CHAMBERSBURG – With the promise of warmer weather on the horizon, people are starting to think about the joys that come with the spring season – cool breezes, freshly mowed lawns and the return of baseball. Whether it is little league or the majors, sports fans still flock to the field to watch “America’s favorite pastime.”
The legacy of Chambersburg baseball dates back to 1895, with the creation of their celebrated team, the Chambersburg Maroons.
Baseball in Chambersburg pre-dated the Maroons by a few years. The first game ever played on the iconic diamond shaped ball field was in May 1883. It was a match between the local railroad company team run by George Pensinger against a team made up of men from the local Henniger’s club. The significance of this game was that it is believed to be the first night game ever played in baseball. They achieved this by using candles on rail cars to light up the field. One can only imagine the struggle it must have been to play a game by candlelight.
The sport became a popular attraction in the borough and soon the first team was assembled. No, it wasn’t the Maroons, not yet. In 1884, a team was created in the short-lived Keystone Association. The team had no name and would have a season record of eight wins and 10 losses and was managed by Oliver Chambers. The league only lasted one season, but baseball had not struck out in Chambersburg yet.
The Cumberland Valley League rose up and with it came the Maroons. Local shop owner and highly respected businessman, Clay Henninger, who was known by all as “Pop,” created the new team and set them up with a home field at Wolf Park. The Maroons rewarded their owner’s hard work with the league title that first year.
With the turn of the new century, new opportunities arose for the team, and they left the Cumberland Valley League and joined the Blue Ridge League. In 1915, former Cincinnati Reds player and Chambersburg born Gus Dorner took over management of the Maroons, and while he only managed them for one season, he built confidence in the young players and prepared them for what would be their legendary season.
Eddie Hooper took the management duties and would be a star player for the team in 1916 and along with his management team, and a deal made with major league team, the Baltimore Orioles, would put together a strong team that consisted of Hank Thormahlen, a pitcher who would later go on to play with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and first baseman, Karl Kolseth, who played with the Baltimore Terrapins, of the Federal League, and Hanson Horsey, a pitcher who played with the 1912 Cincinnati Reds.
The Maroons finished the season with a record of 53 wins, 40 losses and four ties, and won the league championship. Eddie Hooper also won the league batting title that year with 113 hits and a batting average of .332. At a time when the country was dealing with World War I and many local men were fighting overseas, the championship win was a major morale booster for the city of Chambersburg.
The Maroons would win two more titles in the Blue Ridge League in 1927 and 1930 and would win three championships in the Franklin County Adult League in 1979, 1983 and 1986. Several major league players would pass through Chambersburg on their way to the big stage, names like Mike Mowrey, Herb Thormahlen, Tom Carey, Dick Barrett and Red McDermott to name a few.
The Maroons 116-year run as a team came to an end in 2010, but they left a long-lasting legacy of fun and entertainment on the field. Thousands of local sports fans came to cheer them on season after season, and history will never forget that wonderful and exciting 1916 championship season.
