Local celebrity and writer for the West Bend News, Stan Jordan, threw the introductory pitch with Mia Wollet catching for the celebration of Antwerp’s Ball Association opening day on Saturday, May 13. Jeff Cline assisted Stan with the pitch.
By: Becky Keys
The history of baseball in the United States can be traced back before the American Civil War in the eastern portion of the United States. During the Civil War, it became popular among soldiers serving in the Union Army and it grabbed the nation’s fascination at the close of the war. It remains unclear when baseball first appeared in Ohio, but the first game on record may have occurred before the Civil War, as reported in a Cleveland newspaper in 1859. It is unclear whether or not the game resembled modern baseball. The first teams to clearly utilize rules similar to modern-day baseball originated in the late 1860s, when amateurs played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using home-made equipment. The popularity of the sport inspired the semipro national baseball clubs in the 1860s.
Perhaps the first baseball team ever organized in our fair town of Antwerp was that known as the Antwerp Reds. It was an aggregation of clerks from the various stores and business houses in the community, as well as farmers, laborers, and students. No one was excluded from the Antwerp Reds team, yet they were ranked as one of the best semi-pro clubs in the surrounding country. From historical newspapers, photos, and family genealogy records, we know that the Antwerp Reds was organized sometime before 1906, and travelled as far as Fort Wayne, Kendallville, and Waterloo, in which the Antwerp team would arrive with an entourage of fans to cheer them on! In small town America local teams were most often the focus of a community’s pride, even when there may have been barely enough players to field a team. Everybody got behind their local ball teams and that was a really big deal.
Today, our small town baseball/softball community pride remains alive and strong in Antwerp. We’re proud of our coaches, volunteers, ABA members, and especially the supporting parents and kids that come together to make our organization successful! We are proud to say that our ball park has been established in its current location since 1935. Many of us here today spent our childhood summers playing ball on these same fields. These are memories that we can look back fondly on. Memories that are shared with smiling faces to our children and grand-children. And memories that are forming right now with these wonderful kids here today!
As many of you may have noticed our newest banner hanging on the major diamond on Opening Day, it states, ‘Celebrating Antwerp Ball History’, and the picture is of the Antwerp Reds in 1909. This is a celebration of our ball history and we would like to invite everyone to share their memories with us. We’d like for you to share your stories of the most exciting game you can remember playing here as a child, or maybe you’d like to share a newspaper article that you have of the Antwerp Reds, or your team picture from when you played as a child, or even your grandparents’ ball pictures! If you have any Antwerp ball history memorabilia that you would like to share with our community we would love to see it and be able to share it! Anyone interested in sharing their baseball/softball memories, please see us at the concession stand for contact information or you can share on our Facebook page. This information will be available throughout the summer, so if you happen across something that you would like to share please stop by anytime or contact an ABA board member. Enjoy the ball season.
