Baseball in Taney County
"Play ball!" Those two words have gladdened the heart of many a baseball fan across the country. "'It's our game," exclaimed poet Walt Whitman more than a century ago, "that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game.'" (Rader, xv). Whether one plays, watches, listens, or doesn't care, baseball is recognized as America's game. The Ozarks and Taney County have a long baseball history that is still being written today.
Baseball's origins in stick and ball games can be traced back to England. A group of New York men began playing a bat and ball game in 1843 and in 1845, established a club called the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball club. The game was very different from what we know today but the seed was there. The game grew in popularity, particularly after the Civil War when professional teams were started. Eventually those teams evolved into what we know today as major league baseball. We are also familiar with the minor leagues, little leagues, high school teams, and American Legion teams. Baseball permeates the American summer.
". . . those who introduced me to ball playing . . . were my schoolmates on the red-clay playgrounds of one-room schools in the southern Missouri Ozarks." (Rader xi). Children have played baseball at recess for generations and those in the Ozarks are no different. Those first young ball players played at recess, after school, after chores, and as opponents were available. As organized sports became part of the curriculum, many schools began fielding teams to play other schools. A game between competing Taney County high schools was an important event in the area. Local newspapers carried game reports on the front page with prominent headlines. Professional teams could be found in nearby Springfield.
During the 1940s, Branson became known as a spring training camp for several minor league teams. Teams from Grand Forks, North Dakota, Joplin, Missouri, and Quincy, Illinois all spent their springs in Branson. Local citizens housed and fed the players and did maintenance work on the ballfields. On May 14, 1948 a group of touring major leaguers known as the Max Lanier All-Stars played in Branson as part of a barnstorming tour. Included were Sal Maglie, Max Lanier, and Harry Feldman. In 1951 the Yankee farm clubs of Quincy, Joplin, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin were all training in Branson when tragedy struck. A player on the Fond du Lac club, John Mahon of St. Louis, drowned on Lake Taneycomo while canoeing with teammates. High waves and a strong current caused the canoe to overturn. Mahon was unable to swim and drowned within a few minutes. The next year the minor league teams did their spring training in Mississippi and Branson officials believed that memories of the tragedy led to the change of venue.
Taney County has produced a number of professional baseball players including Goldie Howard, Dan Kneeshaw, and Scott Schmidt. All of the area schools field teams that play in area conferences.
Branson High School took second place in the state in 1999. Little league, t-ball, and American Legion teams are active throughout the summer. The College of the Ozarks Bobcats play intercollegiately in the NAIA. Most recently, minor league ball has returned to the area as neighboring Christian County is now the home of the Ozark Mountain Ducks, a member of the Texas-Louisiana League. As evidenced, Ozarkers are always ready to "play ball!"
Works Consulted
Photographs of baseball player and S of O team courtesy of Lyons Memorial Library, College of the Ozarks
Rader, Benjamin G. Baseball: a History of America's Game. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1992.
White River Leader, April 2, 1948, May 7, 1948, April 20, 1951, and April 4, 1952.
