The evolution of professional baseball is a tough road to follow and many cities throughout the United States lay claim to the origin. Ft. Wayne, Indiana is one of those many roots of the sport, dating back to just after the Civil War when the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was established. The creation of the game itself is accredited to Abner Doubleday in 1839. Elihu Phinney’s Cooperstown, New York cow pasture was ruled to be the first place it was ever played. Ft. Wayne claims to be the sight of the first ever professional baseball game in 1871 and the very first night game in 1883.

The Ft. Wayne Kekiongas hosted the Cleveland Forest Citys on May 4, 1871, resulting in a 2-0 victory for the home team. It sparked citywide excitement that led to the building of a new stadium called the “Grand Dutchess.” Two months later the Kekiongas withdrew from the league with a 7-21 record and the stadium was later destroyed by fire. The game of Trivial Pursuit credits the Kekiongas as the future Los Angeles Dodgers, but this connection is more likely a result of their league dues paid by a Brooklyn team that eventually became the Dodgers, who were officially founded in 1884.

The Kekiongas name was reclaimed in 1953 by the former GTE Voltman semi-pro team, Indiana State Champions, who lost their GTE sponsorship and joined the newly formed Ft Wayne Civic Baseball League. According to the book, Baseball in Fort Wayne by author Chad Gramling, a 1953 exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox was played. I could not find a box score from that game, but the Sox lost and Sherm Lollar most likely was the Chicago catcher, wearing #10 for the first time in his career, according to the White Sox opening day roster posted by Baseball Almanac.

In 1952, Red Wilson wore #10 while Lollar donned #45, his first year with the White Sox. He came to Chicago in a trade that sent Joe DeMaestri, Gordon Goldsberry, Dick Littlefield, Gus Niarhos and Jim Rivera to the St. Louis Browns for Lollar, Al Widmar, and Tom Upton. After a season together, Red Wilson must have let his catcher have the lower number and took #26 instead. For Lollar, it had been jersey #9 with the 1949-1951 St. Louis Browns, and #29 in 1947 and 1948 with the Yankees. Back in 1946 with the Indians, he was #12.

“Sherm Lollar was one of the top catchers in the major leagues in the early post-World War II era. Though he played with the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns, Lollar spent the vast majority of his career (12 years) with the White Sox,” 11 of those years he wore #10.

“Lollar has 1,415 career hits, 155 home runs, 808 RBIs, and a lifetime .264 average. A solid defensive catcher, he maintained a .992 fielding percentage behind the plate and gunned down 47% of all runners attempting to steal, which is a very high average.”

“In total, Lollar was named to nine all-star teams, he won three gold glove awards and earned a World Series ring with the 1947 Yankees.”

The Lollar trade from St. Louis, reported above, has me confused because Manuel Joseph “Jim” Rivera was supposedly part of that deal, but like too many baseball stories there is conflicting information. Nonetheless, “Jungle Jim” was Sherm’s White Sox teammate from 1952-1961 before “Big Jim” was traded to the Kansas City Athletics and Lollar retired from the game in 1963. This next excerpt is from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel November 17, 2017. “Jungle Jim” Rivera, an outfielder on the 1959 “Go-Go” White Sox pennant-winning team, died Monday in Fort Wayne. He was 96.“

By RICHARD BATTIN 

“Did you know Babe Ruth played baseball in Fort Wayne?

His visit here 65 years ago this month is just part of the city’s rich and colorful baseball history.

It was a cloudy day in early May 1927, when Ruth and the rest of the New York Yankees arrived in Fort Wayne by train.

The Kekiongas played the Chicago White Stockings, later the White Sox, that summer. Chicago lost so badly that the fans threw rocks at the Kekiongas’ carriage, injuring many of the players.

The team was then named the Kekiongas, like the team from 1871. It was sponsored by the Capehart-Farnsworth Co., which made appliances.

In 1950, the team went to Wichita and won its fourth national title in a row. The team went on to Japan and won the world semi-pro baseball championship. It was the first world championship won by a city team.”