Little is recorded about the early Marion baseball clubs so I wanted to get this out there in hopes that someone may still have some knowledge of the early clubs. According to Bob Jackson, a huge baseball fan and Williamson County Historical Society president, the later teams were called “hard road clubs” and the competitions fell among city teams spread from Murphysboro to Harrisburg. Unfortunately, the first real hard road (old route 13) didn’t become a hard road (concrete) until 1922 and was only completed at the beginning of the Herrin Massacre times so I’m not sure if the term applies to these early teams or not.

If your parents or grandparents are still alive, ask them what they know about these teams and share what you find out.

1908 Team: Photographed at the Marion Fairground by George Pillow

Front Row L-R: George Block, Catcher; Davy Mitchell, Right Field; Griffie Gibbs, Short Stop; Roland Wilson, Center Field; John Reynolds, Mascot

Back Row L-R: Mike Kelley, Third Base; Jerrie Pillow, Pitcher; Earl Pillow, Manager; Dude Wilson, Second Base; Mack Allen, First Base; Herman Davis, Left Field

1911 Marion Baseball Club:

K. Miller, Second Base; H. Mitchell, Left Field; E. McIntosh, Manager; O. Mitchell, Catcher; G. Quillman, Pitcher; R. Roberts, Pitcher; L. Gibbs, Short Stop; R. Wilson, Left Field; D. Mitchell, Right Field; C. Henson, Center Field; B. Lampley, First Base; M. Kelley, Third Base; T. Turner, Catcher; J. Hay, Mascot

Notes:

I wished that I recognized more than only two of these individuals, if you have knowledge of anyone here, feel free to share.

The team mascot, John Hay, shown in the 1911 photo would have been 9 years old. His father was Charles Hay, a prominent Marion store owner on the square. John would go on to become a leading Marion attorney and had a partnership with Hosea Ferrell in the 1200 block of the public square over J.V. Walker clothing store for decades. He died in 1967.

The interesting and yet, somewhat creepy part of doing these posts is seeing people in their youth expecting full lives and knowing that it won’t happen for them. A case in point is with the 1908 team photo. Earl Pillow is the young man with the bowtie in the back row serving as the team manager. In this photo he was just out of Marion High School by two years which makes him about 20 years old here. Several years after this photo was taken, Earl would end up being one of the first Marion casualties of WWI. He died on the front lines in France in November of 1918.

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