Pre-History up until league formation in 1890
Late-1840s to early-1860s:
As more European immigrants began making their way into the United Sates through New York and other eastern ports, they pick up some peculiar traditions of sport. One of those was the New York style baseball (or what is what we call the fundamental structure of modern baseball), and it was carried out to the large industrial cities like Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, and Louisville as well their surrounding cities.
1864:
A young man is born to a German-American family in Fort Wayne, Indiana; that man is Linus Gerzburg.
Late-1860s to mid-1880s:
Multiple baseball leagues across the northeastern and mid-western United States form and fold during this time period, as it is a very tumultuous time in the country as the fast rise of industrialization begins to swell the cities and many peoples begin to live together, and with that the growing nation begins to crave professional sports entertainment. As baseball continues its growth as the professional sport, another sport begins to dominate the collegiate level: American football
1880:
Linus Gerzburg begins an apprenticeship at the local ironwork's shop in Fort Wayne, working under the shop owner Frederick Heider. Here he learns more about running a business successfully and starts also experimenting with steel for more applications for consumers.
Early-1885:
Sylvanus Bowser invents the first kerosene pump in Fort Wayne, garnering attention from the east and investments from a few local patrons, which culminates in the creation of The Bowser Company a few months later, as Sylvanus begins testing as many applications of his invention as possible
Mid-1885:
Linus took over management of the ironwork's shop as Frederick's health began to decline. As a way to handle the stress of running the business, Linus started playing baseball with local workers. Linus fell in love with the game, and wanted more of it.
Late-1885:
Linus met and began dating the daughter of Polish immigrants, Amelia Janas.
Early-1886:
Frederick passed away following the new year, and Linus fully took over the shop. He was also left Frederick's personal fortune of $50,000 which he promptly used a very small portion of to pay for the wedding of himself and Amelia.
Mid-1886:
Amelia, now Amelia Gerzburg, becomes pregnant. During that summer, Linus uses about $25,000 to build what he calls the "Exhibition Field of Fort Wayne" and finances the creation of a local baseball league comprised of local factory workers and surrounding farm workers. A dozen games are played throughout the course of May to August, and the only team that plays the whole summer is the Fort Wayne Generals, a perfect 12 - 0. As the summer begins to fade, Linus promises to the city, that the league will return next summer.
Late-1886:
A fire burns down The Bowser Company, Linus sees an opportunity to purchase the one-of-a-kind invention and offers to purchase the fuel pump design from Sylvanus, but he declines. Sylvanus instead offers to come work with Linus, and Linus agreed to his terms. Thus, the partnership is formed and this results in the creation of The Gerzburg-Bowser Company.
Early-1887:
In January, Amelia gave birth to hers and Linus’s son, Frederick Gerzburg, named in honor of the man that taught Linus all he knows. If tragedy couldn’t stop haunting the family, Sylvanus contracted a deadly strain of the flu and died in his sleep in early-February. So, Linus was left in control of both a growing fabrication factory and Sylvanus’s work, which he began himself exploring what to do with the invention. In March, Linus was approached by a group of business owners from the Toledo area about a handful of exhibition games for his league, and after some negotiations they came to an agreement.
The Wabash League is formed in April 1887 with an agreement among its owners to field 4 teams from Mid-June 1887 thru the end of August 1887 for a total of 15 games each and a final between the top two teams.
- Fort Wayne Generals; returning from last summer’s league and owned by Linus Gerzburg
- Logansport Midways; new team that was comprised of mostly farm and factory workers from the surrounding area and owned by local factory owner, Henry Knoll, who was also a close friend of Linus who donated $500 for operations
- South Toledo Glasshoppers; team comprised of local glass factory workers that’s played intermittently for 4 years and owned by players
- North Toledo Lakers; team comprised of dock workers and ship builders that was formed by its owner George Young about a month before the season started
Summer-1887:
Ready to play, the league enjoyed a successful season generating $30,000 in profit after paying for league expensive, that was then split between the 4 teams, as stipulated in their agreement, that resulted in each team actually generating a profits as well. The Generals won the league, as expected in a final against the Lakers.
Results of 1887 Season
- Fort Wayne Generals 11 - 4
- North Toledo Lakers 9 - 6
- Logansport Midways 7 - 8
- South Toledo Glasshoppers 5 -10
Final: Generals 4 Lakers 3
League Champion: Fort Wayne Generals
Fall-1887:
Following the season, Linus returned to his focus to the newly renamed Gerzburg Company. He begins to rely heavily on the Wabash Railroad, which connected the cities in his league, for his business as well.
Winter-1887:
Amelia becomes pregnant for the second time. Linus began working on an idea of his for a new type of steel, that would be corrosion resistant, and begins producing in small batches a steel that contained nickel resulting a shiny finish to the steel. Seeing the winter as an ideal testing ground, he shows off the new steel to few potential customers, and it proves successful. Linus sees an additional profit during the winter after being commissioned for a few custom orders.
Spring-1888:
Linus invested another $1,500 into the Fort’s Wayne Field, official renaming it to Gerzburg Field; now featuring a grander entrance with gates built from Linus’s new steel, fences running all the outside border of the park, and an additional set of stands alongside the third base line boosting official capacity from 500 to 1,000. He is contacted by two industrialists from Detroit and Indianapolis regarding additional teams joining his summer league. Linus called together the other owners and they all agree to let the two teams join for the summer with new rules regarding profit sharing.
- Indianapolis Grays: a team that had multiple incarnations in the prior years but was finally bought and financed by Kingan & Company which also resulted in the restoration of the small ballpark close to their plant that had been neglected for years. Officially renamed Kingan Field that spring, it had a capacity of 2,000 and a team that was ready to compete
- Detroit Brown Stockings: the first true team that Detroit could call its own, the team was comprised of local factory workers and owned by Frederick K. Stearns. The team would play at Recreation Park which had a capacity of 1,850
Right before the start of summer and the season, Amelia would give birth to hers and Linus’s first daughter, Theresa Gerzburg, in April.
Linus, only 24 at the time, also soon began to understand that his league was more than just a summer attraction; there was a real opportunity to create a real professional league.
Summer-1888:
The league once again enjoyed a successful season, generating almost $68,000 in profit after paying for league expenses, which was split 20% each to the top 3 in profit contributions and 13% each to the bottom 3 in profit contribution. Once again, all teams generated a profit as well, which much better margins. The Grays shocked the home crowd in Fort Wayne to take home the league title
Results of 1888 Season
- Fort Wayne Generals 10 - 5
- Indianapolis Grays 9 - 6
- Logansport Midways 8 - 7
- South Toledo Glasshoppers 7 - 8
- Detroit Brown Stockings 4 - 1
- North Toledo Lakers 2 - 13
Final: Grays 4 Generals 0
League Champion: Indianapolis Grays
Fall-1888:
A second Great Fire rages though Chicago, burning for nearly 2 weeks in September and destroyed almost the entirety of the city once again resulting in nearly $300 million in damages and over 1,500 people killed in the flames or from fire related injuries. The difference this time was following the fire, the donations and charity were greatly inferior than after the 1871 fire. Chicago would never be the same, and some would say that its destiny was completely rewritten. Over the course of the next 2 months, nearly 200,000 of its residents would leave the city for St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Fort Wayne. Chicago’s total population growth over the decade, by the end of the year had been essentially voided as the same amount of growth had just been lost. What would follow would also be many thousands of new immigrants would deviate to Detroit and St. Louis spurring growth for years to come. Unlike in 1871, this fire didn’t have as much of an effect on the nation’s economy, because much of what was coming out of Chicago at the time was processed food and consumer products, which while important, had been much more decentralized to other cities (also an unmentioned deviation from our history)
Displaced by the fire, some 10,000 people come to Fort Wayne area for work and shelter increasing the population of the city to 45,000 inhabitants. Linus is able to put 120 of them to work and sees his product output increase because of it. He also begins constructing his new train-repair shop that he had entered in to an agreement with the Wabash Railroad to build. Linus’s reputation as a young and intelligent businessman was beginning to spread around the region and nation, which would bring him into contact with some powerful figures from the east.
Winter-1888:
With the city having received aid money from the federal government to build quick housing for the displaced citizens, settled in for what would be a fairly mild winter allowing for construction projects to be carried out till nearly December and resume in late February. This would see the new Embassy Theatre built in the heart of city to entertain its wealthy patrons as well as the construction of the 30 acre Headwaters Park alongside the north banks of the St. Mary’s River.
Linus business was doing well and generating him a good profit, which was quickly increasing his wealth in the region. However, Linus was a devout Catholic and a humble, pious man; so he would use his wealth to help the needy in his city by purchasing a small retail space in downtown and converting it to a shelter/soup kitchen. Knowing that there were more to the displaced residents than just factory workers; Linus also commissioned art pieces from local and displaced artists as well as financing a handful of musicians from the area.
Spring-1889:
Linus once again expands Gerzburg Field’s official capacity to 1,300 with the installation of a small upper deck along the first base line of the park.
As the turmoil from the fire continued to ripple out, professional baseball faced a crisis, having lost a huge market combined with decline in attendance across the top leagues, this spring would see the demise of the American Association and the National League, resulting in teams being disbanded and cities left with no baseball.
Chicago had begun to pick up the pieces from the fire, and as almost a miracle, the 3,000 seat Memorial Field on the south-side of the city, had survived the flames more or less untouched. So what remained of the local industrialists, decided they’d pool their resources to field a team to lift the spirits of the city. They contacted Linus with their proposal, and Linus responded warmly with a quick yes.
St Louis had been the recipient of many avid baseball fans due to the fire, and with the collapse of the existing professional leagues, Anheuser-Busch stepped in to fill the void not only purchasing the St Louis Brown Stockings, but also Sportsman’s Park which had a capacity of 2,000. The company promptly renamed the park Busch Field and intended to use it not just for baseball long-term. Having known of Linus’s league thanks to the Wabash Railroad, Linus agreed to let to let them join on the condition that they’d change the name.
- Chicago Braves: named after the bravery local firefighters, this team was not meant to specifically be competitive but would provide entertainment free of charge to Chicago residents
- St. Louis Malt-Men: named after malt, a key ingredient in beer making, the name had been decided by the workers from Anheuser-Busch. This team would be the first in the league to actually have semi-pro players on it
Summer-1889:
With the league now at 8 teams the schedule now sits at 20 games for each team, and to accommodate the additional games the league agrees to play 5 of the games on Saturday as well as the usual Sunday games, so there will be 5 weekends that would be series games.
This would also result in the attempted night game between Detroit & Indianapolis at Recreation Park, using gas lighting to illuminate the stands and the field, albeit fairly dimly. This resulted in a 11 - 10 game, and resulted in a Detroit loss.
As in the previous two seasons, this season was massively successful generating an astounding $105,000 in profit after league expenses, generating buzz around the region and beginning talks of professionalizing the league. The league fiercely debated profit sharing with much of the revenue coming from Detroit and St Louis, and with attendance for North Toledo being extremely small. The resulting percentages were;
- Detroit, St Louis, and Chicago would each receive 22% of the profit, resulting in these teams making decent profit after their expenses were paid
- Fort Wayne and Indianapolis would each receive 10% of the profit, resulting in these teams making a slim profit after their expenses were paid
- South Toledo would receive 8% of the profit, resulting in the team more or less breaking even on the season
- North Toledo and Logansport would each receive 3% of the profit, resulting in North Toledo losing money and Logansport only breaking even after it received the title money
The final would come down to a riveting game between the Malt-Men and a late-season run Midways, resulting in a Midways’ victory.
Results of 1889 Season
- St Louis Malt-Men 14 - 6
- Logansport Midways 13 - 7
- Chicago Braves 12 - 8
- Fort Wayne Generals 10 - 10
- South Toledo Glasshoppers 10 - 10
- Detroit Brown Stockings 6 - 14
- Indianapolis Grays 5 - 15
- North Toledo Lakers 3 - 17
Final: Midways 6 Malt-Men 5 (11 innings)
League Champion: Logansport Midways
Fall-1889:
What would follow the season, would be a serious of meetings between the team owners and the league’s wealthier patrons which would result in the following;
- The formal declaration of professionalism for the league, which would allow for player contracts and an enforced detachment of a team from specific businesses
- North Toledo will be booted from the league and bids from Cleveland & Louisville will be explored, and South Toledo will be renamed to just Toledo. George Young also agrees to purchase the team and manage it operations.
- Logansport may also be considered relocation and current field would be used for a youth league that will also be founded to supplement this league
- The name of the league is changed to the Central League to establish its regional presence
- Linus Gerzburg unanimously elected league president
- Each team must maintain a stadium with a capacity of at least 1,000, Logansport being the exception with an official capacity of 600 but an avg attendance above it
- Teams will play a 48 game season staring in May and ending in September
- 20 Sunday games
- 20 Saturday Games
- 8 Friday games
- Chicago will play two games at Athletic Park in Milwaukee as part of an agreement with the city to showcase league baseball to the area
- There will no longer be profit sharing, only a fee paid to the league for operations of $2,500 a team
Winter-1889:
Continued growth of Linus’s business with the opening of the Gerzburg Rail-Works, employing an additional 100 people in Fort Wayne, bringing the total number of employees for his businesses to 800. This cements his business as vital to Fort Wayne’s growth
The league official selects Cleveland as the city to expand to, bringing in the struggling Cleveland Spiders, who had been dormant for nearly a year following the demise of the National League. Their owner Frank Robinson had seen a few of the league’s games in Toledo earlier in the year and was very impressed by the level of organization. Once he signed the agreement to join the league, he quickly announced the news to the city of Cleveland, to which the city rejoiced for the chance to see professional baseball played again. The city agreed to help finance a new riverfront stadium that would seat 5,000 people and be built by the 1891 season, but for the meantime, the Spiders would have to play at the small 1,750 seat Exposition Field for the 1890 season.
In the continued rippling effect of the 2nd Great Fire in Chicago, the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, and Fort Wayne are growing faster with their industries starting to become more interconnected.
Early Spring-1890:
As the season drew closer the teams began aggressively reaching out to players to come play for them in an attempt to get the best regional players
In an attempt to spread awareness, the league paid for newspaper articles discussing the teams and their stadiums
Chicago Braves: Memorial Field 3,000
Cleveland Spiders: Exposition Field 1,750
Detroit Brown Stockings: Recreation Park 1,850
Fort Wayne Generals: Gerzburg Field 1,300
Indianapolis Grays: Kingan Field 2,000
Logansport Midways: Veteran’s Field 600
St Louis Malt-Men: Busch Field 2,000
Toledo Glasshoppers: Union Park 1,100
And so begins the story in semi-daily updates......
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