Throwback Thursday: April 1947 Brought the Opening of Baseball Season in West Decatur

Traditional folks, who live or have roots in West Decatur, in Boggs Township, still call their community Blue Ball. The old name is derived from the blue ball that decorated the old Blue Ball Tavern that once stood there along the Old Erie Pike.  The tavern and hotel was operated by John Frazier who came to Boggs Township in 1853.  The main roadway through West Decatur today is the busy PA Route 322.

West Decatur’s economic base once rested upon the tripod of coal mining, clay mining and brick making.  For decades, hundreds were employed at the General Refractories Company until it closed in 1963.

Schools, family homesteads, churches and businesses and the Blue Ball Grange all gave West Decatur its community identity.  So did baseball.

The Black Diamond Baseball League was organized as early as 1934. Throughout the next fifteen years the league included teams from West Decatur, Wallaceton, Bigler, Woodland, Sandy Ridge, Morrisdale, Allport, Morgan Run, Kylertown and Sanborn.    The name Black Diamond reflected the heritage of local coal.

No one should underestimate how beloved baseball was to the US and to Clearfield County throughout the 20th century.  Locally, it was the sport of choice.  Football, basketball, and wrestling were sponsored by area high schools, as were a few girls’ softball teams.  But baseball, as a community sports attraction, reigned supreme on summer Sunday afternoons.

Teenage students and laboring young men made up the rosters of the Black Diamond League’s teams. Men who had been players often, later, became league officers, managers and coaches.  The love of the game and the chance for honest competition motivated them.  Teams such as the 1947 West Decatur line up, shown in the photo, produced some top notch batters, pitchers, basemen and fielders.  In short, working class communities in Clearfield County produced some great ball players.

World War II interrupted the Black Diamond League’s games, as it did so many facets of American life. The League regrouped after the war.  Teams obtained uniforms and equipment.  In 1947 West Decatur’s field had electric lights installed and it was reported that “a twilight loop with games beginning at 5:30” would get underway

The photo, found in the archives of the Clearfield County Historical Society, shows the West Decatur team posing near an old hotel in town.  The truck in the background is a prewar model.

The back row players from left to right are: Leroy Bordas, Bill Ritchey, Don Bordas, Russ Husted, Raymond McClure, Bill Dickson and Mike Socie.

The front row is:  Ed Domanick, Cork Turner, ? Turner, Clair (Huck) Husted, John Stonebreaker, Eddie Davis, Harold Stonebreaker, Bob Wisor.  The bat boy is Jim Straw.

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