Edward Gerrity Remembers Jimmy O'Neill and Minooka Blues

This is My Town by Edward J. Gerrity
Scranton Times

September 1976

This is a story that can appropriately be title, “The Last of the Blues”—the famed Minooka Blues, a baseball team organized in the very early 1900s that won acclaim nationwide for its smart and brilliant playing on its home field in Minooka and on lots faraway from home, too. It was a selected group of youths that was taught the diamond sport from A to Z, and in their first three seasons, there was not a single defeat marked on their outstanding record.

On last September 5, James O’Neill of Mercersburg, a former Minooka resident who had played shortstop for the Blues and whose diamond performances attracted a scout for the Washington Senators and later was signed for the start of a major-league career, died in Mercersburg. So far as can be ascertained, he was the last survivor of the great Minooka Blues.*

Jimmy came from a family of brothers who graduated from local sandlots to the major leagues in the early 1900s. Jimmy played two seasons with Washington in the early 1900s. Jimmy played two seasons with Washington in the American League in 1920 and 1923. His brother, Steve, who was the star catcher in his days with the Blues, signed with the Cleveland Indians as a maskman and was an outstanding fellow who handled all types of pitchers while at Cleveland from 1911 to 1928. Sports writers termed Steve as the best catcher in baseball at that time.

Anthony :"Tone" Walsh, Last of the Minooka Blues, Remembers

Anthony Walsh Remembers “Quick Moves”

Last of the Blues Still Active

By Bill Mang, Scranton Sunday Times Sports Writer

Anthony “Tone” Walsh certainly hasn’t contemplated stealing any bases in a good many years. As a matter of fact, his quickest moves now come when he takes his leisurely walk to church every Saturday evening.

Walsh, an 86-year-old lifelong Minooka resident, is the last living member of the legendary Minooka Blues. The Blues played baseball some 70 years ago at old Burke’s Field in Minooka. They were a neighborhood group of 12-15 year-olds, who made a habit of beating the stuffings out of teams composed of players twice their age.

The team included four players who went on to play in the major leagues, including Steve O’Neill, who caught for and later managed the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers; Mike McNally, who was an infielder with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees; Jimmy O’Neill, who was a shortstop for the Washington Senators; and Charles Shorten, who became an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox.

Walsh, who was joined on the team by his brothers Mike and Pete, was the Blues’ second baseman.

And while the aging process has dulled the speed of the legs, his mind quickly recalls those enjoyable years from 1906-09 when he was helping the Blues win game after game.