The Frederick Hustlers were a minor league baseball team based in the city of Frederick, Maryland, within Frederick County, Maryland. Between 1915 and 1930, the Frederick teams played exclusively as members of the Class D level Blue Ridge League, winning league championships in 1915 and 1921.
The Hustlers were the first minor league team based in Frederick beginning a history of minor league baseball leading to today's Frederick Keys, who were established in 1989.
Frederick became known as the "Warriors" in 1929, as the team was a minor league affiliate for the first time, becoming the first formal farm team of the Cleveland Indians.
In the era, Fredirick teams first hosted home minor league games at Agricultural Park (located within the Frederick Fairgrounds) from 1915 to 1923 before moving to the newly constructed McCurdy Field beginning in 1924 through 1930. Both the Frederick Fairgrounds and McCurdy Field are still in use today.
Following their championship season in 1915, Frederick hosted an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Athletics.
History Early Frederick baseball history The city of Frederick, Maryland is the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. Originally called Frederick Town, the city was founded in 1745.Louis B. O'Donoghue, Gazetter of Old, Odd & Obscure Place Names of Frederick County, Maryland (Historical Society of Frederick County, Inc., 2008) p. 85 In 1776, following US independence, the original Frederick County land was divided into three separate counties. The western portion of the county became Washington County, Maryland, named after George Washington. The southern portion was divided and became Montgomery County, Maryland, named after Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery. The remaining Northeastern section continued to be known as Frederick County. In 1837, the county was divided again, when a portion of Frederick County was combined with a section of Baltimore County to form Carroll County, Maryland. Carroll County is to the east of today's Frederick County.
After many years of amateur baseball with town teams, a semi-pro baseball league was formed in the region in 1907. Called the Sunset League, this league included teams from Frederick and the city of Hagerstown, Maryland, located within Washington County. The Sunset League was so named because league games were played in the late afternoon and often lasted until sunset in the era before lighted fields. The Sunset League played through the 1911 season.
A native of Frederick, future major league umpire Dick Nallin played for the 1909 Frederick team in the Sunset League.
For the 1914 season, the semi-pro Tri-City League was formed in the region. This league featured team based in Frederick, as well as teams from Hagerstown, and nearby Martinsburg, West Virginia. The Tri-City League had a successful 1914 season and evolved after one season to become the original Blue Ridge League in the 1915 season.
1915: Blue Ridge League formed / Champions
During the fall of 1914, after the success of the Sunset League, a movement began to form a professional baseball league with teams located in the Blue Ridge Mountains region. In the era, the National Commission was the governing body of all of professional baseball. The National Commission stipulated that any new professional minor league have a minimum of six member teams to be considered before applying for membership. Under those guidelines a new minor league was formed and organized. The league formation was led by Frank K. Schmidt of Frederick, Charles H. Boyer of Hagerstown and Max von Schlagel of Martinsburg. The new professional Blue Ridge League was organized with six teams and was subsequently approved by The National Commission to begin play for the 1915 season. In its first season, the Blue Ridge League headquarters were located in Hagerstown, Maryland. This was likely because Charles Boyer served at the first league president.
A local businessman, Frank K. Schmidt, operated the new Frederick minor league team, serving as president of the Frederick Baseball Association.
The 1915, the Frederick "Hustlers" became the first minor league baseball team based in Frederick, as the Hustlers became charter members of the newly formed Class D level, six–team, Blue Ridge League. The league was so named as it was located with member teams in the Blue Ridge Mountains region. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, extending a total of 550 miles (885 km) through portions of the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The Blue Ridge League member teams were all located on the northern region of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Frederick Hustlers joined with the Chambersburg Maroons, Gettysburg Patriots, Hagerstown Blues, Hanover Hornets and Martinsburg Champs (so named because Martinsburg had been the champions in the defunct Tri-City League the league prior) in the newly formed league. The first Blue Ridge League schedule began with opening day games held on May 27, 1915.
In the era of its first minor league team, the city Frederick, Maryland was home to roughly 11,000 residents. Frederick County had 52,000 residents in the era.https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/md190090.txt
In their first season of minor league play, the Frederick Hustlers hosted their home games at Agricultural Park. Agricultural Park itself was located within the Frederick Fairgrounds. Frederick teams played home minor league games at the ballpark through the 1923 season. In the era, the site was host to The Great Frederick Fair, which began in 1822 and is still held annually today.
A second baseman, Jack Morrison was named as the Frederick Hustlers' player/manager for the newly formed team, his first managerial role. Morrison came to Frederick having played the 1914 season with the York White Roses in the Tri-State League.
In beginning their first season of play, the Frederick Hustlers won 14 of their first 16 games in the Blue Ridge League.
The Fredeick Hustlers became the Blue Ridge League champions is their first season. The Hustlers ended the season with a record of 53–23, to finish in first place in the final standings, led their championship by manager Jack Morrison. Finished 8.0 games ahead of the second-place Martinsburg Champs. No playoffs were held and the season standings determined the league champion.
The Hustlers had some notable individual players in the league statistics. 28-year-old Bobbie Orrison of Frederick won the Blue Ridge League batting title, hitting .341 for the 1915 season, with a league leading 104 total hits. At age 19, Clyde Barnhart hit 6 home runs, to lead the Blue Ridge League, while batting .254 in 77 games. 22-year-old Hustlers' pitcher Bill King won a Blue Ridge League leading 17 games on the season. A Frederick native, King was a graduate of Boys High School in Frederick. King would play his entire 11 season minor league career pitching for his hometown team.
The Frederick team had five future major league players on its roster in Clyde Barnhart, Tim Connolly, Bill Lamar, Lew Malone and Jim Stevens.
At age 18, infielder Lew Malone was in his first professional season and played with the Frederick Hustlers, also making his major league debut with the Philadelphia Athletics that season. After his partial season with the Hustlers, Malone played 133 total games in the major leagues from 1915 to 1919 for the Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Robins, batting .202 with 28 career RBIs. Malone's career was interrupted while he served in World War I and after returning from the war I, Malone continued to played in the minor leagues through 1929. His first and only major league home run came in the 1915 season, at the age of 18 years and 174 days. Malone is believed to be the youngest major league player ever to hit his final home run.
Infielder Tom Connolly batted .309 for Frederick in 20 games at age 22, before playing the remainder of the season with the Washington Senators. He batted .184 in 50 games for the Senators in his only major league action. Following his 1915 season, Connolly continued to play in the minor leagues at the high Class A level through the 1927 season.
Playing in the first of his three seasons with Frederick, Clyde Barnhart went on to a major league career. Barnhart played 814 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1920 and 1928, compiling a career batting average of .295 before his major league career was shortened by injuries. Barnhart played on the 1925 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates team. He batted .273 with 9 RBIs in 11 career World Series games.
A native of Rockville, Maryland, left-handed hitting Outfielder Bill Lamar batted .305 in 77 games with 1 home run and 18 stolen bases, playing for the Hustlers at ate 18. After playing for the Baltimore Orioles in 1916, Lamar advanced to play 9 seasons in the major leagues and had a lifetime .310 batting average and 18 career home runs, 114 doubled and 23 triples. He played in 550 career major league games with the New York Yankees (1917–1919), Boston Red Sox (1919), Brooklyn Robins (1920–1921) and Philadelphia Athletics (1924–1927)
In leading his team to the championship, player/manager Jack Morrison batted .250 with 2 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 73 games.
1915 Major league exhibition game
After the 1915 Blue Ridge Mountain League season had concluded, the Philadelphia Athletics played an exhibition game at Agricultural Park against the Blue Ridge League champion Frederick Hustlers. The game was held on August 31, 1915, and the A's won the game, 6-3, scoring three runs in the ninth inning against Frederick pitcher Harry Llewellyn. The legendary Connie Mack was the Philadelphia manager. Baseball Hall of Fame member Nap Lajoie had a double, a home run and 3 RBIs in the game for Philadelphia. The game was held with the Athletics sitting as the defending American League champions. The 1914 Athletics had won the American League pennant and played in the 1914 World Series. However, the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics season was a struggle as the team eventually finished last in the American League with a 43–109 record.
1916 & 1917: Blue Ridge League
The Blue Ridge League continued play in its second season in 1916 with Vincent Jameson now serving as league president, beginning a long tenure of serving the league in that role. After winning the championship in their first season, Frederick was known as the "Champs" for the 1916. After leading Frederick to the championship, Jack Morrison returned to the Frederick Hustlers as their player/manager. fifth place 47–51. 9.0 games behind the first place Chambersburg Maroons. Clyde Barnhart again led the league in home runs, hitting 9 on the season. He also won the league batting championship, hitting, .335 in 61 games.
Player/manager Jack Morrison batted .231 with 2 home runs in 92 games. It was his final season in professional baseball.
With a new manager, the Frederick Hustlers returned to their former nickname for the 1917 Blue Ridge League season and Tom Crooke became the Hustlers player/manager in at age 32. A first baseman, Crooke had played briefly in the major leagues, batting .214 with 3 RBIs in 11 total games with the Washington Senators in 1909 and 1910. Fredirick Hustlers
1917 fifth place for the second season in a row. 44–55. 18.0 games behind the first place Hagerstown Terriers.
Tom Crooke batted .229 with 0 home runs in 95 games in his only career managerial role.
Clyde Barhart played his third and final season with Frederick in 1917, batting .256 with 6 home runs at age 21. He made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1920.