• About
  • Events
  • In The News
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Katherine J. Rinehart — Historian

  • About
  • Events
  • In The News
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Contact

Petaluma Baseball Legend at Kenilworth Park

October 31, 2022 //  by Katherine J. Rinehart//  1 Comment

Eighty-five years ago this week, baseball players anxious to demonstrate their skills and receive professional training gathered on the diamond at Petaluma’s Kenilworth Park for a tryout camp led by Mickey Shader.

1911 Camm & Hedges Baseball Team. Shader standing in back row, second from the right. Credit: Petaluma Museum & Lee Torliatt

Shader was born in Petaluma in 1891 and was the son George Clayton Shader and Rebecca Bowman Shader. He started playing baseball at Kenilworth Park[1] while employed as a spinner at Belding Brothers & Company Silk Mill. He pitched for the Tourists, a team composed of local boys, and later organized the first team for Camm & Hedges.

George Clayton “Mickey” Shader in Arizona State League Globe jersey. Shader pitched for the Globes in 1925 and was their manager in 1930. Credit: Gordon Brett Echols – Find a Grave (posting for Eleanor Evelyn Hoyt Shader, Shader’s first wife)

In 1913 Shader was signed up with the Northwest League in Vancouver, Canada, until being released to the Walla Walla club in the Western Tri-State League. In 1915 he was known as one of the best semi-professional pitchers in California and his talents led him on a long, nomadic career. He pitched for several leagues throughout the United States before turning to management and later scouting. He was scouting for the Cincinnati Reds while in Petaluma in 1937. Shader remained with the Reds until 1946, when we went to the New York Giants.

Although Shader’s profession took him to many parts of California and Utah, Oregon, Texas, Georgia, Idaho, New York, and Mexico, he was a frequent visitor to his hometown. His career was closely followed and reported on in the local newspapers for those wishing to delve deeper.

When Shader died in 1953, his friends and admirers paid their respects by installing a bronze plaque at McNear Park, which had replaced Kenilworth Park as the preferred baseball park in 1940.

A dedication ceremony attended by over 500 people took place on Sunday, June 21, 1953.

Credit: Petaluma Argus Courier, June 22, 1953

[1] The first baseball game at Kenilworth Park was held on April 3, 1910. Mickey Shader, “the amateur slabster”, took the mound for the Tourists against the Sequoia’s of San Francisco. Source: Petaluma Daily Courier, April 2, 1910, pg. 3.

Sources:

U.S. Census: Petaluma, California, 1910, pg. 11B

Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, August 8, 1911, pg. 8, “Mickey Shader Gets Offers”

Petaluma Argus, August 19, 1911, pg. 2, “To Pitch for Turkey Reds”

Petaluma Daily Courier, January 9, 1914, pg. 2, “Mickey Shader is Benedict”

Petaluma Daily Courier, January 14, 1915, pg. 8, “Shader Signs with Big League”

Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, June 29, 1924, pg. 5, “Mickey Shader Pitching in Boise, Idaho”

Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, June 23, 1925, pg. 7, “Mickey Shader is Pitching Winning Ball”

Petaluma Argus, September 16, 1925, pg. 8 “Mickey Shader Gives Record Story of Career”

Petaluma Daily Courier, October 13, 1927, pg. 3, “Mickey Shader Manages Bay City Team”

Petaluma Argus-Courier, April 1, 1940, pg. 4, “Spartan Baseball Team to Move to McNear Diamond”

Torliatt, Lee. Sports Memories of Sonoma County. Chicago, Illinois: Arcadia Publishing, 2002.

Category: People, Petaluma Parks, Sports, UncategorizedTag: Baseball, Kenilworth Park, Mickey Shader

Receive New Posts by Email

Previous Post: « The Leader: A Sleek Modern Petaluma Department Store

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet Gracyk

    November 2, 2022 at 10:47 pm

    Another layer of interesting history revealed!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Petaluma Baseball Legend at Kenilworth Park
  • The Leader: A Sleek Modern Petaluma Department Store
  • Treasures from the Sonoma County Archives
  • The Architect and Architecture of a Petaluma Iron Front
  • 100 Year Old Railroad Trestle to Riverwalk

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Architecture
  • Archives
  • Bookmobile
  • Breweries
  • Fairs and Expositions
  • Fun Finds
  • Historic Penngrove Residence
  • Historic Petaluma Church
  • Historic Petaluma Commercial
  • Historic Petaluma Residence
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Libraries
  • Organizations
  • People
  • Petaluma Parks
  • Petaluma River
  • Railroad
  • Signs
  • Sonoma County Canneries
  • Sports
  • Transportation
  • Uncategorized

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Receive New Posts by Email

Copyright © 2023 · Katherine J. Rinehart, Historian · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy