When J. Walton Bowman passed away on February 14, 1931, he received full praise from the Williamsport Grays club directors and the local press.  The Grays directors issued a statement theat declared:  “Baseball in Williamsport has suffered the loss of its sincerest friend and staunchest supporter in J. Walton Bowman” Members of the Philadelphia A’s baseball team posed with fans outside Bowman Field prior to an exhibition game with Grays.  During the 1930’s the Grays and A’s played several games before overflowing crowds at the uptown field. Though contending for much of the season, the 1931 Williamsport Grays faltered in August and ended up finishing  in third place with a 76-64 record.  Third baseman Bucky Walters (later a pitcher in the Major Leagues) paced the club in batting with a .316 average.  Dick Tangerman was voted the Grays’ MVP . Williamsport baseball fans would gather on Third Street, across from the courthouse, to view the Play-O-Gram board monitoring the progress of the 1931 World Series.  Information concerning the game was relayed from ticker-tape and wire to the board, allowing spectators to follow the World Series play-by-play.  The board was also used for important Eastern League games involving the Grays.   The 1941 Grays graduated 15 members to the big league ranks.  Among the more noteworthy players were sluggers Ron Northey, Irv Kohlberg, Alex Mustaikis, Don Richmond, Ken Richardson, and pitchers Roger Wolff, John Cordell, and Orrie Arntzen. One of the most memorable games of the spectacular season of 1941 was the infamous “riot game” involving the Grays and the Wilkes-Barre Barons.  All season long the two teams engaged in intense competition for first place.  Tensions mounted in late August when the Barons traveled to Bowman Field to play three doubleheaders over the weekend series.  The riot was sparked by the ejection of Grays’ pitcher Art Jones for arguing balls and strikes.  When Barons’ manager Earl Wolgamot refused a request from Grays’ manager Spense Abbott for warm-up time for Jones’s replacement, the two engaged in a heated argument that led to fisticuffs.  A wild free-for-all broke out as benches emptied and fans poured onto the field to participate in the melee.  Williamsport police were called to the ballpark to restore order.  Alex Mustaikis pitched the remainder of the game for the Grays and hit a dramatic game-winning home run in the 13th inning. Rankin Johnson Jr., who has been a permanent fixture on the Williamsport baseball scene for over 50 years as a professional ball player, club business manager, Eastern League president, and avid fan, got his first taste of big league life during the 1941 season. The 1951 Williamsport Tigers, managed by Lynwood “Schoolboy” Rowe, was a team composed of aging veterans and inexperienced younger players.  The team finished next to last with a record of 55-84.  Williamsports Don Manno concluded his stellar baseball career by being named to the 1951  Eastern League All Star team. “Schoolboy” Rowe took the helm of the 1951 Williamsport Tigers and filled in as a spot starter for the team’s depleted pitching staff.  Unfortunately, the Tigers pitchers failed to learn from the master.  With the exeption ofAlex McNeilance (11-9), no other Williamsport hurler acheived a winning record.  In one game (May 3, 1951) against the Binghampton Triplets, the Tigers were shellacked by the score of 22-1.  Rowe was very popular with the Williamsport fans. On “Player Appreciation Night” he was presented with two hunting dogs to pursue his favorite pastime outside baseball.  In 1961, the Williamsport Area Community Baseball Association, also known as the “Boosters”, planned preseason ticket sales, solicited corporate and community service organizations to sponsor promotions, and acted as a liason with the parent clubs (Tigers, A’s, and Phillies).  The Association even held a novel radio-thon to spur preseason ticket sales.Radio station WWPA held such a preseason promotion on April5, 1961.  Ticket booths were conspiculously placed in the lobbies of downtown hotels, banks, and businesses in order to generate ticket sales and enthusiasm for the hometown team. Ray Bellandi, head groundskeeper from 1946 to 1961, retired.  He was honored with a special night at the ballpark on July 15, 1961, co-sponsored by the Grays and the Sons of Italy.  Dick Carter, the 1958 Grays manager, humorlously stated to Bellandi in his telegram, “You’re the greatest.  But before you leave, smooth out the dip by the third base coaching box.” The 1961 Grays team was by every indication a success, despite the fact that the team failed to match the lofty championship perch they enjoyed in 1960.  Nevertheless, several veterans from the 1960 championship club-among them, Danny Cater, Charlie Fields, Ed Lunsford, and Ed Hughes- instilled a winning attitude in the clubhouse and mentored the younger players in coping with the pressure of a pennant race.  Former “Whiz Kid” Andy Seminick replaced Frank Lucchesi as manager.  The Grays contended throughout the season and would have made the play-offs easily-but the Eastern League suspended play-offs for the 1961 season.  The Grays finished second with a respectable 79-61 record.  Danny Cater led all Grays hitters with a .342 average. 1971 saw the Red Sox providing the Billsox with their first-round draft pick Jim Rice.  Rice was a green and unhoned talent during the ‘71 season.  He was so raw-looking that the late Grit sports editor Al Decker observed that “Rice lokked like he was in his first pair of shoes.”  The last year of the first New York-Penn era, the Williamsport Red Sox fought to lift themselves from the depths literally and figuratively.  The floodwaters of Hurricane Agnes hit Williamsport with a Vengeance from June 21 to 23, shortly before the home opener.  It caused widespread damage to Bowman Field and ruined all of the Billsox equipment.  it also forced postponement of the team’s home opener on June 24.  This delay prevented the Williamsport Red Sox from becoming a part of baseball history.  Bernice Gera was supposed to have her debut in Williamsport as the first woman umpire in the history of professional baseball.  She umpired the Auburn-Geneva game instead, and promptly quit after one game. The leading pitcher for the Billsox that year was Steve Foran, who compiled a nifty 10-4 record and 2.38 ERA Bowman Field served as a venue  for sveral rock concerts in ‘71 including a Three Dog Night concert on a sweltering August 5 evening. 80 Years Ago (left to right) Grays manager Glenn Killinger, J. Walton Bowman and business manager J. Roy Glunk 70 Years Ago 60 Years Ago 50 Years Ago 40 Years Ago Information for this page was obtained, with permission, from the books Williamsport's Baseball Heritage  and Gateway to the Majors, Williamsport and Minor League Baseball  by James P. Quigel Jr. and Louis E. Hunsinger Jr.. Thank You!!! Lou Hunsinger Jr., booster club historian