Today is Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers. The Romeo District Library has been celebrating the Tigers with this year's Romeo Reads book The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark by Tom Stanton. They've covered the bases by hosting various events like a viewing of the movie Tiger Town, the Play Ball! Honoring Vintage Base Ball program with Paul Hunkele of the Regular Base Ball Club in Mount Clemens, and the Bases Loaded: Tiger Trivia Night. In addition, they're providing baseball trivia every Monday on the library's Facebook page.
The Romeo Community Archives wanted to get in on the action by providing an early history of baseball, I mean, base ball, in Romeo. The sport was spelled like the latter on purpose in the early days. Regardless of how it's written, base ball has been bringing people together, including those in Romeo, for nearly 200 years.
While there were ball and bat games dating back to the 1700s, baseball became popular in America in the 1840s, especially after baseball legend Alexander J. Cartwright, an amateur player in New York City, organized the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. This organization established the rules of the sport, many of which still remain.
During the American Civil War, soldiers from both sides played baseball as a diversion. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, many veterans "took home the game after the war and it became a great unifier in the years that followed the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history."
The country needed something to latch onto as a whole at the time, and baseball was one of those outlets.
By 1866, the sport became even more popular, and a small town like Romeo took notice. An article from one of the earliest issues of The Romeo Observer - July 5, 1866 to be exact - encouraged young men to partipate in this "healthful exercise." The full story can be seen below.
The "nine" is referring to the number of players on a team.
This call must have been well received since three weeks later, the newspaper reported that a group of young men met at Ayres' Hall and organized the "Union Base Ball Club." It consisted of two separate teams. Prominent men like D.N. Lowell, the future director of the Romeo Board of Education and author of Early History of Romeo Schools; I.F. Pratt; J.L. Starkweather, Helen Starkweather's grandfather; Neil Gray of Gray's Opera House; and C.W. Loud were involved in the club's formation. The details are listed below.
By August, the name changed to the Inland City Base Ball Club. One of the first base ball games played in Romeo occurred in that same month. Both teams of the club competed against each other with the Second Nine winning the game by one point. The Romeo Observer covered it in their August 16, 1866 edition.
Throughout the rest of the century, Romeo played America's Favorite Pastime against towns and cities like Almont (Star Club), Armada (Clippers), Detroit, Lapeer, Mount Clemens, Pontiac (Continental Club), Port Huron, and Utica (A la Modes). They even competed in tournaments during Horse Fairs in the area. During that time, the team changed it name from the Inland City Base Ball Club to the Romeo Base Ball Club. In 1881, The Romeo Observer mentioned that Romeo had organized a base ball club even though they called the organization by the latter name in 1875.
Even Romeo High School got on board with base ball. In October 1897, the newspaper announced that the high school took the first steps to organize a High School Athletic Association. It would control and support foot ball, base ball, track teams, and anything else connected with sports at the school. In addition, anyone who had been out of school for no more than 3-4 years were probably eligible for membership. The rest of the story is down below.
What did Romeoites think of the sport? They liked it enough that reporters detailed the games in the paper. On the other hand, there was a growing concern about the injuries sustained by the players. This is best exemplified by an article published in the July 24, 1867 issue, where the author's friend "Jeems" discussed why he wouldn't join the Inland City Base Ball Club.
Now, I would get struck out if I didn't talk about the most famous baseball player to come out of Romeo: Frank Bowerman. His talent as a catcher was recognized early on in his career when he played as a student at the University of Michigan. This article raves about his skills on front page of the May 4, 1892 edition of The Romeo Observer.
By 1893, Frank was playing for the Detroit Athletic Club. One year later, he transferred to the Detroit Western League Club. By 1896, he joined the Baltimore Orioles, where he garnered more attention. This story was featured on the front page on the May 19, 1897 issue.
In 1898, he transferred to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played for that organization for two years. Then, in 1900, he joined the New York Giants, the team that he's most associated with. Even with hitting the big leagues, Frank still found time to come back to Romeo to play a game or two. This Romeo Observer article from September 2, 1896 edition exemplifies this.
Baseball united people in places like Romeo after a devastating civil war in the late 1800s, and it continues to do so today. Romeo Reads also aims for the same goal with titles like The Final Season.
The rest of the programs for this year's Romeo Reads include the From the Bullpen: The Tigers—The Tigers’ Playing Fields Then & Now lecture with Jeremy Dimick of the Detroit Historical Society on Thursday, April 2 at 6pm; a book discussion of The Final Season on Tuesday, April 14 at 6pm; and an author visit with Tom Stanton himself on Thursday, April 23 at 7pm. All of these will take place at the Kezar Branch.
For more information, check out the Romeo Reads page on the library website.
To learn more about baseball in Romeo, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, July 5, 1866, p.3; July 26, 1866, p.3; August 16, 1866, p.3, October 16, 1866, p.3; May 15, 1867, p.3; June 19, 1867, p.3; July 24, 1867, p.3; September 25, 1867, p.3; July 8, 1868, p.3; July 22, 1868, p.3; July 21, 1875, p.3; August 31, 1881, p.1; May 4, 1892, p.1; October 25, 1893, p.1; January 24, 1894, p.1; September 2, 1896, p.4; May 19, 1897, p.1; October 6, 1897, p.4, and June 29, 1898, p.1; Britannica, and National Baseball Hall of Fame