Published by The Evansville Courier

Today's baseball club owners should have been around in the game's toddling years - before sports agents and player unions.

In Evansville's long off-and-on love affair with the grand old game, dating back to 1884, salary caps originally were imposed in 1903 when the city's team switched from the Three-I to the Central League. Each club was allowed only 12 players and all were limited to a $1,200 season salary. This included pitchers, who often doubled in the field because of the manpower limit.

Six years later, the league put a $200 monthly cap on salaries, excluding managers, leaving players the option to either play or quit.

In 1884, when Evansville fielded its first professional team in the Northwestern League, players soon were looking for work when the club folded after playing 36 games.

Sam Thompson on that first team moved to the majors the following season, where he played for 15 years. Thompson had a career batting average of .331, hit 128 home runs and stole 221 bases. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974.

In 1901, Evansville's Grays were led by Germany Roth, who hit 36 home runs. The Evansville Courier said this was a world's record. The team played at League Park, located on Louisiana Street between Baker Avenue and Read Street. Fans could watch games from the roof of the nearby stockyards.

Punch Knoll was one of the city's earliest baseball heroes. He left a major league team to return home in 1907 as player-manager of the Evas. "I'd rather be a lion in my hometown than a goat on a fast track," he said.

During a doubleheader that season in South Bend, the Evas won the second game by forfeit because of a shortage of regulation baseballs.

The Evas capped a banner year in 1908 by winning the Central League pennant, setting a league attendance record of 4,685 for a Sunday doubleheader. Pitcher Jimmy Wacker won 27 games and second baseman Charlie French batted .391.

Manager Knoll celebrated by opening a pool parlor across from the Vendome Hotel. His contract was sold to the Dayton Vets after a dismal 1909 season.

(Much of the information included in this story was furnished by Jack Wettmarshausen as an independent study project while pursuing his degree at the University of Evansville).