Beach, blankets and Don Zimmer: When minor league baseball ruled at Rehoboth Beach

The beach and professional baseball are two summer delights.  Not often are the two combined, especially in a small state such as Delaware. It happened after World War II when minor league baseball was booming.

Rehoboth Beach had a minor league team for three seasons in the Class D Eastern Shore League, the lowest level in professional baseball. Rehoboth Beach was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates the first two years in 1947 and 1948. The team was one of 14 Pirates minor league affiliates.

The team operated independently in the third year. The name was changed from the Pirates to the Sea Hawks.

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None of the three Rehoboth Beach teams had a winning season, although the Sea Hawks reached the playoffs and won the 1949 championship.

Out of the 95 players who played at the beach, three eventually reached the major leagues. They were left-handed pitcher Joe Muir (1947), third baseman Hal Bevan (1948) and right-handed pitcher John Andre. Each had a brief big-league career.

The home games were played at the Rehoboth Beach Ball Park, now a residential area in the Forgotten Mile off Route 1 between the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and Dewey Beach. The original capacity was listed at 2,100. The $91,000 ballpark was the crown jewel of the league, according to the Great Delaware Sports Book. Reportedly, the park was modeled after the home of the original Wilmington Blue Rocks, who played from 1940-52 at Wilmington Park at 30th Street and Governor Printz Boulevard.

All about the Eastern Shore League

The Eastern Shore League consisted of eight teams in 1947-1948 − Cambridge Dodgers, Dover Phillies, Easton Yankees, Federalsburg A’s, Milford Red Sox, Rehoboth Beach Pirates, Salisbury Cardinals and Seaford Eagles.

The league was down to six teams in 1949 after Milford and Dover dropped out. Back then, Minor League Baseball had 59 leagues and 448 teams, an all-time high.

Highlights from the three seasons

1947: The Class D Pirates' inaugural game was May 8 at Cambridge, and their final game was at Seaford on Sept. 7. ... The Pirates finished in sixth place, at 49-75. They were 41.5 games out of first place. ... The Pirates had two managers that season, Doug Peden and Gordon McKinnon. ... The roster limits were 15 players. Over the course of the season, 25 position players and seven pitchers played for the Pirates. That included the 31-year-old Peden, who played in 70 games as a player-manager. ... The Pirates' attendance for the season was 30,521, an estimated average of 488 fans per game.

1948: The Pirates' season opener was May 9 against the defending champion Eagles in Seaford. Tickets cost 65 cents for adults, including tax. ... The Pirates finished in fifth place, 60-65. They were 27 games out of first place. ... Peden managed the entire season while playing in 32 games. ... The Pirates used 25 position players, 10 pitchers. ... The attendance for the season was 21,845, an estimated average of 350 fans per game.

1949: As an unaffiliated team, the Sea Hawks finished fourth in a six-team league, at 56-63 and 11.5 games out of first place. Rehoboth Beach held first place from May 10 until June 15 before fading. The top four teams qualified for round-robin playoffs. ... The Sea Hawks had two managers that year in Bill Sisler, followed by Johnny Watson. ... The team used 22 position players and a six-man pitching staff. Most of the players were over 21 years old. ... The attendance was 22,358 for an estimated average of 376 fans per game.

1949 playoffs: Rehoboth Beach was in the round-robin with Federalsburg, Easton and Salisbury. Both Rehoboth Beach and Federalsburg went 4-2, so the two teams met in the championship game.  It was reported that Sea Hawks' pitcher Les Wolf, coming off a 1–6 record with a 7.00 ERA in the regular season, threw a five-hit shutout to give Rehoboth Beach the championship.

That season was the last for minor league baseball in the Delaware resort community. So historically, Rehoboth Beach can boast it is the last champion of the Eastern Shore League. The league began in 1922.

Why did the Eastern Shore League fold?

“The Board of Directors of the Eastern Shore League wish to announce the suspension of operations of the Eastern Shore League as of March 1, 1950.” That announcement was made by Fred Lucas, president of the league. It came following a meeting of the six teams remaining after the 1949 season. The vote was 5-0 to fold. Rehoboth Beach management did not attend the meeting.

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League officials cited increased operating costs, a reduction in support from major league clubs, and the advent of television for its demise.

Some Pirates/Sea Hawks memories

Dale Wilhelm, a 1951 graduate of Rehoboth Beach High School, had this to say about the local team: "While in high school, I spent one summer hanging the numbers on the scoreboard. I got $2 in cash after each game."

Jim Joseph, a Rehoboth Beach classmate, teammate and longtime friend of Wilhelm, also did scoreboard duty.

"It was on the other side of the wooden right field fence. We watched the game through peepholes and then hung tin numbers. Once in a while, the PA announcer would say, 'Scoreboard: Rehoboth Beach scored two runs, not five.' It was great fun.

"I don’t recall where the players stayed, but they got a discount to eat at Kay’s restaurant.  My mother was a waitress there, and so was the wife of one of the players, Bill Lavosky.  My wife, Barbara, sold tickets at the Blue Hen theater. She got quite a few autographs from the players. The ballclub owners were so obsessed with the cost of baseballs that they paid kids to return balls hit outside the park.

"In addition to high school, we also played there with the Lewes Athletic Association. It was a thrill to be on that field."

A future big-league lifer started in Eastern Shore League

The late Don Zimmer, a longtime player, coach and manager in the major leagues, made his pro debut with the Cambridge Dodgers in 1949. He made six errors at shortstop in his fourth game in the league.

“I made Eastern Shore League history,” Zimmer wrote in his book, "Zim: A Baseball Life." “It was the last year of the league’s existence, and I probably did as much as anyone to hasten its shutdown.”

Sources: baseball-reference.com, statscrew.com, SABR bio projects, Eastern Shore League book, The Great Delaware Sports Book, Mike Lambert (Eastern Shore League-Images of Baseball and Eastern Shore League Extra Innings), Nancy Alexander (Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and Museum), Charlie Silcott (Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame Museum), Cape Gazette.

Artifacts in the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and Museum also include a baseball signed by the 1948 Pirates, courtesy of Jim Joseph; a binder of statistics and notes, also courtesy of Joseph; and a wooden folding chair from the public address announcer’s location believed to be in the press box.

Larry Shenk, a News Journal sports reporter in 1963, spent 40 years as the Phillies' head of public relations. He also served as the team's vice president for alumni relations. 

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Rehoboth Beach reveled in hosting minor league baseball in the 1940s