Minor league baseball teams have been creating numerous promotions lately to attract larger crowds to their stadiums. However, one promotion that took place over a century ago has been lost in time. It was a radical idea that was designed as a publicity stunt to attract visitors to the city. That idea was free baseball for the Decatur Commodores in 1915.
It was an ideal dreamed up by the Three-Eye League team management that attracted so much attention that other teams began to think about themselves, and some others thought it might be just what the minor leagues were looking for. Newspapers from Salt Lake City to Boston claimed that the “Millennium has arrived in Decatur, Illinois.”
The Commodores, or Commies as they were known locally, had been in town since 1900 but had been operating at a loss since a second version of the club came to town in 1910. Attendance peaked at 52,104 in 1907 before falling to 38,597 in 1909.
Mont Peniwell, treasurer of the ball club, proposed a plan in which local businesses, fans and residents would donate enough money before the season to allow all fans to watch games at the ballpark for free during the 1915 season. A goal of $12,000 was set and Peniwell began looking for subscribers.
Fans sent subscriptions to the local newspaper
This would be a boost for the community and it was expected that the increased visitor numbers would also impact Decatur’s local merchants. Archie Davis, a local pharmacist, was the first fan to send in $10 with his newspaper coupon and said the following.
“There will be a lot of spectators at every game and my only difficulty will be to get a box seat so that I can get as close to the players as possible.”
The idea was not original, and was proposed in February by the Wichita Wolves of the Western League. Team president A.M. Ebright set a goal of selling $75,000 worth of tickets at 50 cents each to local businesses and residents to open the gates to Island Park for free. He envisioned free advertising across the country, increased trade with local merchants and fans of all income levels who might attend a game. However, it does not appear that the ballclub has achieved the goal and has abandoned the concept of free baseball.
A receipt from a fan donating $2 for a subscription to free baseball for Decatur
A ballot for the subscriptions was placed in the Decatur Daily Herald There, fans or companies could indicate how much they would like to donate. Contributions came from the Decatur Hotel, the Decatur Railway & Light Company and the Decatur National Bank. Sydney Bacharach, owner of the Cheap Charley Clothing Store, was more than willing to support the campaign.
“Free baseball seems like a great thing for business people. We want to bring people here, and then when they see what Decatur has to offer, they’ll do business here.”
The news caught the attention of many outside of Decatur. Dick Kinsella, a scout for the New York Giants, said the city had gained more publicity through free baseball than any other city of its size. People in Montana began to refer to Decatur as the place where there is free baseball.
Three-Eye President Al Tearny said he would not be surprised if the majority of the minor leagues were operating with free baseball within a few years. League members in Peoria, Bloomington, Quincy and Dubuque considered adopting the practice in 1916.
A comedian from Toledo, Ohio, takes a satirical look at free baseball advertising
However, Peniwell soon realized that the club could not reach the $12,000 goal. The amount was reduced to $8,000, but it was announced that the club had reached its goal and was playing the season with free baseball. The free seats were only for the grandstand areas, and fans who wanted to sit in the main grandstand had to pay 15 cents. Buttons were made that fans could wear to the game to show their pledge.
On April 30, the Commodores opened their home game at the local racetrack, which was equipped with a new grandstand roof, a chain-link fence in front of the grandstand, and a steel wall for the outfield. The grandstands were packed with fans, with many sitting behind the chain-link fence in front of the grandstand. Others watched the game from their cars in right field. However, attendance was 770, with only 178 people paying for seats in the grandstand.
The second game drew a larger crowd of over 2,000 people. 300 people were in the stands, 15 rows of people stood behind the stands and in right field, and the stands were packed. The third game on Sunday was expected to draw 4,000 spectators, but wet weather thwarted the game and only 500 were in attendance.
The headline says it all about the Commies action
One caveat to the operation was the number of school children taking part in the games. This became so concerning that the local truancy officer came to see who was skipping school. The team then stipulated that all school children could only take part in the games after school had finished at 3:30 p.m.
Select games drew around 1,000 spectators, but it soon became clear that the Commies were nowhere near reaching the $8,000 goal. By May 16, the club had raised only $3,469. Donation boxes were set up at the stadium entrance, and the club began charging 15 cents to each person who watched the game from their car.
Penniwell said the club received $6,200 in contributions at the start of the season. Two sources contributed another $1,500, bringing the total to nearly $8,000. But when it came time to collect, most did not pay. The club actually collected only $3,469 (43 percent less than the goal).
Imagine paying for 4 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from the neighbor’s kid and then a month later refusing to pay for your order of Peanut Butter Patties, Thanks-A-Lot and Thin Mints. You may wake up with a slashed tire, but that’s exactly what happened with the subscription boxes in Decatur. Many said they would pay between $2 and $150, but never did.
With most fans sitting in the stands, sales in the grandstand dropped. This also resulted in fewer fans visiting the area during games. I’m not sure if this meant that fans weren’t buying food or drinks at the game, as this didn’t seem to be mentioned in any of the newspaper articles at the time, but the team underestimated their goal of reaching $8,000.
The team also had to make additional payments to police, laundry, clubhouse coal, new uniforms and player salaries. The team ended up $3,231 in the red. And to make matters worse, Mother Nature had the final say on the Commodores’ campaign on July 15 when a tornado ripped the roof off the grandstand before a ballgame. Insurance agents then had the grandstand torn down and disposed of.
Photos from the racetrack’s grandstand after it was hit by a tornado before a game.
The Commies continued playing, but now had to pay fans 15 cents to sit in the stands, but the team was on the verge of disbanding or moving to Galesburg, Illinois, to finish the season. On August 11, the team played its last game, and a few days later a charity game was organized with a semi-pro team that drew only 350 fans.
The failure of the campaign for free baseball spelled the end of baseball in Decatur until a new version was created for the 1922 Three-Eye season. The team played at Staley Field, which had recently been vacated by the Decatur Staleys football team, which had moved to Chicago and is now known as the Bears. The Commies drew a record 64,024 fans that year, marking a triumphant return of baseball to the city. In 1927, Fans Field was built, which served as the Commies’ home field for the next 50 years.
As quickly as it was announced, the campaign for free baseball fizzled out. The concept was noble and made sense on paper when you factored in all the money. It put Decatur on the map nationwide and brought pride to citizens and businesses. But when it came to fees, the problems began. What could have been a new era of baseball pricing in the minor leagues was quickly lost in time.
At the winter meetings that year in Chicago, the Three-Eye League made it clear that free baseball would not be an option for any of its club members and set a price of 25 cents per ticket. Rock Island would take Decatur’s place on the Loop’s schedule in 1916.
The start of the season was very promising for the Commies and Decatur.
Today, you would have to look 110 miles north to Peru, Illinois. The Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp of the summer college prospect league charges admission for Schweickert Stadium. The team built the stadium from scratch and has no plans to charge a dime for games any time soon. Other small-town summer college teams in the Cape Cod League, Florida Collegiate Summer League and New York Summer Collegiate League also allow their fans free admission.
Thankfully, we will never see such a promotion for a minor league team again. The loss of revenue from a $10-12 seat in the stands would be ridiculous, regardless of the national publicity it would receive. One interesting fact is that the Commies franchise is still active today as the Kane County Cougars in the Midwest League. They offer $5 grass seats for games that must be purchased within a week of the game. It’s not free, but it’s pretty close to the price.
