Book by area men documents Illinois Valley baseball history

Area pros, teams, venues detailed in book

Did you know a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame was born in Granville?

Charles “Red” Ruffing was born in Granville in 1905 and attended Hopkins High School before dropping out to work in a coal mine.

He began playing baseball with a coal miner’s team as an outfielder and first baseman before becoming a pitcher after a mining injury to his foot.

Ruffing signed a contact with the Boston Red Sox organization and pitched for its parent club from 1924-30 before being traded to the Yankees.

He won 240 career games and pitched for six World Series champions, going 7-2 with a 2.63 ERA in the World Series.

There’s information about Ruffing – who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1967 – and many other area greats in a recently published book titled, ‘A Home Run in the Illinois Valley.’

Area residents Robert “Bo” Windy, Bernie McGraw and Ed Krolak, along with Jim Stancl, put together the book.

“It took about a year,” Windy said. “We were very thorough doing it. We did a lot of research on the internet and through libraries, along with personal contacts and phone calls. If we had a lead, we followed up on it. We wanted to get the complete story. We had a lot of fun with it, but it took a lot of time also.”

The book features small biographies on many area players who were signed to professional contracts, including Hall of Famer James “Sunny Jim” Bottomley, current MLB pitcher J.A. Happ and current Chicago Cubs minor leaguer Michael Hermosillo, among others, dating back to the late 1800s.

“I knew some of them, but we wanted to find out as many who signed with MLB teams in the area as we could,” Windy said. “We researched all the players. We interviewed Ed Krolak, who is 88 years old and worked at the NewsTribune. He has a great memory, and brought us back into the olden days and many leagues from our area. He also brought back a lot of players who were well-known players and area favorites.”

The book also includes stories on barnstorming teams playing in the area, including stops by the House of David and the Kansas City Monarchs, the answer to the question on whether or not Satchel Paige pitched at Washington Park, information on well-known teams such as the Thompson Rexall Girls Softball team (led by Mary Dagreadt), the Peru American Legion and the Ladd Merchants, and history of area venues such as Washington Park and Bennett Field.

“It’s amazing the amount of work they put in to put this together,” retired longtime WLPO broadcaster Lanny Slevin said. “It’s very well done. The printing and pictures are very crisp and clear. It’s very well put together. I learned a lot going through it.

“It has a lot of information. The research they did into this is phenomenal. It really is. I think anybody in the Illinois Valley of any age who is interested in the history of baseball in the Illinois Valley would be extremely interested in it.”

Windy said the initial printing has been sold out, but a second printing will occur soon.

“We printed 60 books, and 60 are sold from the internet and word of mouth,” Windy said. “The first 60 went like hotcakes. We’re really happy with the response. If you like baseball and the Illinois Valley, you’ll want to get this book.”

Anyone interested in the book should send a $12 check made payable to Robert “Bo” Windy to 1112 31st St., Peru, IL, 61354.