Ohio-Indiana League

From BR Bullpen

The class D Ohio-Indiana League was formed in 1948 with eight teams, with seven of the eight cities coming from the the Ohio State League. Six teams made their home in Ohio and the remaining two where from Indiana.

The league played a 140 game schedule with a mid-year All-star game played at the half way point of the season. The league leader at that point would play a team of league all-stars at the leaders home park.

At the seasons end a four team play-off was in effect with the league champs playing the fourth place finisher and the number two team would play the third place team. The first round of the playoffs was a best of five match and the finals was a four of seven format.

The league office was in Columbus, Ohio and Frank M. Colley was the Ohio-Indiana League boss for the entire four seasons the league was in existance. The league remained strong during its first three years but fell to a five team affair in 1951 and did not go on after that year.

The attendance figures show one of the reasons for the leagues failure. In 1948, 514,400 paid their way through the gates, 1949 saw a drop to 447,692, 1950 went to a total of 286,000 and the end came in 1951 when the split season five team first half and a four team second half, drew only a total of 157,976. These figures include the All-star and playoff game totals.

1 Cities Represented
2 1948 League Season
3 1949 League Season
4 1950 League Season
5 1951 League Season
6 Known O-I Players that made it to The Major Leagues
7 Sources

[edit] Cities Represented

Lima, OH: Lima Terriers 1948 (moved from Ohio State League); Lima Chiefs 1949; Lima Phillies 1950-1951
Marion, OH: Marion Cubs 1948 (moved from Ohio State League); Marion Red Sox 1949-1951
Muncie, IN: Muncie Reds 1948-1950 (moved from Ohio State League)
Newark, OH: Newark Yankees 1948-1951 (moved from Ohio State League)
Portsmouth, OH: Portsmouth A's 1948-1950
Richmond, IN: Richmond Roses 1948, moved from Ohio State League; Richmond Tigers 1949-1951
Springfield, OH: Springfield Giants 1948-1951 (moved from Ohio State League)
Zanesville, OH: Zanesville Dodgers 1948 (moved from Ohio State League); Zanesville Indians 1949-1950

[edit] 1948 League Season

The Zanesville Dodgers waged a tough year long tussle with the Portsmouth Athletics and the Muncie Reds for the first ever "O-I" League pennant, winning out in the last few days of the season by just a half game margin over the Portsmouth team and the Muncie team finished third just two games back.

The Zanesville Dodgers squad defeated the Springfield Giants four games to none and the Muncie Reds did the same to the Portsmouth A`s team in the first round of the league playoffs. In the final round of the league championship the Zanesville Dodgers crew disposed of the Muncie Reds group four games to two, winning the first Ohio-Indiana League playoff title ever. A total of 20,898 fans turned out for the playoffs, an average of almost 1500 per game.

The leagues first All-Star game was played at the Muncie Reds home McCulloch Park diamond, drawing a nice crowd of some 2,288 fans and dignitaries. But the Reds were not up to the All-Stars, losing by a count of 11 to 6. The Muncie Reds team hosted the game by virtue of being in front of the league with a 49 and 32 record at the All-Star break.

Team Stats

Team	W	L	W%	GB	BA	FA	Attend	Manager
Zanesville Dodgers	82	57	.590	0	.278	.943	64,594	Ray Hathaway
Portsmouth A's	82	58	.586	.5	.262	.942	73,533	George Staller
Muncie Reds	80	59	.576	2	.272	.944	50,925	Mike Blazo
Springfield Giants	66	74	.471	16.5	.256	.938	67,558	Bob Roth / Rufus Jackson
Newark Yankees	65	74	.468	17	.261	.939	70,604	Bob Dill / Sol Mishkin
Richmond Roses	64	75	.460	18	.255	.936	58,039	Ollie Byers
Marion Cubs	62	78	.443	20.5	.268	..933	60,009	Lou Bekeza / Francis Kristie
Lima Terriers	57	83	.407	25.5	.261	.939	45,952	Charlie Engle

Individual Pitching & Hitting Leaders

Player	Team	W	L	ERA	player	Team	AB	Hits	Avr
Ray Hathaway	Zanesville	23	7	2.82	Bob Nieman	Muncie	507	163	.367
Lawrence Miller	Muncie	16	7	3.17	George Staller	Portsmouth	489	163	.333
Irv Renollet	Zanesville	17	11	3.36	Joe Frisna	Lima	527	175	.332

[edit] 1949 League Season

The Portsmouth Athletics were just as tough this year as they werein 1948, maybe just a little tougher, as they hung on to a slim lead most of the season to win the first spot in the second year of the "O-I" leagues history. They will play the fourth place finishers Marion Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs.The second place Springfield Giants will take on the Muncie Reds who finised third, for the second year in a row.

In A big surprize the fourth place Marion Red Sox upset the A`s squad, 3 games to 1., In the first round of the playoff clash.

The Muncie Reds also took out the second place finishers, the Springfield Giants, 3 games to 1.

In as good a series as you could see the upstart fourth place Marion Red Sox took out the Muncie Reds team, 4 games to 3 to win the playoff championship.

16,202 loyal fans watched the championship series, just sligtly under 1100 per playoff game.

There was no All-Star game played in the 1949 season, due mainly to the Polio ban that was placed in some places in the Ohio- Indiana area, at the time the game was usually scheduled. The league suffered a drop in attendance of some 67,000 fans as the Polio ban kept a lot of people out of public places.

Ralph Lucas of the Springfield Giants won the league batting crown getting 155 hits in 447 at bats for a .347 average. He was the only player in the league to drive in more than a hundred runs, getting 103 to lead the league in that category also. His team mate, Ben Haddix, was his closest competitor getting 148 hits in 433 at-bats for a .342 Average.

The Portsmouth A`s gold dust twins, Ewen Bryden, a lefty with a 16 and 8 record and a 1.82 ERA, was the leagues top pitcher, but Allen Romberger, the right handed half of this duo, had 19 wins with only 6 losses and a 2.03 ERA. This was a tough couple to face. Bryden had 179 K`s in 188 innings pitched and Romberger chimed in with 186 fans in 217 innings. Max Sumwalt of the Muncie Reds had a 12 win 3 loss record for an .800 percent, best in the league, his ERA was 2.78. Sumwalt also had 90 strikeouts in 123 innings pitched.

Team Stats

Team	W	L	W%	GB	BA	FA	Attend	Manager
Portsmouth A's	81	58	.583	0	.253	.954	61,106	Homer Lee Cox
Springfield Giants	77	63	.550	4.5	.273	.942	67,568	Tony Ravish
Muncie Reds	75	63	.543	5.5	.272	.942	49,004	Mike Blazo
Marion Red Sox	73	64	.533	7	.268	.939	57,113	Wally Millies
Zanesville Indians	69	67	.507	10.5	.253	.933	58,034	Pat McLaughlin
Newark Yankees	65	72	.474	15	.253	.945	62,321	Jim McLeod
Richmond Tigers	65	73	.471	15.5	.256	.934	44,346	Cyril Pfeifer / Ken Holtcamp
Lima Chiefs	46	91	.336	34	.260	.925	31,298	Grover Hartley / George Kinnamon

Individual Pitching & Hitting Leaders

Player	Team	W	L	ERA	player	Team	AB	Hits	Avr
Ewen Bryden	Portsmouth	16	8	1.82	Ralph Lucas	Springfield	447	155	.347
Allen Romberger	Portsmouth	19	6	2.03	Ben Haddix	Springfield	433	148	.342
Max Sumwalt	Muncie	12	3	2.78	George Contratto	Marion	429	145	.338

[edit] 1950 League Season

The Marion Red Sox who had blown everyone out of the way in the 1949 playoffs, after having finished fourth in the 49 league chase, swept through the 1950 race beating out the Newark Yankees by one game to win the 1950 pennant. They won 91 games which was 18 more than they had marked up in the prior season and it was just to much for the rest of the league.

The Richmond Tigers also moved up, finishing third, which was a great improvement over their seventh place finish in 1949.

The Springfield Giants and the Muncie Reds waged a terrific battle for the fourth place spot with the Springfield Giants team winning out with a 72-64 record over the Muncie Reds 73-65 count. This gave them a .5294 winning pct. to their opponents .5289 tally. They both finished 17 games back but but Frank M. Colley the league boss ruled that in this type of finish that the percentage count is the deciding factor. The Muncie Reds team appealed, but the rule read that way. They lost their shot at the playoffs by five- thousandths of one percentage point.

It was all to no avail on any count as the Marion Red Sox team beat the Springfield Giants in the first round, 3 games to 1, while the Newark Yankees squad beat the Richmond Tigers 3 games to 2. In the playoff finals the Marion Red Sox beat the Newark Yankees 4 games to 0. The playoff count was only 8,485 paid, averaging just a shade over 650 fans a game.

The "O-I" Leagues paid admissions for the 1950 season, 273,603 was considerably lower than the 1949 count of 430,790, a drop of some 157,187 at the box office. This was the beginning of the era that would make it very tough for leagues such as the Ohio-Indiana to survive. Television had come on the scene, Major League franchises where beginning to move and expand and the good old American auto had expanded peoples ability to get places rather than the park down the road.

Team Stats

Team	W	L	W%	GB	BA	FA	Attend	Manager
Marion Red Sox	91	49	.650	0	.278	.941	41,002	George Susce / Elmer Yoter
Newark Yankees	89	49	.645	1	.279	.956	41,126	Billy Holm
Richmond Tigers	80	58	.580	10	.271	.943	45,302	Ralph DiLullo / Kenneth Holtcamp / Ralph DiLullo
Springfield Giants	72	64	.5294	17	.271	.944	37,619	Andy Gilbert
Muncie Reds	73	65	.5289	17	.264	.937	39,354	Mike Blazo
Lima Phillies	52	85	.380	37.5	.252	.935	24,627	Frank McCormick
Portsmouth A's	46	89	.341	42.5	.240	.942	21,685	Walt VanGrofski
Zanesville Indians	46	90	.338	43	.227	.939	22,888	J. Knowles Piercey

Individual Pitching & Hitting Leaders

Player	Team	W	L	ERA	player	Team	AB	Hits	Avr
Billy Hoeft	Richmond	10	1	1.71	Andy Gilbert	Springfield	294	114	.388
Dan Searle	Richmond	13	3	2.12	Jim Engleman	Newark	558	208	.373
George Gheta	Newark	14	3	2.42	Hal W. Smith	Newark	480	174	.363

[edit] 1951 League Season

This was to be a totally different year for the Ohio-Indiana League. Changes in the minors caused the eight team league to drop to a five team operation and a world of change had invaded the game. The Muncie, Portsmouth and Zanesville teams did not join the "O-I" league this season. The five remaining teams decided on a split season type of play with the first half to end on June 28.

The Newark Yankees won the first half of the season by a 2 1/2 game margin over the Marion Red Sox. The league held an All-Star Game that drew only 866 through the gates.

Shortly after that the Newark Yankees withdrew from the league on July 17. At that time the second half of the season was started over with the four remaing teams competing. The Marion Red Sox won that half of the year by a 21 1/2 game margin over the Springfield Giants.

A playoff championship was held and the Marion Red Sox won the playoffs by whipping the Springfield Giants four games to none. These playoff games only drew a total of 1,166 paying customers for the entire four games and the "O-I" League was finished. There was no concentrated effort for the league to form in 1952.

Team Stats

Team	W	L	W%	GB	BA	FA	Attend	Manager
Marion Red Sox	91	37	.711	0	.289	.943	24,710	Elmer Yoter
Newark Yankees	49	31	.613	NA	.256	.949	33,960	Bunny Mick
Springfield Giants	61	67	.477	30	.252	.935	45,862	Andy Gilbert
Richmond Tigers	53	74	.417	37.5	.253	.929	20,004	Ralph DiLullo
Lima Phillies	41	86	.323	49.5	.238	.937	33,440	Bernard Lutz

Individual Pitching & Hitting Leaders

Player	Team	W	L	ERA	player	Team	AB	Hits	Avr
John Wall	Marion	9	1	2.45	Andy Gilbert	Springfield	323	123	.381
Dick Brodowski	Marion	21	5	2.60	Maxlee Ross	Marion	334	125	.374
Dan Sullivan	Newark	12	2	2.71	Marvin Stendel	Newark	502	185	.369