The Pelham Firemen Baseball Team in 1926

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For many years in the early 20th century, firemen in the Village of North Pelham had a baseball team known as the Pelham Firemen (aka the "Smokeaters").  The team was a "semi-pro" team that had a storied history and became a Pelham athletic institution,  Indeed, the team placed a number of ball players including Paddy Smith and Bob Cremins in the Major League and others such as Ed Lohman in what we would call today the Minors. I have written before about the team and some of its members.  See:

Thu., Feb. 15, 2018:  Baseball Battles Between Pelham Firemen and the Ossining All-Stars in 1926.

Mon., Jan. 29, 2018:  Famed Pelham Athlete Bob Cremins Made the Boston Red Sox Team in 1927.

Wed., Jan. 11, 2017:  Baseball Star Paddy Smith of Pelham.

In 1926 and 1927, the Pelham Firemen repeatedly battled a team known as the Ossining All-Stars for bragging rights within Westchester County. The baseball battles between the two teams were known as "old time feuds" and typically involved thrilling, and surprisingly good, baseball entertainment for very large crowds of spectators. The local newspaper, The Pelham Sun, carried lengthy and breathless accounts of the games.

In 1926, the Manager of the team was Abe Zernoski.  The coach was Sergt. J. Taylor.  The team had a "mascot" (a young boy who likely served as a batboy) named Bernard Marvel.  Bob Cremins pitched and played outfield.  Other members of the team included W. "Basche" Smith, Ed Lohman, Robert "Bob" Reilly, W. Cassin, O. Smith, E. Lyon, H. Aurisy, R. Aurisy, A. Halliday, and W. Reilly.  

Near the end of the 1926 season, The Pelham Sun published a summary of the team's performance and a wonderful photograph of the team.  As of mid-August of that season, Bob Cremins was the batting leader with an incredible average of .467.  Bache Smith was hitting .333.  The team's record was 9 wins and 7 losses.  It should come as no surprise that the article also made much of the rivalry between the Pelham club and the Ossining All Stars.  The two teams battled each other for primacy throughout much of the late 1920s.

Both the team photograph and the description of the 1926 season make for interesting reading for students of Pelham history.  Both are included below.

"Back row left to right:  --  A. Zernoski (Mgr.), W. Smith, R. Cremins, R. Reilly,

W. Cassin, E. Lohman, O. Smith, E. Lyon, Sergt. J. Taylor (Coach).  Front

Row:  --  H. Aurisy, H. Smith, R. Aurisy, B. Marvel (Mascot), A. Halliday, W.

Reilly (Captain), J. Flanagan."  Source:  PELHAM FIREMEN'S BASEBALL

TEAM, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 13, 1926, Vol. 17, No. 24, p. 1, cols. 3-5.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"Starting the season with what appeared to be just a regular small town team, the Pelham Fire Department nine has worked its way up until now it ranks with the best in Westchester and is regarded as one of the biggest drawing cards in the County.  Wherever they have played, their services have always been in demand for a return game because their style of play is clean.  So far this season, they have won nine and lost seven games.  Three of these losses have gone into extra innings, said games being dropped to the Mt. Kisco Indians, the Ossining All Stars whom they later defeated, and the Yonkers K. of C.

Up to date, the boys have been batting at a .277 clip, which coupled with the good pitching of the hurling staff accounts largely for their success.  Bob Cremins, pitcher and outfielder is leading the sluggers with a percentage of .467.  He has been to bat 30 times and has hit fourteen times.  W. 'Basche' Smith is the second leading batter.  His average to date is .333.  He has been to bat 24 times and has hit 8 times.

Ed Lohman who has undertaken most of the assignments on the mound for the 'smoke-eaters' has proven his worth on all occasions.  Cremins, W. Reilly, and J. Rheinhardt have also distinguished themselves on the mound for the locals.

Arrangements are being made for a three-game series between the Firemen and Ossining All Stars for the semi-pro championship of Westchester.  It took Ossining twelve innings to turn the trick in the first game when they won 4-3.  In the second appearance of the 'smoke-eaters,' they returned with the bacon, beating the All-Stars 2-0.  Pelham has dropped a contest to the Tuckahoe A. C., the same team being defeated by the Ossining aggregation.  Pelham will have a chance to avenge their defeat at the hands of the Tuckahoe nine in two weeks, and this will give the fans a chance for a closer comparison of the two teams.  Fans are eagerly looking forward to this series with the Ossining team as they are certain the locals now have the number of the All Star outfit, and will take them over in the majority of the games."

Source:  PELHAM FIREMEN'S BASEBALL TEAM, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 13, 1926, Vol. 17, No. 24, p. 1, cols. 3-5.

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Baseball Battles Between Pelham Firemen and the Ossining All-Stars in 1926

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Spring, and thus baseball, is just around the corner.  This week Pitchers and Catchers for both the Yankees and the Mets reported for Spring Training.  It is, therefore, time for another story regarding baseball of old in the little Town of Pelham.  

For many years in the early 20th century, firemen in the Village of North Pelham had a baseball team known as the Pelham Firemen (aka the "Smokeaters").  The team had a storied history and became a Pelham athletic institution that placed a number of ball players includiing Paddy Smith and Bob Cremins in the Major League and others such as Ed Lohman in what we would call today the Minors.

In 1926 and 1927, the Pelham Firemen repeatedly battled a team known as the Ossining All-Stars for bragging rights within Westchester County.  The baseball battles between the two teams were known as "old time feuds" and typically involved thrilling, and surprisingly good, baseball entertainment for very large crowds of spectators.  The local newspaper, The Pelham Sun, carried lengthy and breathless accounts of the games.

During the 1926 season, the two teams were evenly matched.  They played a series of five games against each other during the season.  At the end of the season the two teams played three of those five games as a three-game series.  The Ossining All-Stars won two of the games and, thus, claimed the Westchester County Title.

The storied history of the Pelham Firemen nine is ripe for telling and is now the subject of research so it can be told in detail as part of Pelham lore! 

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"Ossining All Stars To Battle Firemen
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Old time feuds will be resumed again Sunday when the Pelham Firemen nine journey to Ossining to meet the Ossining All-Stars.  During last season, these two teams met no less than five times, and each contest proved to be a thriller.  In the final three game series, Ossining claimed the County title by virtue of their wins in the majority of the games in this series.

This season the contests should prove equal in every respect to the exciting exhibitions staged by these teams last year.  Manager Bill Broege will have Lohman ready for action on the firing line, having fully recovered from his accident at Mt. Kisco last Sunday.  Should these teams prove as evenly matched as last season, no doubt there will be another series staged.

On Memorial Day, the 'Smokeaters' will travel to Ridgefield, Conn. where they will meet the A. C. nine of that town.  Another hard battle is expected."

Source:  Ossining All Stars To Battle Firemen, The Pelham Sun, May 27, 1927, p. 14, col. 3. 

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Famed Pelham Athlete Bob Cremins Made the Boston Red Sox Team in 1927

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He knew he was ready.  He looked sharp that evening during the twilight baseball game at City Park in New Rochelle.  He was Bob Cremins, famed local athlete and talented pitcher for the Pelham Firemen baseball team.  That evening he faced the New Rochelle Elks and held them to five hits and a single run in a strong 7 to 1 victory for the Pelham Firemen.  Yes, he was ready.

After the victory, Cremins packed his bags.  The next morning, he departed for Boston.  He knew he was good enough to make the Boston Red Sox.  It was time to try out for the team and show Pelham -- and the world -- he was good enough. 

Local baseball was a big deal in Pelham during the Roaring Twenties.  Bob Cremins, an exceptional multi-sport local athlete, was a big deal in local baseball.  Born in Pelham Manor on February 15, 1906, Cremins batted left and threw as a lefty.  He was 5 feet 11 inches tall and reportedly weighed 178 pounds when he tried out for the Boston Red Sox during the 1927.

Robert Anthony "Bob" Cremins, who lived virtually his entire life in Pelham, was a four-letter athlete in high school.  He attended the Grand Central Art School and became a cartoonist for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.  He was elected Town of Pelham Receiver of Taxes in 1932 and held that position for 32 years until 1964.  In 1964 he was elected Pelham Town Supervisor and served on the Westchester County Board of Supervisors.  He managed a boxing gym and a schooner sailing business on Long Island Sound.  He died on March 27, 2004 at the age of 98 and was buried on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 following a funeral at St. Catharine's in the Village of Pelham.  

It turned out that when he departed for Boston on that fateful day in 1927, Bob Cremins was indeed ready for the Big Show.  Though the Boston Red Sox team that year has since been described as "talent starved," Bob Cremins made the team as a relief pitcher.  As the New York Daily News noted in his obituary published March 31, 2004, the first batter he reportedly faced in the majors was no other than Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees.  Cremins forced him to ground out to the first baseman.  During his stint in the Majors, he was known as "Crooked Arm Cremins."

In a superb article about Cremins by Bill Nowlin published by the Society For American Baseball Research, Nowlin quotes Cremins from an interview regarding how he made it the Majors:

"Our parish priest knew the Boston Red Sox manager, Bill Carrigan, so in 1927 he told me to go see him and ask him for a job. So, I took the train to Yankee Stadium where the Red Sox were playing that week, but I lost my nerve and I came home.

When I confessed my fear to my brother he said, 'You go back tomorrow. Don’t come home until you get the tryout, or I’ll beat you up!'

The next day I went back down and I met the manager [Bill] Carrigan as he was going in to the stadium. I asked him for a tryout and he said, 'No way.' And I said 'Look, my parish priest sent me down here to talk to you. You know him. He said you would give me a tryout.'

He finally gave in and said, 'Do you have your uniform? Go put it on.' Since I had my baseball uniform from the fire department team in Pelham, I was ready to go. 'I pitched batting practice that day and I must have impressed them because after batting practice they said that they would sign me up after they got back to Boston. I was so excited, but I didn’t drink to celebrate that night. I have never smoked and I only took five cups of coffee in my whole life. I went to Boston and they signed me up right off the bus and I pitched batting practice every day.

Then one day we were playing the Yankees and we were behind 13-1. Carrigan asked for a volunteer to go in and pitch and I said, 'I do.'

He said, 'Warm up because I’m going to put you in.' 

'I had been pitching batting practice that day so I went down to the bullpen and tried to get myself warmed up. So I went in at the eighth inning and who comes up [in the ninth] but Babe Ruth.

Our catcher signaled for a fastball and my first pitch was low. The catcher came out and said, 'God damn it, Cremins, I signaled for a fast ball!'

I said, 'I’m throwing it as hard as I can.'

I don’t remember what I threw next, but I know I was just trying to reach the plate. The second pitch Ruth grounded out to first base.

Then Gehrig came up. He hit a bullet to center field and it went between the hands of the outfielder and they gave Gehrig a two-base hit, but it was really an error.

I finally retired the side and the next day a sports writer wrote, 'The thing you can say about Cremins is that he is the only one to get the Yankees out.'

Source:   Nowlin, Bill, Bob Cremins, Society For American Baseball Research SABR.org (visited Jan. 27, 2018).

Bob Cremins had a rather brief career in the majors.  His Major League debut was August 17, 1927.  He faced only 24 batters in the Majors before he injured his arm and quit the Red Sox in 1928.  His baseball career has been described thusly:

"In four relief appearances, Cremins posted a 5.04 earned run average without a decision in 5 1/3 innings pitched.  According to Baseball Almanac, Cremins faced Babe Ruth once and retired him on a grounder to first base.  His career ended in 1928 due to an arm injury."

Source:  "Bob Cremins" in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jan. 27, 2018). 

 

"BOB CREMINS  Pitcher of the Pelham Firemen's Team who left

Pelham on Tuesday for Boston to join the squad of the Boston Red

Sox.  Source:   Cremins and Lohman Leave Firemen For Higher Circuit

-- Bob Cremins Goes to Boston For Tryout With Red Sox and Ed.

Lohman Leaves For Buffalo to Join Havana Cubans, The Pelham

Sun, Jul. 29, 1927, Vol. 18, No. 23, p. 12, col. 3.  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

 

Detail from Photograph of Bob Cremins Available Via SABR.org.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"Cremins and Lohman Leave Firemen For Higher Circuits
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Bob Cremins Goes to Boston For Tryout With Red Sox and Ed. Lohman Leaves For Buffalo to Join Havana Cubans
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Following the twilight game against the New Rochelle Elks at City Park, Monday evening, which he won 7-1, allowing the antlered tribe but 5 hits, Bob Cremins packed up bag and baggage and departed for Boston where he will make an attempt to break into the big league circles with the Boston Red Sox.  Always a favorite with the baseball fans of Pelham, more so since he has aided the firemen nine to a number of victories, Bob has the well wishing of all the sport fans of Pelham in his latest venture.

'Cannonball' Ed Lohman also has left the fold of Broege, Zernoski and Company, to travel in faster company, that of the Havana Cubans.  Lohman left Sunday night for Buffalo where he will join the Cubans who are a touring nine playing all over the country."

Source:   Cremins and Lohman Leave Firemen For Higher Circuits -- Bob Cremins Goes to Boston For Tryout With Red Sox and Ed. Lohman Leaves For Buffalo to Join Havana Cubans, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 29, 1927, Vol. 18, No. 23, p. 12, col. 3.

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