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.

A Day in the Life of Steve O'Neill - 1935

Scranton Republican - August 7, 1935

Down Minooka Way - 1914 -- Baseball Memories

Scranton Republican - June 27, 1914

Memories of Steve O'Neill by Scranton Newspaperman - 1935

Minooka, Pa. - Famous for Baseball

Boston Sunday Post - February 16, 1919

Scranton, Pa. – Columns have been written about Ireland’s saints and scholars, and columns can be penned about Minooka’s Big League players and sailors. Each place has been given fame and honor through its particular products.

TOWN IS FAMOUS

Steve O'Neill

Through its famous sons, the name of Ireland will always be known throughout the world, and through the boys, Minooka has sent to the baseball circuits and the patriotic young men it has given to Uncle Sam’s service, especially the navy, it has gained a reputation that makes it foremost among the small towns that dot the United States from coast to coast.

Minooka is a mining town. Mining is its one real industry. It is part of Lackawanna Township and is located a short way from Scranton. Three quarters of the population is of Irish descent and it is a real family town. Every person knows the other. In it, one’s troubles become his neighbor’s troubles, and the same with joys and pleasures. It is an extraordinary town in more than one respect, but of course, its chief claim to fame rests in its baseball products, its large representation in the U.S. Navy, and while it may sound peculiar, in some of the freakiest mine caves that the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania turn out. That’s going some, too.

The town we speak of is the home of Steve O’Neill, crack catcher of the Cleveland Indians, of Chick Shorten, who recently moved to Detroit from Boston in a trade, and of Mike McNally, the Red Sox infielder who shook mitts and talked with King George. It is a town that sent the famous O’Neill brothers’ battery to the majors; the town that developed Tom Philbin, former professional catcher and more recently a Detroit scout.

Within a few miles of it, Hughie Jennings, manager of the Detroit Tigers, was born, and on its lots, the present boss of the Bengals played many a game that helped fit him for fame and fortune on the diamond.