Heinz company fielded softball and hardball teams

By C. Scott Holland

Few people will remember this, but the H.J. Heinz Company once had its own baseball field and for a dozen years, had teams that played in various hardball and softball leagues.

Heinz encouraged its employees to be active outside of working hours. They had teams compete in lawn bowling, bowling, golf and even hockey. One season, the company even built an outdoor NHL-size hockey rink. They created their own baseball field on property they owned along Sherk St. and eventually erected clubhouses for their own team and the visitors.

When the club first operated in 1919, they played a series of exhibition games with teams from of Detroit.

Often the Negro League’s Detroit Stars would play here as well as the Detroit Fire and Police Departments. It was high calibre competition.

In 1920, Heinz factory manager R. A Logan was the team’s manager.

The 1926 Heinz 57s team.

Photo from the C. Scott Holland Collection.

In late July the 57s were about to play Ruthven of the newly formed Essex County Baseball League. He needed a pitcher and noticed a native youth skulking around the field. Logan went over to the lad and told him he was going to pitch for the team. The boy received a uniform and subsequently took the mound.

Meanwhile, the Ruthven crew laughed with great joy.

In the first inning the new 57s pitcher allowed four runs. In the second, the boy began to hurl the ball and the Ruthven club only managed one more run off him. The Heinz crew rebounded and won the contest, 6-5.

The lad’s name was ‘Chief’ Henry and he would be an integral part of the Heinz team throughout the decade.

Most of the games during those first few years were exhibitions, but the team drew anywhere between 300 to 700 fans per game.

In 1923, the club played an exhibition versus the Order of Stags team from Detroit.

BERT WATSON

Photo from the C. Scott Holland Collection.

This team featured pitcher Eddie Cicciotte (Detroit, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox), who had spent 14 seasons in the American league and in 1917, led the AL with 28 wins and again in 1919 with 29. Cicciotte was tough and allowed the 57s only four hits and two runs.

The 57s team used just enough players to field a team in their early years. Fellows like Cam Smithson, George Fry, W. Bert Watson, “Hep” Hewer plus the likes of Whitsell, Greuser, Hooper, Ford, Wilkinson, McKinnon, Tobias, Taylor, Collins, Russelo, Griffin and Jacobs played for the team in the 1920s.

In 1926, they joined what was known as the U.F.O. - a league that catered to factory teams.

The following season, they entered the newly-formed South Essex Agricultural League and in 1928, joined the Leamington and District Softball League.

The championship 1928 Heinz 57s baseball team, that ran up a 5-0 season in the newly formed Leamington and District Softball League.

Photo from C. Scott Holland Collection.

They played in the softball league until 1932.

Every season had a schedule that lasted until the end of July or first week of August and was created to avoid any conflicts with the busy tomato season.

That softball league had some notable entries too. The Fox Electrics (later known as the Hotpoints), Cook’s Hardware, Blytheswood, Goldsmith, Wheatley, Smith Truckers, Staples, Kellow and Robinson, Comber and Cottam. Wheatley and Windfall played in the first 1928 season, but dropped out before the season’s end and never entered again.

The team’s most noted player was Jasper Miner, who left the team in 1930 to head south for baseball try-outs. He would return later that season. And though 1932 marked the end of the Heinz field, Heinz would enter a team in the local fastball league in the 50s and 60s.