By GEOFF HAMMILL
It is the night of July 24, 1935. The normally dark sky over Wakeman is bright from the flood of 104 1,500-watt light bulbs.
The occasion is the christening of the first lighted baseball field in northern Ohio. Only Cincinnati has a comparable facility.
As Cleveland Indian announcer Tom Manning announces the line-ups, the Wakeman Red Caps take the field against the Norwalk Keller News. The outcome of the game - Wakeman won 6-3 behind the eight-hit pitching of Charles Bement - is overshadowed by the achievement of the tiny Huron County town.
Not even the Cleveland Indians play night baseball.
Night baseball at Wakeman was just one highlight in an era when Wakeman was a mecca for baseball fans and players.
Clarence T. Bailey, a mail carrier, managed the Red Caps from 1934 until their demise in 1948.
"A bunch of us had a bright idea one day," Bailey recalled as he sat in his summer home on 0hio 60 north of town. "We figured why not try and get night baseball." Retired since 1957, Bailey migrated to Florida each winter.
"We went to old Charlie Clark who through all the years he lived, was our ‘Godfather’," Bailey explained. Charles S. Clark, Sr., who baseball fan from the 1890’s who had played professional baseball in the minor leagues. He operated a seed business in Wakeman and would support the Red Caps with cash whenever it was needed.
"Everybody always thought he was giving us the money," said Bailey. "But whenever we would need uniforms, or improvements to the field, four or five of us would sign a note for the money from Clark. And we always repaid it."
In its heyday - the late 1920’s through the middle 1940’s – Wakeman attracted the best players from all over this part of the state. Lorain, Avon Lake, Sandusky, Fremont, Mansfield, and Cleveland sent players to the Red Caps at one time or another to complement local talent which abounded.
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NIGHT BASEBALL OPENING NIGHT WEDNESDAY, JULY 24 WAKEMAN RED CAPS VS NORWALK KELLER NEWS. TOM MANNING Cleveland’s popular sports announcer will be present to announce the lineups and other features. The Wakeman Band will furnish music Game Time 8:45 P.M. Adm. 25c |
| OPENING NIGHT – This storefront poster announced the opening of the Red Caps’ night schedule. The first night game was played in 1935. | |