Historical Museum pitches Terre Haute’s rich baseball past in new exhibit
Arthur Foulkes
The Tribune-Star
Terre Haute, IN
TERRE HAUTE — You can almost taste the hot-dogs, hear the crack of the bat and feel the roar of the crowd when you visit the Vigo County Historical Museum’s new baseball exhibit.
The display features, among other things, baseball cards, old black-and-white photographs, uniforms, equipment and trophies — all with Wabash Valley connections. It also showcases items from Terre Haute’s newest organized baseball squad, the Rex.
The exhibit “covers as much baseball history as we could squeeze into this room,” said Marylee Hagan, executive director of the South Sixth Street museum. Terre Haute has a rich baseball history, including several professional teams.
The exhibit includes items from many of those ball clubs, as well as from college and amateur teams of local note, including the 1955 Babe Ruth league team that took the national championship.
The exhibit also includes many historic items from individual Wabash Valley baseball players who made their mark on the Great American Pastime.
“This is so cool,” said Brian Dorsett, one of Terre Haute’s most accomplished baseball players, who visited the exhibit Tuesday. Dorsett, a 1979 Terre Haute North Vigo High School graduate, played professional baseball with several major league teams, including the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs.
Dorsett has allowed the museum to display several of his professional uniforms. The display also features the plaque showing Dorsett’s induction into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.
The exhibit includes baseball cards and other memorabilia associated with Terre Haute players who made the big leagues, including John Gardner, who once threw for the Chicago Cubs and is now the pitching coach for the Rex.
The career of baseball pitching legend Tommy John, who visited his hometown just last week, is recognized in the exhibit, as well.
While some of the items in the exhibit, such as Dorsett’s uniforms, are relatively new, much of what’s on display at the Historical Museum reflects the city’s much older baseball roots. Visitors to the museum will find photographs and information on national Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown and Max Carey along with local greats Vic Aldridge and Paul “Dizzy” Trout.
In addition to outstanding players, the exhibit also honors former Indiana State University baseball coach Bob Warn, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, who was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
“It’s just an honor to be part of a rich tradition that dates back to before we were born,” Warn said of his inclusion in the baseball exhibit. Warn, after whom the new baseball field at Sycamore Stadium is named, was the winningest baseball coach in ISU history. He retired in 2006 with an overall win-loss record of 1,070-745-9 in 31 seasons. Warn led the Sycamores to seven postseason appearances, including a trip in 1986 to the College World Series.
The baseball display wouldn’t have been complete without a tip of the cap to the new guys in town, The Rex, Terre Haute’s first organized baseball team above the American Legion level since the 1950s. Team manager Dorsett said the Rex have helped revive summer baseball in Terre Haute. The team also benefits from the city’s rich baseball past, he said.
“People see now what the void was that we had,” agreed Warn. The Rex “fill that void.”
Before people commonly had televisions in their homes, thousands of spectators would fill the grandstands of Terre Haute’s original Memorial Stadium to watch pro baseball games. Across town, the upgraded Sycamore Stadium currently has permanent seating for fewer than 1,000 spectators. The original Memorial Stadium, which was converted in the late 1960s to the current football-only facility, had capacity at one time for more than 16,000 fans.
“We seem to like baseball here,” said Mike McCormick, Vigo County historian. Prior to the construction of old Memorial Stadium on the city’s east side, other baseball diamonds were used, including Athletic Field on the south side of Wabash Avenue around 27th Street, he noted.
Perhaps the most well-attended game every played in Terre Haute was an exhibition game between the Chicago Cubs, featuring Mordecai Brown, and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams had just played each other in the 1908 World Series — the last one ever won by the Cubs.
“That may be the greatest game ever played here,” McCormick said. The number of spectators watching that contest was reported to be greater than the number watching any of the just-concluded World Series games, he said. The Cubs won the game handily, McCormick said.
Another game of note at Athletic Field was the inaugural game at the stadium in the mid-1890s. In that game, Cy Young, one of the best known pitchers of all time, threw for the Cleveland Spiders in front of the Terre Haute crowd, McCormick said.
Professional baseball was played in Terre Haute from 1884 to 1956, according to the Historical Society. There were a few years in that period — such as during the Depression — when there was no professional team in the city. But, for the most part, pro baseball was a natural part of summertime in Terre Haute for generations. Because of those teams, many major league teams played exhibition games here, and recruited local players along the way, McCormick said.
“This area has produced a lot of players who are nationally and even internationally known,” museum director Hagan said. The goal of the Historical Society is to capture that rich history, and to welcome the return of organized summer baseball, she said.
“It’s kind of special,” given the city’s deep baseball roots, to have organized summer baseball back in the city, Hagan said. “It’s really great for Terre Haute.”
