all around players." "Bullet Joe" Rogan, Frank Duncan and Holly Harding were the big names. Second baseman Newt Allen was dubbed "the colored Nick Altrock" due to his funny tricks on the field.

The Kansas City Monarchs brought their own $30,000 portable light system—complete from the giant gas engine and generator to the last bit of wire—to light the field. It was claimed the system gave perfect light from both the spectator's and player's standpoint. Games under these lights in Philadelphia's Shibe Park and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, were played "with satisfactory results." Thus Milwaukee was able to see its "first bootleg sunshine baseball game."

On that Wednesday afternoon of September 3 the Brewers beat St. Paul at Borchert Field 10 to 3.

The 8 o’clock Wednesday night game drew over 3,500 fans. The All-Stars won 7 to 6, thanks to a misjudged fly ball off the bat of Rube Lutzke with the bases full in the ninth inning. It was not known if Monarch centerfielder Livingston lost the ball in the stars or the lighting system was the problem. The Wisconsin News reported there was a dead spot in center field, where the shadows crossed and the glare from a light in the back of the catcher’s box bothered the center fielder.

Eddie Schaack, who had won 57 games with the Brewers from 1921 to 1924, started for the All-Stars and immediately gave up 4 runs in the first inning, plus another in the third inning, before "Buster" Braun took the mound. Alfred Braun, a 44-year old Sheboygan spitball pitcher, had also pitched for the Brewers way back in 1913 and 1914, winning 16 games while losing only 12. In his three inning stint Buster did not allow a run. Garland "Gob" Buckeye, "who wears the largest front porch in baseball," gave up one run in the seventh, and was credited with the win. Buckeye would lose two games, winning none, in 15 appearances for the Brewers in 1931.

At the plate and in the field the All-Stars "apparently suffer[ed] from that jumpy feeling which accompanies the first venture into the starlight variety of play, staggered around blindly in the opening inning." It did not help that pitcher Cliff Bell of the Monarchs "dished up a nasty bit of swifts and hooks on occasions." However after they realized they "could hit the apple without endangering their lives" the All-Stars scored one run in the second inning, and got back into the game with a 3-run sixth. After eight innings the score stood tie at 6 each, setting the stage for the 9th inning victory for the All-Stars.

Milwaukee Journal, September 4, 1930

Apparently the lighting system was not a huge hit in Milwaukee. As seen above, Monarch center fielder Livingston had a problem with the final fly ball of the game. According to the Milwaukee Sentinel there had been "plenty of loose fielding" during the game, "and not a few of the cash fares complained that the arc lights smarted their eyes." The Wisconsin News summed it up this way: "When it was all over, the cash customers rubbed their eyes and decided to string with the old fashioned sunlight style which has been in vogue since the catchers handled the pitchers' stuff on the bounce. The feeling that baseball and sunshine are synonymous simply persists, but it was quite some entertainment at that."

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APPENDIX OF SORTS
This September 3 game featuring the Kansas City Monarchs was not the first night game played at Borchert Field. According to the Milwaukee Sentinel of August 21, 1930, earlier in the season, the California Owls, "a misfit team that was bumped all over the state," came to Milwaukee and played a night game. However, "their equipment was such that the fans were far from satisfied with the result." So far my searching in local papers has not found any other information on this game.

Sources
Milwaukee Journal September 3, 4, 1930
Milwaukee Sentinel August 21, 30, 31, September 2, 3, 4, 1930
Wisconsin News September 2, 3, 4, 1930
Baseball Reference.com

Pinkey Mitchell Strikes Out

by Pete Ehrmann
Printed with permission of the Author

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Editor's Note: I am pleased and honored to welcome Pete Ehrmann to BorchertField.com. He will be writing about the Borchert Field's history as a boxing venue, and the fighters who fought in the Orchard's ring.

Pete Ehrmann has been writing about boxing for 45 years. His first by-line appeared in The Ring magazine when he was 14 years old, and he has contributed articles to The Ring and many other boxing publications ever since, as well as newspapers and magazines. He lives in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Welcome, Pete!

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The most famous no-hitter in Milwaukee occurred at Borchert Field on August 11, 1928 – but it had nothing to do with baseball. It was a boxing match between the reigning welterweight (147-pound) champion of the world, Joe Dundee of Baltimore, and the only Milwaukee boxer ever recognized as a world champion.

Pinkey Mitchell
(Author's collection)

Myron "Pinkey" Mitchell was also the only fighter in boxing history to win his championship not in the ring, but rather in an election. In 1923, he was proclaimed the first junior welterweight (140-pound) champion of the world after readers of a magazine called The Boxing Blade voted for him in a contest designed not only to anoint a new divisional champion in boxing but also to boost the magazine’s circulation.

Pinkey — called that since his father remarked upon his birth on December 6, 1899, "He’s a pink little fellow!" — was the brother of Richie Mitchell. Four years older than Pinkey, Richie was the most popular boxer in Milwaukee history, called "The Idol" and "Richie the Lionhearted." On January 14, 1921, Richie fought Benny Leonard for the lightweight championship of the world at Madison Square Garden in New York. In the first round, champion Leonard knocked him down three times; but Mitchell got up and then floored Leonard and almost knocked him out. Mitchell was stopped in the sixth round of what boxing historians consider one of the greatest bouts in ring history.

When Pinkey turned pro in 1917, local reporters said he was even better than Richie. But their enthusiasm for the 5'11" Mitchell nosedived as the handsome boxer said to look like the "president of a college debating society" started fighting like one. Pinkey did lots of clinching and stalling, with no appetite for mixing it up in the fashion of his older brother. Richie fought more recklessly than he should have, because he worried about giving the crowds their money's worth.

"(Pinkey) is not a satisfying performer," complained The Milwaukee Journal. "He is a great puncher, brainy boxer and all, but his tendency to hold and to display the tricks of clinching has served to dampen his popularity, and deservedly so."

Oddly enough, fighting anywhere but his hometown Pinkey was a tiger, which helped when The Boxing Blade, published in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced its contest to crown the first junior welterweight champion in 1922. Annual subscriptions to the magazine cost $4. From May to October, announced editor Mike Collins, anyone who purchased a new subscription for half that amount, $2, would be entitled to cast 200 votes for the new 140-pound titlist.

On October 18, 1922, Pinkey Mitchell was proclaimed the winner, finishing in first place with 100,800 votes out of more than 700,000 cast.

For a while, Pinkey's new title changed him. He fought more aggressively, pleasing local fans and critics. "The time has arrived when Richie's kid brother must be accepted as the leading Milwaukee favorite," wrote Sam Levy of The Journal after Mitchell beat Johnny Tillman in a rousing fight here on January 13, 1923. "No longer is Pinkey the lethargic battler of yore. No more does he confine his evening's toil to clinching. He is a true-blue fighter – a pleasing performer."

When Mitchell beat Bobby Harper in Portland, Oregon, on April 8, 1924, the Portland News called him "easily the best fighting machine that has stepped between the ropes (here), as he has class stamped all over him."

It took just one bad fight for Pinkey to louse himself up with Milwaukee fans again. It was at State Fair Park on August 1, 1925 – the first outdoor fight ever held in Wisconsin, and the junior welterweight champion’s first hometown appearance in more than a year. At the end of 10 clinch-filled, uneventful rounds, many of the 6,000 fans tossed their leather seat cushions into the ring to express their disappointment at the lack of violence exhibited there by Pinkey and New Jersey welterweight Willie Harmon.

Chagrined, Mitchell gave his $5,000 paycheck back to promoter Frank Fawcett and begged for a chance to redeem himself. Through the newspapers Fawcett asked Milwaukee fight fans to name the opponent they would most like to see fight Pinkey next. Most of the 1,500-plus respondents told Fawcett they would not pay to see Pinkey fight again at all, and that the only Mitchell they wanted to see was Richie – who'd been retired for two years.

So for the next year, Pinkey fought elsewhere "because the public doesn't want me" in Milwaukee.

Sam Levy seconded that motion: "The only time the junior Mitchell arouses even slight interest these days is when folks hereabouts read of his bouts in other cities. Most of them, as a rule, are disappointed when they learn he has won."

Meanwhile, a new local idol, featherweight Joey Sangor, won the first fight held at Borchert Field, beating Henry Lenard in 10 rounds on July 27, 1926. It wasn’t much of a bout, but nobody tossed seat cushions into the ring because after what happened at State Fair Park the year before the state boxing commission refused to allow cushions (and beer) to be sold at the ballpark.

When Pinkey was finally brought home for another chance, against Mexico's Tommy White at Borchert Field on August 12, he promised to go all out. "If Mitchell is serious, he’ll be forgiven for his lethargic exhibitions in previous years," wrote Sam Levy. "All will be forgotten, regardless of the result against White. Losers are as popular as winners – if the one involved puts forth his best efforts."

This time, Pinkey didn't disappoint. "Local Boy Redeems Himself With Fans" was The Journal's headline the day after the fight in which Mitchell thrilled the crowd of 6,000 by pasting White throughout the 10 rounds. "He rehabilitated himself," wrote Levy. "No more is he the lethargic, clinching, tugging sort of ring gladiator. No more does the ringsider heap abuse upon him. Instead, Myron now has succeeded in reviving the family name which so long blazed the fistic trail in the heyday of Brother Richard, the lion-hearted."

That lasted a whole two weeks. On August 27, Mitchell again stepped into the ring pitched over home plate at 8th and Chambers. He beat Jimmy Finley of Louisville, but it was such a snoozer that "the happiest moment of the entire evening was when the timer sounded the final gong," wrote Levy.

Pinkey left town again. A month later he lost his junior welterweight title to Mushy Callahan in California.

In early August of 1927, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a service organization akin to the Elks and Moose, held its international convention in Milwaukee. Thousands of Eagles came for meetings and special activities arranged for their entertainment. Among them were concerts, a street parade, and a beauty contest at Marquette Stadium.

The centerpiece of the convention, though, was the professional boxing match promoted by the Eagles at Borchert Field on Thursday, August 11, pitting Joe Dundee, the welterweight champion of the world, against Pinkey Mitchell.

It was a non-title fight scheduled for 10 rounds, and in spite of past disappointments by Mitchell local observers had their fingers crossed. "If Pink is game to take a chance today, we see no reason why he should not make this one of the greatest fights ever seen in Milwaukee," wrote George Downer, sports editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. "Pink is a good fellow, a credit to the game in many ways, but he has never been a gambler. If the other chap 'stung' him, he always knew what to do. As a result, he stands today, absolutely unmarked, after nearly 10 years in the game. You cannot hurt the other fellow much when every punch is shot with the idea of keeping clear of a possible counter…

"It is up to Pink. He alone knows what he is going to do. Certainly this writer does not. But we do know that if he fights as he has in many of his recent engagements here, Pinkey Mitchell will be 'all washed up' in Milwaukee."

The fight lasted six wretched rounds. "A descriptive account of the six rounds is unnecessary," wrote Sam Levy in the next day's Journal. "We tell it all in one word – clinching. Mitchell was the greatest offender."

The 7,000 spectators stood and cheered when referee Dauber Jaeger, disgusted by the fighters' refusal to fight, declared it "No Contest." Up till then, many fans had entertained themselves by singing, "H-O-L-D him, Pinkey! H-O-L-D him!"

George Downer called the fight "a sad 'dance'" and said that after three strikes the hometown boxer was out for good with Milwaukee fans: "We like Pink personally – but he will never be popular with Milwaukee fight fans. They can never forget the fights he has put up, marked mainly by clinching and stalling, nor will they ever fail to contrast his ring tactics with those of his dauntless brother, Richie, who had an abnormally developed sense of his responsibility to his public."

Mitchell and Dundee were both suspended by the boxing commission for "violating all ring rules." Pinkey never fought in Milwaukee again, and the Eagles told Dundee to forget about his guaranteed purse of $10,000. He sued for the money and the case famously went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dundee never did get paid.

Richie Mitchell died in 1949, and when the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame was established two years later he was among its charter inductees. His little brother, boxing's only elected world champion, isn't likely to be voted into that one.

Pinkey notwithstanding, Borchert Field was a strong boxing venue through the late 1940s. More about that in the future.

"Bingo"

While some shamelessly point only to his 1945 "Merkle Moment" in the Philadelphia sun, George Binks shined in Milwaukee during the summer of 1944...

"Bingo"
George Binks
by Paul Tenpenny
(Tencentz@aol.com)
Copyright 2010 Tencentzports
Printed with permission of the Author

George Alvin Binkowski was born July 11, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois.

He shortened his name to Binks when he began in baseball, adopting the moniker "Bingo."

It proved to be a name that was both easily remembered and popular with fans as well as the sports writers during a baseball career that spanned 15 years.

George started playing baseball during the depression while working in a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. Finding that he had natural ability for the game, he launched himself into a baseball career playing for the Monessen Indians in the Pennsylvania State Association in 1936 at the age of 21.

In 1937 he was playing for the Owensboro Oilers of the Kentucky Illinois and Tennessee League and the Springfield Indians of the Middle Atlantic League. 1938 found him playing on 3 more teams in 3 different leagues: The Tyler Trojans of the East Texas League, Springfield Indians again and the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Eastern League. He played the entire 1939 season with the Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Illinois Indiana Iowa League.

In 1940, our well traveled Bingo played with the Cedar Rapids Raiders and the Charleston Senators of the Middle Atlantic League. In 1941, he played with 3 teams in Wisconsin: The Madison Blues of the Illinois Indiana Iowa League, The Green Bay Blue Sox of the Wisconsin State League and catching my breath and throwing away my map, which is a mess by now ...

He finally arrived in Milwaukee, joining the American Association Brewers late in the year.

While in Green Bay, manager Red Smith tweaked George's batting stance and he became a much improved hitter. Once he spread it out a bit "he became one of the best hitters," according to Smith.

Red subsequently recommended him to Milwaukee's Charlie Grimm, then in his first year managing the Brewers.

(Red Smith would have a long association with The Milwaukee Brewers as a player-1930's, coach-1940's and General Manager in the 1950's.)

George Binks with the 1941 Milwaukee Brewers
(Author's Collection)

In his first at-bat, Binks swatted a home run. Way to go Bingo!

While 1941 was mostly miserable and forgettable for Milwaukee and Charlie Grimm, affectionately known as "Jolly Cholly," considered the late-season addition of Binks to be "the only good thing he remembered from that season."

George was a hit in the 5 games played as a Brewer that year. He tallied an impressive .444 batting average with 8 hits in 18 at bats with a double and a home run.

When the war broke out, Binks was classified 4-F, "not acceptable for military service," because he was deaf in one ear due to mastoid trouble in his childhood. Instead of sitting out the war and continuing his career, he sacrificed baseball to work as a machinist in a converted auto factory in South Bend, Indiana, producing war material for the war effort during 1942 and '43.

George Binks 1944 Grand Studio Card
(Author's Collection)

George returned to baseball and the Milwaukee Brewers in 1944, playing like he was gone for only 2 days, not for 2 years! He immediately became an integral part of the team. Having the ability to play both first base and the outfield and with his ever present batting prowess, he would have a crucial role with the Brews the entire season.

Grimm left the Brewers in the capable hands of Casey Stengel when Charlie yielded to the siren call to manage the Chicago Cubs. With his prized utility man hitting near .400, Casey bragged: "his greatest value has been as a pinch hitter." Binks had a superb batting average of .300 in that role. He was called a "lifesaver" as a hitter for the Brewers.

Box Score May 1944

In addition to being a quality player, George Binks was also quite the character. Even his glove got the attention of the press.

As early as 1941, George's first baseman's mitt was a topic of much conversation. Seemingly held together with tape and bailing wire, the team couldn't get him to give it up. It was a good luck charm given to him by a major league scout when he first began playing baseball in 1936. It was the cause of much laughter and some consternation with manager Charlie Grimm who considered it a "hunk of leather."

"I just can't part with it," said Binks in 1944, "There's a lot of memories in that piece of leather. It's not the fanciest glove, I know, but I prefer it to a new one." Binks turned down a new glove offered to him by manager Grimm. The web of the glove is made of bird cage wire put together by a Green Bay clubhouse boy when the leather wore out. "It's been a luck charm so I will go on using it," said Binks.

Well, he did use it until a storm tore the roof off of Borchert field on June 15th. In the ensuing excitement he lost the treasured keepsake.

George Binks 1944 Favorite Glove Photo and Autograph
(Author's Collection)

Besides jury-rigging gloves, George was considered the "handyman" on the Brewer club too. He was comfortable playing at the first sack as well as filling in when needed in the outfield during the absences of Frank Secory and Bill Norman. His hitting was not affected by changing positions.

In late August, while expounding to the Wrigley field press about the ability of their clutch utility man, George Binks, Milwaukee Brewer manager Stengel answered a question posed to him. "Can he play third?" Ignoring the obvious ignorance of the questioner who didn't know George was a southpaw, Casey, so confident in the fielding skills of Binks, responded in the affirmative. Normally the 3rd sack was reserved for right handers. But with Casey, anything was possible. While in Toledo a few years earlier, he shocked the fans by inserting outfielder John Cooney, a left hander, at 2nd base.

The phlegmatic Bingo was such a good hitter that he never seemed to bother with the identity of the opposing pitcher. Shortstop Arky Biggs, a former Brewer teammate in 1944, remembers an incident with Milwaukee where Binks had gotten a base hit and later scored. When he sat down next to Biggs he watched the pitcher wind up and asked him, "when did the left hander come into the game?" He had been pitching for two innings! Maybe this was why he was such a good hitter; he didn't care who was pitching, he just swung away at "his" pitches. Bingo was acknowledged as being an important factor in the Brewer pennant drive all year. Starting out filling in for Heinz Becker at first base, but playing mostly as their left fielder. George's pinch hitting was repeatedly noted as winning several games for the Brews. His hitting was phenomenal. As late as August, he was hitting at a "fat" .407 batting average.

George finished the season with a team leading, .374 batting average. In one hundred games, Bingo had 105 base hits in 281 at bats, 17 doubles, 2 triples and 11 round trippers. His fielding average was .956.

George Binks Game Used Bat
(Author's Collection)

His dream of playing major league ball became a reality that same year when the Brewers sold him to the Washington Senators (Nationals). On August 25th he joined the Senators after the season ended with Milwaukee in Chicago against the White Sox. He played in a total of 5 games with the Nats in 1944, scattering 3 singles in 12 at bats.

1945 would be a season to remember for Bingo in more ways than one.

George had a great year on the field and at bat. Playing in 145 games that year, Binks tallied 153 hits in 550 at bats for a .278 batting average. He was second in the league in doubles with 32 and fifth in RBIs with 81. He had a stellar .983 fielding average too. George even garnered votes for American League MVP for 1945 (placing 21st).

Manager Ossie Bluege considered Bingo a great outfielder and a great left handed hitter. "Binks has the greatest gloved hand I have ever seen on an outfielder, I have never seen him drop a ball that he got his glove on." He was a valuable player in the outfield, on first base and as a hitter he was a spark plug for the team. When regular first baseman, Joe Kuhel, went down with an injury, Binks filled in and went on a hitting tear that rocketed them into pennant contention almost single-handedly. The Senators winning 16 of their next 22 games.

But he was not without problems. Being deaf in one ear was at times a handicap for him and his teammates. More than once he had trouble in the outfield with being called off by his fellow outfielders, which made collisions a definite possibility if they weren't mindful of his handicap. He also was picked off base one time because he could not hear the warnings from the bench. He had a penchant for missing or ignoring signs from the bench on a regular basis, among other mental errors. But his bat was so valuable for Washington that manager Bluege could ill afford to bench him. His teammates mostly kidded him good-naturedly about his foibles.

"Boner Bingo" Original Press Photo
(Author's Collection)

His biggest mistake, the "Binks Boner," occurred while the Washington Senators were contending for the 1945 American League pennant and it looms as large as Bill Buckner's through the legs error in 1986 and "Bonehead" Fred Merkle's famous flub of 1908. The Nats were in a close race thanks in no small part to the hard hitting Binks. Washington was playing a double header with the Athletics in Philadelphia. The first game was tied and in extra innings. The bright sun played a roll that day as it had been "dancing in and out of the clouds" all day. Binks did not take a cue from his Philadelphia outfield counterpart who had his sunglasses brought out to him. When A's outfielder Ernie Kish hit a fly to center field, George lost the ball in the sun, it dropping in for a double instead of an easy out. The next man was walked intentionally to set up the double play possibility. Future hall of famer and Philadelphia 3rd baseman, George Kell, drove in the winning run with a single. The Senators did win the 2nd game of the twin bill, but never caught up to the Detroit Tigers.

Blame fell on Binks for his misplay, deservedly so, but owner Clark Griffith could well share the blame for his scheduling arrangements for the 1945 season. Trying to earn some extra money, he rented the ballpark to the Washington Redskins for the last week of September. The schedule was arranged to finish on the road and also forced them to play more double headers, where they couldn't use their best pitchers to their advantage.

They were forced to wait and hope that the Tigers would lose. They didn't. The Nationals finishing 1 1/2 games behind Detroit, who went on to defeat Charlie Grimm's Chicago Cubs in the World Series 4-3 that season.

George went on to play another season with the Washington Senators in 1946, moving on to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1947 and later on to the St. Louis Browns for 1948, his final season in the majors. He played a couple more years in AAA ball before retiring after 1950.

George Binks was able to live out his dream of playing major league baseball. While the World was at war, he stepped up to a different plate, in spite of his handicap and not being able to fight. He served his country quietly by working in a critical industry, actually giving up the game he loved for two years.

Returning in 1944, he became one of those very special players who kept the sport alive, lifting morale at home and abroad while others gave up their time and some, their lives, for our country.

While some choose to remember him only for his blunder, losing the ball in the sun and that single game, remember, his team finished a full game and 1/2 back. So like the press photo said, you can't blame the entire season on his one misplay. They finished more than 1 game behind the Tigers. His hard hitting and fielding actually helped put them in contention in the first place. He was a valuable part of the Washington team, giving them that chance at the pennant.

George Binks 1944 Original Snapshot and Autograph
(Author's Collection)

He was a valuable part of the Brewer team in 1944 in Milwaukee. The fans loved watching the Borchert “Bingo Party“ put on by this scrappy utility player. He was their "handyman," playing when and where they needed him, truly a "lifesaver." Be it first base, outfield, pinch hitter, even 3rd base... if Casey would have needed him there. He was their "go to" guy in a pinch. His bat was always a critical addition to the lineup and, no doubt, a major player on the team that won Bill Veeck his 2nd American Association title in a row while he was away serving his country.

We tip our caps to you Bingo!

Congratulations, Dennis!

SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, has just announced that BorchertField.com contributor Dennis Pajot is a winner of this year's Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award, which recognizes "outstanding baseball research published in the previous calendar year."

Dennis is being honored for his book The Rise of Milwaukee Baseball: The Cream City from Midwestern Outpost to the Major Leagues, 1859-1901.

Dennis, along with the other two winners, will be honored at SABR's upcoming national convention in Atlanta, August 5-8.

SABR, for those who may not be familiar, is the pre-eminent organization for baseball researchers. The Society's mission is to foster the study of baseball, to assist in developing and maintaining the history of the game, to facilitate the dissemination of baseball research and to stimulate interest in baseball.

This is a tremendous honor, given to a very worthy recipient. I am deeply honored to have Dennis as a contributor. His devotion to preserving Milwaukee's baseball history, from the momentous to the whimsical, is second to none. In particular, his dedication to Milwaukee's unsung heroes enriches all our understanding of just how special that history is.

The Rise of Milwaukee Baseball: The Cream City from Midwestern Outpost to the Major Leagues, 1859-1901 is available directly from the publisher, from the Wisconsin Historical Society, or on Amazon. I urge you all to check it out, and join me in wishing Dennis the heartiest of congratulations.

The Moose Trail

The Milwaukee Journal comes through again, with this photo series from April 3, 1949 showing new Brewer catcher Al "Moose" Lakeman, recently acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies:

Al Lakeman, Brewer Catcher, Might be Aiming for That Left Field Fence Here

The big new Brewer backstop takes a cut at the ball. Al Lakeman, veteran catcher obtained from the Philadelphia Nationals, lays out a long ball in a camp workout at Austin, Tex. Although without a particularly impressive average in the majors, Lakeman does hit a long ball, and at Borchert Field—well, you know about those fences. Lakeman, because of his experience, will probably do most of Milwaukee's catching this season.

Lakeman was obtained by Milwaukee after stints with the Phillies and the Reds. Brewers president D'Arcy "Jake" Flowers had this to say about him:

"Lakeman strengthens what has been our weakest department. He is a smart catcher, has a strong and accurate arm, and should help our pitchers. He won't hit for a big average but he will hit in the clutch."

That left field fence might have been tempting, but Moose wasn't in much of a hurry to test it out. Unhappy with the financial offer, Lakeman started off his Brewer tenure with a holdout. He finally signed his contract and reported to the Brewers' Austin camp, where he posed for the Journal's cameras, on March 14th. Just over one month later, on April 15, the Boston Braves, then the Brewers' parent organization, bought him from the Brewers and brought Lakeman up to the big leagues.

Lakeman spent much of the 1949 season moving back and forth between Milwaukee and Boston. He was sent down in June to help spell Brews' catcher Paul Burris, who was in danger of being overworked. While with the Brewers, on July 4, 1949, Lakeman showed some of the offensive spark Flowers expected, slugging two home runs and spurring the Brews to a 9-3 victory over the Kansas City Blues.

On June 7th, in a game against the Minneapolis Millers, Lakeman was involved in the Brews' first triple-play at Borchert Field since 1936. In the top of the fourth inning, Milwaukee pitcher Ray Martin walked Johnny Kropf and Jim Wilheim of Minneapolis. The next Miller batter, Dave Williams, attempted to sacrifice over the runners. The runners took off when Williams made contact, but he was only able to muster a weak popup. With the baserunners scrambling to get back, Lakeman caught the ball and fired a shot to Johnny Logan at second base, picking off Kropf. Logan then relayed to Bob Montag at first to complete the triple-play.

Lakeman held out again at the start of the following spring training. He eventually signed and spent the entire 1950 season with the Brews, hitting .237 with 19 home runs and 73 RBI. Perhaps Flowers thought that wasn't enough to justify the annual contract drama: Lakeman was traded to the Sacramento Solons in October of 1950 and his Brewer career came to an end.

Lakeman's time with Sacramento was short and turbulent. He "jumped the club", as papers of the time put it, in August of 1951 and headed back to his home in South Carolina. The Solons responded by selling him to the International League's Baltimore Orioles in the off-season, and Lakeman kicked around the minors for the next few years before he moved into coaching. He never got much of a chance to test out the Orchard's left field fence.

People Who Made Borchert Field a Special Place, Part II

by Dennis Pajot

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Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of articles about the behind-the-scenes people at Borchert Field, the people essential to the team's operations but whose contributions have gone largely unsung. The first installment is here.

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Of course Borchert Field is remembered for its short distances down the right and left field lines, the close proximity of the fans to the players, the characters who played ball there, and the equally quirky owners. But, let us not forget the people who made things work at the park. Those unsung heroes who need recognition, even today.

Henry Bremser, in 1942 was the oldest employee at Borchert Field, starting his 30th year with the Brewers. The 58-year old Bremser started as a ticket taker at the 7th Street gate in 1912, After two years he became a ticket seller, occupying the same booth for the next 27 years. Henry said he never saw the beginning of a game at Borchert Field, as he usually remained in the booth until the sixth inning. On double header days he did not get into the park until around the second inning of game two. But often he was too tired to catch the game, having been in the hot booth since 8:30 in the morning.

Henry said the biggest single day of sales he took in was $2,200 in 1924. He commented many times he ended the day with more money than he was supposed to have. When people returned to the booth for their change he could tell the honest faces. Only one time did Bremser come up short in hs money drawer. And that he blamed on the owner, Otto Borchert. Henry said Otto got into his booth and left the door ajar, and the wind blew some of his bills through the opening. He came up $9.00 short. When he told business manger Louis Nahin what had happened, Nahin gave Borchert strict orders to stay out of the booths. President Borchert listened and never came near the sellers again.

Henry Bremser's toughest customers? "The hardest customer to handle is the woman fan. She likes to step in ahead of men folks at the window. Just the same, the ladies are O.K. I don’t mind waiting on them, no matter how big the rush." (From The Milwaukee Journal, April 4, 1942)

Playing in the Snow at Athletic Park

by Dennis Pajot

Eighty-nine years ago today, on Friday, April 15, 1921, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Paul Saints appeared at Milwaukee’s Athletic Park at 8th and Chambers to play a game of baseball. Only 176 paying customers were in the park to watch the game. The majority of these were huddled in the east grandstand seats, to keep warm in the 20 degree weather, made worse by a frigid April wind. The Milwaukee Journal reported only 10 spectators were in the bleachers. To add to this, Milwaukee was in the beginning of one of the worst blizzards it could remember.

The next morning the Milwaukee Sentinel wondered if Brewer owner Otto Borchert was "planning to start a league among the Eskimos with Nome, Klondike, Frozen Dog and other Arctic points in the circuit." But, indeed, "an alleged game of baseball" took place. The paper thought that just the fact the game made it nine innings was "one for the book." The Sentinel's Manning Vaughan wrote the game was played "regardless of the health of high priced athletes and utter regardless of the poor down-trodden newspaper scribe."

It was reported that by the third inning the diamond was so thoroughly blanketed by snow that batted balls had to be dug out of the snow. All that was needed to make it a most festive occasion were "some sleigh bells and some mistletoes to have over Otto’s curly head." The paper's editors helped in this respect with a Christmas motif, when giving the score.

Milwaukee Sentinel—April 16, 1921

The game turned out to be a burlesque affair, with rain, hail and snow falling throughout the game. Running around in mud up to the player’s shoe tops, the Brewers won the game 7 to 4. Milwaukee’s "Unser Choe" Hauser went 4 for 4, and rookie pitcher Ray Lingrel relieved starter Nemo Gearin in the fourth inning, pitching scoreless ball and was credited with the win. About only 50 spectators were around at the end of the game.

The day after the game the Evening Sentinel was in a less jovial mood than the other Milwaukee newspapers:

There was absolutely no excuse for playing the game. There was about one hundred and fifty fans in the stands at game time, and they yelled "play ball" so loudly that it was finally decided to start. The job was then up to the umpires. They could have stopped it any time after the first ball was pitched, and they would not have been violating any rules.

The evening paper went on to say the St. Paul newspapermen said they had never seen a game played under such conditions, and the editor of the Milwaukee paper agreed. How bad were the playing conditions? According to a report years later every time a ball hit the oozy clay surrounding home plate it stuck tight and had to taken out of play. A St. Paul runner was thrown out at home when he became mired in the mud between third and home.

Milwaukee, indeed, was walloped with a snow storm that day and into the next. Nearly 15 inches of snow fell in 27 hours. 40 miles per hour winds caused drifts of ten feet. The newspapers reported the city was almost isolated from the rest of the world by the "most terrific blizzard in the history of the city." Within the city streetcars and trains were stalled, while streets were completely blocked by high drifts. Early reports placed damage in the millions of dollars.

A few years later an account of what happened was given in the Milwaukee Journal. Before the game umpires Bill Finneran and Buck Freeman called Otto Borchert to their dressing room and suggested he call the game off. Borchert’s reply was: "I'll call off games when I want to. Your job is to umpire. Now get out there and go to work." The game started at 3:05, five minutes late.

The Saints scored three runs off Gearin in the top of the first inning, and Borchert yelled down to the umpires from the press box: "Call off the game! I can’t see the ball!" Finneran yelled back: "You wanted to play a few minutes ago when we asked you to postpone the game. You told us that our job was to umpire. Well, that’s what we’re doing." In the 1939 obituary for Nick Allen, who caught for St. Paul that day, it was reported by the third inning the fielders could not follow the flight of the ball. Allen pleaded with the umpire to call off the game before someone got hurt. The umpire told him "Borchert insisted that we start the game despite the threatening weather. I'll go through with this no matter what happens to you guys."

The Brewers scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning—reportedly aided by the Saints' difficulty in finding the ball—to take a 6 to 4 lead and umpire Finneran asked the Brewer owner: "Do you want the game called off now?" Borchert roared back: "You'll finish this game if it’s the last thing you do." The Brewers scored one more run in the seventh to conclude the scoring. By the end of the game all the players except the pitchers were wearing their sweater coats.

As the snow continued, the next day's game—plus the entire next series with the Minneapolis Millers—would be cancelled. But the St. Paul players played another game the day after the "snowball game." All day they telephoned the Brewer office, asking "Will there be a ball game today?"


SOURCES

Milwaukee Journal April 15, 1921, May 3, 1935, October 18, 1939, April 4, 1971
Milwaukee Sentinel April 16, 17, 1921
Milwaukee Evening Sentinel April 16, 1921
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel June 7, 1998