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Centralia baseball tradition
began in the 1860’s when the Liberty Base
Ball Club appeared as Centralia’s first
town team.
Standing proudly for their 1865 team picture
were our first diamond stars: Lou Houch,
Bill Hay, Ed Clark, Jim Erick, Jack Condit,
Henry Condit, Frank Fletcher, Free Johnson
and Bill Johnson.
Substitution was only permitted for injury
or illness in those days, and even then the
opposing captain had to approve. In a 1925
Centralia Sentinel interview catcher Henry
Condit recalled, “We played the whole
season without a substitute, and finished
every game with nine men on the field. Maybe
a fellow would get hurt, but he was game,
and unless he was killed, he got back in
there.”
It was an era before the advent of catcher’s
equipment, or even fielder’s gloves.
Modern players might say that pitching back
then was underhand, but Condit wanted it
noted that, “It didn’t ease up when a
heavy hitter leaned on one and sent a
sizzler to the infield or outfield.”
Statistics for 1865 have proved elusive. By
1866, some restructuring was necessary as
four Libertys were having trouble sharing
travel expenses. On May 16, 1866, the “Egyptian
Base Ball Club” was established. During
the next two tumultuous seasons, as many as
eight of the original Libertys appeared on
the Egyptians. Partial statistics and a good
deal of anecdotal information highlight the
next several seasons. It was the Egyptian
edition of Centralia baseball, with
considerable guidance and manpower from the
Libertys, that blazed a discernible sporting
trail.
The Egyptians got the attention of baseball
“cranks” (fans) around the state by
going to Decatur, dispatching the West End
club 50 to 40 and then stopping off en route
home to edge Pana 18-17. Perhaps
because of those wins, Centralia received an
invitation to the Greater Western States
Tournament, to be held in Decatur from
September 16-21, 1867.
After a roaring send off by wildly
enthusiastic locals, the Egyptians ran into
a dilemma. They were placed in the Senior
Division of the tournament and ran head on
into the Chicago Excelsiors, one of several
excellent Windy City clubs (A slightly
better one called the White Stockings (Cubs)
became a charter member of the National
League a few years later). A stinging defeat
by their big city brethren called the
Egyptians bravado, but a second place prize
of $250 and a “golden baseball” worth
$50 more was worth the trip.
Back home, the Egyptians donated the ball as
a traveling trophy for a new four-county
Union Fair Association tournament. They
reportedly also contributed financially to
the purchase of the Fairground property,
which is today know as Fairview Park.
In an area that is sadly undervalued and
little understood today, there were
tournaments, beer games, cash prizes,
brawls, hand-sewen team banners, bands
playing, 102 degree doubleheaders, trophies,
adoring fans, train rides and banquets -
more than a few cigars and shots of whisky,
too.
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