The Springfield Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in Springfield, Ohio. The Springfield Cardinals were a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and played as a member of the Class C level Middle Atlantic League before folding with the league in 1942. Baseball Hall of Fame member Walter Alston was the player/manager for the Cardinals in 1941 and 1942.
Between 1933 and 1942, Springfield teams played as members of the Middle Atlantic League, beginning with the 1933 Springfield Chicks playing as an affiliate of the Washington Senators. In 1934 the Springfield Pirates played as an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Springfield Indians played as an affiliate of with the Cleveland Indians beginning in 1937 before the franchise became the Springfield Cardinals in 1941.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Lemon began his professional career playing two seasons for the Springfield Indians in 1938 and 1939.
The Springfield Middle Atlantic League teams hosted their minor league home games at Eagles Field before moving in 1937 to Municipal Stadium, known today as Carleton Davidson Stadium.
Contents
History
Early Springfield teams
Springiled, Ohio, first hosted minor league baseball in 1877, when the "Springfield Champion City" team played the season as members of the League Alliance.
The Springfield Governors teams played between 1897 and 1907 in the Interstate League and Central League. Between 1908 and 1917, the Springfield Reapers teams played in the Ohio State League and Central League, until the Central League folded following the 1917 season during World War I.
Before Springfield began its tenure of play as members of the Middle Atlantic League, the Springfield Buckeyes franchise played from 1928 to 1930 as members of the Class B level Central League, hosting home games at Eagles Field. The Central League folded following the 1930 season. After not hosting a team for over a decade, Springfield native Joe Dunn was instrumental in bringing minor league baseball back to Springfield in 1928, forming the "Springfield Baseball Club Inc." with two of his siblings, Charles and Katherine. The franchise secured rent at Eagles Field in Springfield for $3,000 per season, with the ballpark concession rights contracted to Jacobs Brothers of Buffalo, New York for $3,000. As owner of the Springfield franchise during the Great Depression, Joe Dunn was left with debt from the team, but was able to repay his creditors over time.
1933 & 1934: Middle Atlantic League
After a two-season hiatus from minor league play following the folding of the Central League, the 1933 Springfield "Chicks" team was formed and resumed hosting home games at Eagles Field in Springfield. The Springfield Chicks began play as members of the Class C level Middle Atlantic League.
Playing as a Washington Senators minor league affiliate, Springfield joined the eight-team Middle Atlantic League for its ninth season of play. The league was first formed in 1925, founded by Elmer Daly. The Chicks joined the Beckley Black Knights, Charleston Senators, Dayton Ducks (Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate), Huntington Boosters (Detroit Tigers), Johnstown Johnnies, Wheeling Stogies (New York Yankees) and Zanesville Grays (Cleveland Indians) teams in forming the 1933 league. The opening day of the Middle Atlantic League schedule was May 4, 1933.
Jake Pitler was hired as the Springfield Chicks player/manager in 1933. A second baseman as a player, Pitler had been a player/manager in the New York–Pennsylvania League the previous four seasons, first with the Elmira Colonels then with the Hazleton Mountaineers. Pitler had played in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1917 and 1918, appearing in 111 total games and batting .232. At age 39, Pitler played second base for the Springfield Chicks and batted .262 with 3 home runs in 98 games. Pitler later served as a bench coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1957 and continued serving the Dodgers as a scout after the franchise moved to Los Angeles. As a Dodgers coach he worked under managers Leo Durocher, Burt Shotton, Charlie Dressen, and Walter Alston. On August 25, 1956, the Brooklyn Dodgers honored him holding, "Jake Pitler Night" at Ebbets Field.
In their first season of Middle Atlantic play, the Chicks ended their first season in the league with a final regular season record of 67–64 record to end the season fourth place under player/manager Pitler. Springfield finished 10.0 games behind the first place Wheeling Stogies and did not qualify for the playoff where Wheeling was defeated by the Zanesville Grays 4 games to 1 to win the championship.
Springfield shortstop Mickey Noonan hit 26 home runs to lead the Middle Atlantic League, while also batting .349 at age 28. Eddie Wilson of Springfield led the league in runs scored with 112. Springfield right-handed pitcher Rex McDonald won 19 games on the season, tops among Middle Atlantic League pitchers.
1937: Rejoin Middle Atlantic League / New ballpark
Springfield returned to the Class C level Middle Atlantic League in 1937, replacing the Huntington Red Birds team in the eight-team league. The team became known as the Springfield "Indians" as they rejoined the Middle Atlantic League while becoming a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The league began its schedule on May 4, 1937 as Springfield joined the Akron Yankees (New York Yankees affiliate), Canton Terriers (Boston Red Sox), Charleston Senators (Detroit Tigers), Dayton Ducks (Chicago White Sox), Johnstown Johnnies (St. Louis Browns), Portsmouth Red Birds (St. Louis Cardinals) and Zanesville Grays (Boston Bees) in the 1937 Middle Atlantic League.
The newly formed Springfield Indians opened a new ballpark, and the team began playing home games at Springfield's Municipal Stadium location in 1937.
In rejoining the Middle Atlantic League, Earl Wolgamot began a three-season tenure serving as the Springfield Indians manager. Wolgamot had been a bench coach for the major league Cleveland Indians from 1931 to 1935. In joining the Indians, Wolgamot had just led the Zanesville grays to three consecutive Middle Atlantic League championships before moving to Springfield. Zanesville had been a Cleveland Indians affiliate and Wolgamot remained with the affiliate team when Cleveland moved their affiliation to Springifled in 1937. A long-time minor league catcher, Wolgamot appeared in 22 games as a player for Springfield in 1937 at age 44, batting .164.
With Earl Wolgamot managing the Indians, the team finished with an 81–47 record and Springfield ended the season in second place. In the eight-team Middle Atlantic League, Springfield finished a mere ½ game behind the first place Canton Terriers (81–46) in the final regular season standings. The Indians qualified for the league playoffs Wolgamot's former team, the Zanesville Greys finished in last place in 1937. In their first-round playoff series of the four-team playoffs, the Akron Yankees defeated Springfield 3 games to 1 and ended their season. The Canton Terriers then defeated Akron in the final series to win the Middle Atlantic League title.
Springfield's Skeeter Scalzi won the Middle Atlantic League batting title, hitting .377, along with hitting a league leading 34 home runs. An infielder, Scalzi also lead the Middle Atlantic League with 147 runs scored and 197 total hits in his outstanding season for Springfield. Indians pitcher Ken Jungels had topped the league with a 21–4 record.
1938 & 1939: Middle Atlantic League / Springfield Indians
The 1938 Springfield Indians continued play as members of the Class C level Middle Atlantic League and again qualified for the playoffs. The Indians ended the season finishing in third place in the eight-team league. Springfield had a 71–59 record under returning manager Earl Wolgamot. In the final Middle Atlantic League standings, Springfield finished 8½ games behind the first place Portsmouth Red Birds (79–50). In their first-round playoff series of the four-team playoff, Portsmouth defeated Springfield 3 games to 1 to end the Indians' season. The win led Portsmouth to the league finals, where they defeated the Akron Yankees in seven games to capture the league title.
At the age of 17, just after graduating from high school, Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Lemon signed with the Cleveland Indians for a salary of $100.00 per month. He was first assigned by Cleveland to the Oswego Netherlands of the Canadian–American League before joining the Springfield Indians. In 75 games he recorded a .312 batting average while playing shortstop and in the outfield. Lemon was a position player to begin his professional career before being shifter to pitcher after playing in the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians as a third baseman and centerfielder. Lemon did not want to pitch, but eventually realized he had more potential as a pitcher in the major leagues after being reduced to a utility role as a hitter. Playing with the Cleveland Indians from 1941 to 1958, Lemon compiled a 207–128 record as a pitcher, with a 3.23 career ERA despite not pitching full time until the 1946 season. Lemon stepped away from baseball from 1943 to 1945 as he served in the United States Navy during World War II and missed three seasons. Following his playing career Lemon became a longtime major league manager and managed the New York Yankees to victory in the 1978 World Series, where his Springfield teammate Jim Hegan was one of his coaches on the Yankees staff. Lemon also managed the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. and compiled a 430–403 record as a manager. Lemon was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a player in 1976.
Phil Mesi returned to Springfield in 1938 and played mostly as a catcher for Springfield, adding 15 games in the outfield. His fellow catcher was a future All-Star catcher for the Cleveland Indians, seventeen-year-old Jim Hegan. Masi hit .308, with 16 home runs and 97 RBIs for Springfield. He made his major league debut at the end of the 1938 season with the Boston Braves. Mesi went on to become a three-time All-star in the major leagues, playing 14 major league seasons with the Boston Braves (1939–1949), Pittsburgh Pirates (1949) and Chicago White Sox (1950–1952). Mesi batted .263, with a .244 OBP, 47 career home runs in 1,229 career games. Mesi had considerably more total walks (410) than strikeouts (311) in his major career.
1940 to 1942: Middle Atlantic League / Springfield Cardinals
The Class C level Middle Atlantic League reduced from eight-teams to six-teams for the 1940 season and Springfield was dropped by the league. Springfield and the Erie Sailors did not return to league play for the 1940 season. The Akron Yankees won the 1940 league title and Walter Alston led the league in home runs while playing for the last place Portsmouth Red Birds. With Springfield folded, former manager Earl Wolgamot remained in the Cleveland Indians organization in 1940, becoming the manager of their Class A level affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Eastern League. Bob Lemon joined Wolgamot in moving to the Barons in 1940 and the two remained in Wilkes-Barre for the 1941 season before Lemon made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians at the end of the season. Wolgamott then returned to Springfield however, as he was hired in 1944 to manage the Springfield Giants of the Ohio State League.
With a new manager and a new affiliate team, Springfield returned to play in 1941, as the Middle Atlantic League expanded to eight teams, while remaining a Class C level league. The Middle Atlantic League dropped the Portsmouth Red Birds while adding three former league members in the Zanesville Cubs, Erie Sailors and Springfield teams back into the league. The Akron Yankees, Canton Terriers, Charleston Senators, Dayton Ducks and Youngstown Browns teams completed the league lineup for the 1941 season, which began play on May 1, 1941.
Future Baseball Hall of Fame member Walter Alston became the player/manager for the Springfield Cardinals in 1941. Alston had briefly played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936, appearing in one game. In 1940, while playing for Portsmouth. Alston had replaced Dutch Dorman player-manager for Portsmouth Red Birds, who were a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals before shifting their affiliate to Springfield in 1941 and keeping Alston in the role. Alston had also led the Middle Atlantic League with 28 home runs. Alston went on to manage the Brooklyn Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 to 1976, leading the Dodgers to victories in the 1955 World Series, 1959 World Series and 1965 World Series, while managing such players as Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella and Don Sutton. Alston was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
The Cardinals were dominant in a 1941 regular season doubleheader against the Youngstown Browns at Youngstown's Idora Park. In the first game, Walter Alston hit 3 home runs in leading Springfield to a victory. In the second game Springfield won by the score of 18-0 aided by seven Youngstown errors as Gilbert Dobbs threw a no hitter for the Cardinals. Dobbs went on to have a 14-9 record in the 1941 season pitching for Springfield.
The ballparks
The Springfield teams hosted minor league home games at Eagles Field from 1928 to 1934.
The Springfield Buckeyes had rented the ballpark for a sum of $3,000 per season, beginning with the 1928 season. In 1933, the Springfield Chicks resumed hosting minor league play at Eagles Field. The ballpark no longer exists. Eagles Field was located on North Murray, between York Street and East Columbia Street in Springfield, Ohio.
In 1937, the Springfield Indians began play at the Municipal Stadium stie. After previously playing at the site, in 1939 the Municipal Stadium grandstand was built as a WPA project. After 61 years of use, the WPA constructed baseball grandstand was demolished in 2000, and the site was renovated, with new grandstands, press box and turf installed. Today, the Municipal Stadium location is home to Carleton Davidson Stadium. The stadium is host to the Champion City Kings of the amateur collegiate Prospect League and the baseball team at Springfield's Wittenberg University. Carleton Davidson Stadium is located at 1101 Mitchell Boulevard in Springfield, Ohio.
Notable alumni
Walter Alston (1941–1942, player/MGR) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 1983
Bob Lemon (1938–1939) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 1976