Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!
By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum
Batter up…it’s baseball season again! Millinocket has had great teams since the very early days when the Millinocket Baseball Club (also called the Millinocket Tigers) were state of Maine champions in 1909. This club was playing from at least 1903 and their uniforms had an M on them. Dr. Cody was the team sponsor and home games were played at the Pavilion. A star player for that team was Billy Jones who later was an outfielder for the Boston Braves (1911-12). The Tigers often played the Old Town team whose star player was Sockalexis.
Millinocket High School fielded a baseball team and in 1919 were crowned Northern Maine champions with 16 wins in 18 games. A faded news photo shows them in a variety of mismatched uniforms.
Millinocket’s Company I of the Maine National Guard had a baseball team. A photo on display at the museum shows nine players from 1927-28. One is wearing the gray pin-striped 103 Infantry baseball shirt like the one on display at the museum.
It’s unclear whether the Millinocket club (Tigers) was also the same as team as shown in photos wearing uniforms with the GNP insignia in the 1920’s. It is known the company did provide uniforms to town teams and several of the same players are shown in photos as Tigers, Millinocket Baseball Club and GNP.
The Emerson Pills in the 1930’s and 40’s also had a baseball team. Founded by druggist Clarence Emerson, the Pills were a semi-pro team.
The Millinocket Little League was founded in 1952 with the Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, and Tigers being the original four teams. More teams were added later and most years there have been at least eight teams. The first Little League field was at the athletic complex started in the 1960’s beyond the State Street bridge near the new Millinocket Junior High. The land was donated by GNP. Later, as the athletic fields were expanded, a new Little League field were constructed behind Granite Street School.
Stearns High School has had baseball teams throughout the years and their accomplishments are well noted in the Stearns yearbooks.
Plans are underway for a larger sports display in the second-floor area of the museum and photos of the teams mentioned above will be included. Artifacts available for display include uniforms (Emerson Pills), a 1930’s catcher’s mitt, 1997 photo albums of Little League All-Stars & a sign from the Little League field, old shin guards and articles from several scrapbooks.
If you have baseball or other sports uniforms or memorabilia you wish to donate, please contact the museum!
