Westfield author Dan Genovese will launch the third volume in his series on Westfield baseball history with a presentation on June 12 at the Westfield Athenaeum.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WESTFIELD — Local baseball historian Dan Genovese has published the third book in his series on the roots of baseball in Westfield. “The Old Ball Ground: Volume 3 — Whip City Baseball in the Rock ‘n Roll Era,” covers the ’40s through ’70s, with the start of rock and roll in the background.
“I have a lot of memories with music and baseball and this time,” Genovese said, adding that he designed the cover after a 1960’s rock show — acid rock — psychedelic-era poster.
Genovese is launching the book’s publication with a June 12, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. presentation in the Westfield Athenaeum’s Lang Auditorium, where signed copies will be available for purchase.
The focus of Volume 3 is on Front Page Cigar, a fast pitch softball team formed soon after WWII and the Korean War as former baseball players returned from war. He said at the time it was difficult for baseball to come back.
Genovese calls fast pitch softball the missing link before men’s league baseball reformed. After the wars, the players didn’t have time to focus on playing, as they were busy working in factories, building homes and building families.
During that time period, fast pitch softball for men was huge. He said softball diamonds are smaller — real estate-wise — than baseball’s, which helped. “There was no men’s baseball at that time for adults. Super athletes that used to play baseball turned to fast pitch softball, and these guys were pretty agressive — not your beer-league softball.”
Games were played on weeknights and weekends at Jachym Field, known back then as Recreational Field, with a second level consisting of a softball diamond down the current left field line, and included a fence, lights, concession stand and announcer’s booth. It was said any night, you could expect a few hundred to several hundred people at these games as it was the thing to do in the summer — and these athletes did not disappoint.
Genovese said it was the mid-1950’s and 1960s and there was no NESN, no ESPN, no sports on TV. “It was what you did on a summer evening, listening to Elvis in the background on the radio.”
Slowly, the focus began to shift back to baseball and the kids growing up in the late ‘60s, and the players turned to helping Little League and Babe Ruth grow. A chapter in Volume 3 focuses on the development of Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion, and on a few exceptional teams that were around in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, after fast pitch softball began to fade, and then faded out.
The book also covers the Westfield High School state championship team of 1967, the only state championship for the city.
Genovese said he first started Volume 3 during COVID-19, when there wasn’t much to do. “I reached out to a lot of people,” he said. “Many of these subjects are still with us, and I was able to do person-to-person interviews, versus the earlier books, where everyone was gone and I only had newspapers and microfilm to work with.
“This was really fun. I got to meet with and speak to many of my subjects, and their family members, too, sons and daughters who came forth with information and photos,” he said.
Genovese’s first two volumes on Westfield baseball history, “The Old Ball Ground — Volumes 1 & 2,” were published in the early 2000s, and inspired by Harold Seymour’s “The Early Years.” Volume 1 covers the evolution of the game of baseball in Westfield and the hilltowns and Westfield’s only two natives to play in the major leagues and town teams up to 1900, while Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 ends with more town teams, barnstormers, ballfields and notable ball players up to about World War II. A very limited number of Volumes 1 & 2 will be available at the presentation on June 12 in Westfield Athenaeum. All of the books are for sale for $20.
Genovese’s interest in baseball is not just academic. “I was born in Westfield, and played ball in Westfield in Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion,” he said. He also played varsity baseball at Westfield High School and at American International College.
Today, he plays in three different men’s baseball leagues and with the Westfield Wheelmen, a vintage team he formed that plays baseball by the rules of the 19th century in replica uniforms.
Genovese said the Wheelmen was a team that existed in 1986, named after the bicycle factory that made hi-wheeled bicycles when they first came out. He said one of their players rode a hi-wheeled bicycle in vintage uniform in the Westfield 350 parade from Westfield State University to downtown, with the Wheelmen behind him in a horse-drawn carriage.
Genovese said the Westfield Wheelmen used to play a lot in Westfield, but every year it gets to be a challenge to find a field that is not taken. They now play home games in Suffield, Conn. on Hilltop Farm, and on the road in places like Fleischmanns, New York, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Providence, Rhode Island.
Genovese is also in the Western Mass Baseball Hall of Fame. “I’d like to think it’s for my playing ability, but in reality it’s for my research, publishing, presentation and development of the Wheelman. I’m more of a researcher and a presenter,” he said.
Genovese said he is also a fan, specifically a Boston Red Sox fan. “What’s interesting — the first book was published in 2004 and they won the World Series. The second book in 2007 — and they won the world series. I’m just saying, Volume 3 — this could be the year again, we’ll see — but it’s a good omen,” he said.
Any businesses or stores interested in selling copies of “The Old Ball Ground: Volume 3 — Whip City Baseball in the Rock ‘n Roll Era,” may contact Genovese at 1961genovese@gmail.com.
