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- From: "Arkansas of the Years" by Fay Williams and C.C. Allard Copyright 1953 The Hurley Company, Inc. Camden, Ar.
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Ray Winder Arkansas' Mr. Baseball.
«/u»«/b»Baseball is the great American game. Isn't that right?
Baseball is the king of sports. Who doubts it?
And here in Arkansas, when you mention the name of Ray Winder, the next remark is likely to he something about the Travelers. Isn't that the truth?
He has been general manager of the little Rock baseball club since 1946. However, his first association with the club began in 1915. Mr. Winder's chief aim is to provide the type of entertainment the people of Little Rock demand, and his efforts have been successful in this project.
What are the Travelers going to do this season?
To that question he replied. "All right. We'll wind up in the first division. We are going to get some additional players in a few days. But I never venture a definite prediction on any club - ours or any of the rest of them."
But of one thing you can be sure-Mr. Winder has signed up same of the best players in the minor league class, and he is determined that the hungry public of 1953 shall be fed on good honest baseball.
Two interests, two hobbies and two means of livelihood have governed his entire life -horses and baseball. And if the automobile had not revolutionized our day-to-day pattern of living, it is very probably that Ray Winder would have still been operatmg that flourishing business handed down from Grandpa's beloved era - the livery stable business.
Coming from stout Hoosier pioneers, Ray Winder was born at Indian Springs, Ind., Feb. 5, 1885. At the age of 20, with his parents and on sister, he left the Wabash country and came to Little Rock. His father purchased the livery barn at 310 Louisiana. Keeping horses and vehicles for hire "as quite a trade in those days; especially was this true in towns the size of Little Rock where many local citizens, having no place to keep their own steeds, turned them over to the liveryman to board. He also provided sheds for their buggies. His duties were many: proper feeding and grooming were all-important and keeping the various types of carriages clean and shining was no small job. But it was while busy at this sort of work that Ray Winder made his first contacts with the people of Little Rock and the surrounding country.
It is interesting to learn that there was a stable across the street from Winder's, located where the Gazette Building now stands; another such business thrived where the Oklahoma Tire and Supply Co. stands. After about three years, the Winders moved to a new location at 3rd and Spring and there they enjoyed a thriving business. The clatter of hoofs resounded on three fine hard-surfaced streets: West Markham to Cross was newly paved, Scott Street had been laid with brick and Main was paved with cobblestones.
In the year 1907, Ray went in business for himself at 1516 Scott. He later took his stand at 809 Spring and here he held on - five years too long he thinks. His was the last livery stable to disappear from the scene in Little Rock.
As a natural sequence, he went into the garage business but soon decided this was not for him. As a liveryman, his chief delight and fascination had been horses. Understanding horses, he was successful in handling them. He loved his horses and they loved him. Speaking along this line, Mrs. Winder said, "Ray hated to give up his horse and buggy; he didn't expect to learn to like the automobile. Old Red Kay, his big sorrel horse, was sold to a cab man in Hot Springs. This docile old horse, recognizing Ray's footsteps a block away, would paw the ground anxiously. We never went to Hot Springs without going to see the horse and he always gave Ray the unfailing sign of recognition. On the way home, he would say, 'I just don't believe I should have sold Red Kay.' But the horse had an easy life and when he got too old to work, he was retired to the pasture."
Mr. Winder was a logical man to become a director and later president of the horse show sponsored by the Junior League which became an annual event of a few years ago. It was inaugurated to obtain funds for establishing and maintaining a speech correction school for children with speech defects.
But what had happened in the world of baseball? How did it get to be big business? And how did Ray Winder get so absorbed with the busmess of baseball?
Someone has said that America and baseball met each other when both were young and grew up together. The ancestor of the game was the old English "rounders" which, to the early American settlers, was known as "town ball." Modern baseball originated with the old Knickerbocker Club of New York City which published the first rule book in 1845. From that time, the game, while undergoing many changes, steadily increased its hold on the American people. During the Civil War the game became a favorite pastime, and at the close of the war, it was carried by returning soldiers to every section of the country, north and south. Amateur and professional leagues sprang up with increasing rapidity. In 1871, the National League was formed and in 1900, the American League. A number of minor leagues were organized throughout the country. The present Southern 1eague, with Little Rock becoming one of the original clubs of the association, was formed in 1901.
Franchises were cheap at one time in the Southern. In 1909 Chattanooga purchased the franchise and all the players on the Little Rock roster for $12,000. One player may cost that much or more these days. But temporarily losing a Franchise could not quench the undying spirit of baseball. The "City League" took the place of the Southern league until the year 1915. At that time, through the effort of B. C. Allen who purchased the Montgomery franchise, Little Rock again obtained a berth in the Southern Association.
At this time. Ray Winder went to work for the Little Rock club, first as a ticket seller and next as road secretary. He had played amateur baseball and, during the franchiseless days, had enlisted with the City League.
However, he claims that, as a player, he was "the world's worst." He was catcher, and one day when he went to bat, he got a hit, making it safe to first base; then the pitcher proceeded to catch him off base. As far as anyone knows, that ended his career as a player, and he became more interested in the administrative end. While with the amateur clubs, he held the place of official cashier and business manager, thus getting a foretaste of the responsibilities he was later to assume in the minor league club.
His ability was demonstrated by his climb from an amateur baseball player to the owner and winner of two pennants in two succeeding years. In 1921, with the Chickasha franchise, he won the pennant in the Western Association, and in 1922, the franchise being transferred to Joplin, he repeated with another pennant, which was followed by a post-season victory over Sapulpa of the Southwestern League. In 1923, while he still owned and operated the Joplin club, he only missed the pennant by two points.
Strange as it may seem, his attendance in Joplin fell off in 1923. People seemed to be tired of the monotony of having no competition and said, "We are going to win anyway. What is the use in going out to the ball park?"
During the years 1924-26, Mr. Winder owned and operated the Muskogee club. The first year, he finished in third place and in 1925, his team was defeated in the playoff. The year of 1927 he was back with the Little Rock club and the next season, he became president of the Knoxville club of the South Atlantic League. Leaving Tennessee, he returned to Little Rock in 1929. The following year, Ray Winder became the "miniature golf king" by building and owning three miniature golf courses in Little Rock. However, the popularity of the game faded out as quickly as it floated in. So he returned to the perennial favorite -- baseball.
This was the year of 1931. R.G. Allen, president and owner of the Travlers, retired after 16 years with the club and Roy L. Thompson, H. Grady Manning, Al C. Jones and other Little Rock businessmen purchased the holdings of Mr. Allen. Ray Winder became business manager for the new owners of the Southern Association franchise and he has been with the club in some capacity ever since.
Actually, the Little Rock baseball club has had only four presidents; Aaron Frna, R.G. Allen, Roy L. Thompson and John P. Baird.
In 1944, Willis Hudlin and Ray Winder purchased Roy Thompson's stock, and two years later, Joh P. Baird and Mr. Winder purchased the stock belonging to Mr. Hudlin. As it stand today, John P. Baird is principal stockholder in the Little Rock baseball club and Ray Winder is second.
The first baseball field of mond memories was old West Eng Park, now included in the ground covered by the Senior High School and studium. Kavanaugh Field, completed in 1915, was for many years the ball park de luxe. The Travelers' present home was completed for the opening season of 1932.
The first night game played in the Southern League was in Little Rock, June 21, 1930. Little Rock beat BIrmingham in 10 innings. Col. Bob Allen introduced night ball in the Southern. Until then, the standing excuse for men to get away from work to attend the afternoon ball game was to say their grandmother had died. And no matter how many times grandma was said to have passed away, the excuse was valid.
Little Rock has won the pennant four times; In 1920-37-42 and 51. The attendance record for those four years is interesting when you remember that in 1920, we had no night games and no Sunday baseball, but we had a record attendance of 165,127. In 1937, with night games and Sunday baseball it wasn't so good; we had 162,503. Gasoline was rationed when we won in 1942, so our crowd dropped to 98,461. The year of 1951 our attendance was the best yet -- 225,780. As any baseball fan knows, the best team does not always win the pannant. Mr. Winder thinks that Little Rock never had a better team than in 1951, but we failed to win. We got started too late.
It so happened that one of the most memorable games of history was played June 21, 1940, when Little Rock won over Chattanooga, 7 to 4, after 20 innings. In 1937, the Little Rock Travelers played 10 consecutive errorless games early in the season, among them, two doubleheaders. The errorless streak began April 21 and ended May 2. During the 1940 season Little Rock lost an even dozen in a row from July 30 to August 10. The Travelers had a tough year of it-finishing seventh. The next year, Memphis lost 12 games in a row, too, and that one bad streak killed off the Chicks for the rest of the season. In 1934 it required 22 innings for Atlanta and Little Rock to complete a game. On August 18, after three innings of play, rain stopped the game. Replayed August 25, rain again suspended hostilities with the score a tie of 5 to 5. Atlanta finally won it in 11 innings, 5 to 4, on August 27, when the issue was taken up for the third time.
With 38 years in baseball, you might think that the general manager can take it easy. If so, you are wrong. There is a world of administrative work behind a ball club which the public knows little about. The manager is lkc any other business executive who is buying and selling pig-iron or other raw material - the only difference is that he's buying and selling players' contracts.
One year when the going was rough, a friend questioned, "Well, how is the club coming?"
"Not doing so well," was the answer. "I've got one club on the field, one going and one coming."
Mr. Winder is, seemingly, the father of all his ball players, taking a personal interest in each fellow's problems. Besides social calls from the boys, he receives a number of the most serious business interviews when they come in with long faces to tell him what a tough winter it's been and ask for a slight advance.
In his office at 600 W. Markham, where the group sells its own tickets, is a busy place. From the office, all traveling arrangements, hotel reservations, etc., for the team must be made. Then there are uniforms to be purchased and cared for and they must lay in a supply of balls. The Little Rock club uses about 1,800 to 2,000 balls during the season
Sometimes Mr. Winder gets to see an entire game if the team is on the road. He makes not more than a trip or two a year with them now. But he rarely sees an entire game at home. And when he does, he and Mrs. Winder, who attends the games, too, are about the quietist two people in the ball park. Some nights, if a doubleheader is played, it may be as late as 2 o'clock before he gets away from the park, he is busy checking up concessions, etc. At 8 o'clock in the morning, he is back out there putting things in order. A few years ago, Mr Winder dropped a 200 pound block of ice on his foot while helping with the concessions. With a badly swollen foot and fractured bone, he hobbled out to the park the next night.
A lot of people forget that baseball is business - big business. All the management has to sell to pay expenses is a ball game. Yet, never a day passes that they do not have to turn down people who want to get passes into the game. However, many groups here are admitted free: The Knot Hole Gang of the Little Rock Boys Club; the Junior Deputy Sheriff'sLeague of four or five hundred boys; then they take care of the little leagues over the state; any orphan group is admitted free and so are the patients of the State Hospital and Ft. Roots. Ladies' Night comes each Tuesday and Friday nights when the ladies are admitted on tax and service charge.
Baseball followers are known as fans, short for "fanatics." You can understand it when you hear of people like Claud Ringo, who once lived at 4th and Rock. Mr Ringo used baseball bats in building the banisters of his front porch. And then there is Dr. W.M. Burns, who hardly misses a game.
Looking around the ball park, he remarks to his wife, "Nita Bell, just look at these old people out here. Why, I bet some of them are 70 years old!" The doctor is 75.
Bob Ritchie is a ball fan, too. His friends realizing this, had a nightly private broadcast arranged for Mr. Ritchie about a year ago when he made a trip to the hospital. His picture got in the paper and Mr. Ritchie was slightly embarrassed at appearing in public wearing polka dot pajamas.
You will find ladies among the loyal and devoted fans, young mothers with babes in their arms, grandmothers, like Mrs. J.J. (Mama) Raney leaning on a walking stick. It's a cosmopolitan group you see at the ball park. And it has often been found that after each day's total of hits, runs and errors, the fans are mad with joy or mad with grief -- but always mad.
Mr. Winder finds plenty to keep him occupied between seasons. The first thing he tries to do is go to the playoff in the Southern League; this is followed by the contest with the Texas League, kown as the Dixie Series, and this by the World League Association meeting. This is one he never misses, he has probably been to as many as any man in the nation. It is baseball's biggest winter shwo -- all the diamond bigwigs are there both from the minor and major leagues -- and this where much of the trading takes place, confirmations being made later.
All winter long there are details to be looked afterr: Completing trades, reassembling the ball club, ironing out salaries, keeping up a stream of correspondence, repairing the building and stands at Travelers Field, etc. No sooner does he get out of the turmoil of winter's work than the bedlam of spring training in Lakeland, Fla., begins. But come April, when he finds the park filled with yelling, howling, clapping fans, all whooping it up for the home team, he knows the joy of satisfaction of a man who lives in a world he loves.
Arkansas sportswriters come up ever so often with the declaration that this state has produced more big names in baseball than any other one state. Here are some who went to the big leagues via the Travelers: To the Chicago White Sox, went Bruce Campbell, Ed Lopat, Frank Papish, Leroy Schalk, Joe Erautt, Bobo Newsom and Charley Grimm. To the Boston Red Sox: Leo Nonnenkamp and Tom McBridge. To the Philadelphia Athletics, went Bill McGehee and Dib Williams. "Buck" Fausett progressed via Little Rock to Cincinnati; Al treichel to the Boston Braves; Marlan Stuart to Detroit; Clem Koshored to Pittsburgh; Bobby Mavis to Detroit; Bill Dickey to New York Yankees; Travis Jackson to the New York Giants; Fred Marberry, Bing Miller and Jim McCleod to Washington Sentators; "Baby Doll" Jacobson to St. Louis Browns; Mose Yellowhorse and "Bubber" Jonnard to the Pittsburg Pirates. This list far from complete, but from it, you can see that Ray Winder has signed up some of the biggest men in baseball.
The "Baseball Blue Book" is the official administrative manual of the major and minor leagues, and he practically has it memorized from cover to cover. Mr. Winder knows all the men who have been in baseball for any length of time -- club owners, officials, trainers and players. In 1937 Doc Prothro said that he would rather take Ray Winder's judgement of a player than that of any man he knew. Willis Hudlin has complimented Mr. Winder's baseball acument in the same way. Others have commented that Mr. Winder is highly respected for his fair dealing and sincerity of purpose wherever he has come in contact with other baseball officials throughout the United States.
Ray Winder was alderman from 1932-1940, being a member of the board when the new water system was installed, the city auditorium built, highway 10 paved. This was also the time that 12th Street was widened and the overpass and underpass built on 14th and 7th Streets. Tom Gulley happened to be an alderman at the same time, so when Tom had to run, he claimed credit for these improvements, and later when Ray had to run, he claimed all the credit. It seems that both men know how to play a little politics as well as baseball.
Mr. Winder is a Rotarianand a member of the Chamber of Commerce of both Little Rock and North Little Rock. For several years, he has been amember of the Oakland Cemetery Board. He and Mrs. Winder attend the 1st Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Winder was formerly Miss Fora Karr of Little Rock.
According to the analysis of many business men of Arkansas, Ray Winder is a great asset to the state. Thousands of ball fans -- with fervor akin to patriotism -- find joy and relaxation from this great national pastime.
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1885 - 1967 (82 years)
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