When The New York Yankees Played The Detroit Tigers, in Bloomsburg

 
In 1925, the New York Yankees played the Detroit Tigers, at the Bloomsburg Fair.  And in the middle of the series, they went over to Mount Caramel and played a game there too.

Bob Shakey, NY Yankee Pitcher

James Robert Shakey was born in 1890 in Siegel Pennsylvania.  As a teenager, he worked in lumber camps, cutting and hauling logs.  Shawkey attended the Slippery Rock State Normal School during the Spring 1910 semester and pitched for the school baseball team. According to the school yearbook, he was known “for the number of people he can strike out in one game.”

 While playing  for a semi-pro team, The Mountain League,  in Bloomsburg during the summer of 1910,  Shawkey was spotted by scout Charles “Pop” Kelchner11 and signed to a contract with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1911

Shakey retained ties to Bloomsburg throughout his major league career, and was reportedly "the idol of local baseball fans".

In 1925, Shawkey assisted the Bloomsburg Fair Association in negotiations  to bring selected players from two major teams to the Fair for an exhibition series. On Saturday October 3, the Bloomsburg Press reported that "after several weeks of effort to get the teams", negotiations had been completed just in time for the fair the following week.

"In October, Shawkey returned to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, for a pair of exhibition games he organized between members of the Yankees and Detroit Tigers. He was “the idol of local fans” who remembered his contribution to the 1910 Bloomsburg team.  A week later, he was honored by a Shawkey Day in his hometown of Brookville, Pennsylvania." https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-shawkey/

The tigers traveled by train to Bloomsburg, where they stayed at the Hotel Magee.  They spent the afternoon playing gold at the Bloomsburg Country Club. The Yankees arrived the following morning, just before the opening game.

Watching The Races Around 1912
See more photos of the Bloomsburg Fair Through The Decades Here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-bloomsburg-fair-as-shown-in.html

"A baseball diamond is constructed on the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds so that the second-place teams in both of the major leagues can play here for three mornings during fair week. The match-up will feature the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees." - The Bloomsburg Morning Press,  3 1925

The games were played at 10am, so as not to interfere with the horse races in the afternoon.  Crowds of more than 10,000 packed the grounds each day for the games.  The recently built new grand stand could only hold 6,000 people (the original one only seated 2,000), others had to crowd around the railing of the oval track. 

Rip Collins, Shown here in a Cardinals Uniform, Pitched For the Yankees for a few years before going to the Tigers 

At the opening game on Wednesday October 7th, Rip Collins pitched all 12 innings for the Tigers, and Bob Shawkey pitched for the Yankees. Each team had 13 hits, and the lead changed hands several times before ending in a 7-6 victory for the Tigers.

That afternoon, the two teams went to Mt Caramel to play.  The game was scheduled for 3:15, a Mt Caramel Park.  The paper reported that it was "part of a vast barnstorming tour." Jo McTague from Scranton was to serve as umpire.

Although the legendary Ty Cobb played for the 1925 Tigers, the headliners rarely participated in the barn storming tours, and Cobb did not play at Bloomsburg.

The next morning the the teams matched up again, with Jess Doyle pitching for Detroit and Bob Meusel pitching  for the  Yankees.  The Tigers won again, this time 7-5.

The third game was rained out.

The umpires for the games were two local working me - Raymond G. Rinker, age 39, and Edward J. Splain, age 62.  

===============

An Index Of Baseball Stories

====================

For More Stories & History Of Bloomsburg

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/10/bloomsburg-pennsylvania.html

For More Stories & History From Surrounding Towns

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html

=================

READ MORE

================

They Played In Mount Caramel While In the Area

===================

"The Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees were picked to slug it out from October 7-9. Games would begin at 10 AM each morning and would finish in time for the afternoon horse racing. No guarantees were made that the fans would see the major players for each team even if they were advertised to appear. Heinie Manush did show up for the Tigers, but Harry Heilmann and Ty Cobb did not. Lou Gehrig was promised for the Yankees, but he skipped out in coming to Bloomsburg. Babe Ruth was not scheduled, but outfielders Bob Meusel and Earle Combs and pitchers Bob Shawkey and Herb Pennock showed up.

It rained on the 9th and the game was not played, but the teams played on the two previous days. Only a few players regularly started for either team, and the Yankees were so shorthanded they even had to play two minor leaguers who would never play in the major leagues. The Yankees won one game 7-6 and Detroit won the other 7-5 in twelve innings. The two games drew an estimated 18,000 fans. Grandstand seats went for $1 each."

"New York fans have come to know a section of the Yankees' batting order as 'murderers' row.' It is composed of the first six players in the batting order—Gilhooley, Peckinpaugh, Baker, Pratt, Pipp, and Bodie. This sextet has been hammering the offerings of all comers."