Muncie Reds

• Location: Muncie, IN
• League: Ohio State League 1947; Ohio-Indiana League 1948-1950
• Affiliation: Cincinnati Reds 1947-1950
• Ballpark: McCulloch Park

The Muncie Reds were the second Class D team to play in the town of Muncie, Indiana, following the Muncie Fruit Jars by nearly forty years. The team was founded as the Muncie Packers by the Marhoefer Packing Company. After securing an affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds, the team's name was changed to the Reds for the 1948, 1949 and 1950 seasons. The team played for a year, 1947, in the Ohio State League before becoming a member of the newly formed Ohio-Indiana League, where Muncie and Richmond were the only Indiana teams in the league.

In total, the Muncie team played for four years and during that time played all their home games at McCulloch Park. The team was managed for their entire existence by Mike Blazo. He managed them to a record of 303 wins and 249 losses for a .549 winning percentage. The team would never place first or win a league championship, but they did make the finals of the playoffs twice. Future Cincinnati Reds standouts, Joe Nuxhall and Wally Post, played for the 1947 club and were among seven players who would later play in the majors

1947 Muncie Reds (Packers)

The 1947 Muncie Reds (Packers) (from left to right):
Front Row: Flynn, Locke, Purdue, Montag, Ford, Ensley, Mello
Middle Row: Gatjanis, Shank, Lamont, Trava, Spaziano, Foster, Miller
Top Row: Myers (business manager), Florence, Venn, Dickinson, Lanning, Hilderbrand, W. Post, E. Post, Blazo (manager)

1947 Muncie Reds (Packers) Team & Individual Stats

FIN	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Manager
3rd	75	62	.547	13	51,834	Mike Blazo

Team Batting 1st

G	AB	R	OR	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	SO	RBI	LOB	AVR
137	4591	852	747	1267	1762	212	86	37	95	152	707	45	872	684	1075	.276

Team Fielding 3rd

G	DP	PB	PO	A	E	PCT
137	98	15	3608	1518	288	.947

Marion defeated Muncie 4 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs.

Batters and Statistics

Name	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	RBI	SO	PCT
Tom Florence	98	386	81	136	196	19	16	3	7	18	52	2	94	35	.352
Al Spaziano	92	285	46	92	119	16	1	3	4	7	40	5	45	40	.323
Bob Montag	82	301	90	95	173	16	10	14	1	11	71	1	79	60	.316
Len Lamont	123	462	82	140	218	34	10	8	9	11	76	6	72	87	.303
Tom Gatjanis	38	150	22	45	64	7	3	2	1	1	17	0	25	27	.300
Spike Foster	111	421	80	126	177	29	8	2	9	20	65	3	51	110	.299
Don Kirby	30	94	14	27	37	5	1	1	0	4	15	1	13	21	.287
Billy Ford	86	309	52	88	116	10	9	0	9	6	39	3	37	65	.285
Howard Locke	127	481	110	130	162	13	8	1	21	48	108	4	58	71	.270
Fran Shank	49	165	32	43	59	9	2	1	4	0	29	3	25	31	.261
Bob Mello	67	254	40	63	81	10	4	0	8	3	31	7	32	40	.248
Tommy Venn	61	221	26	54	67	8	1	1	4	4	17	1	29	36	.244

Pitchers and Statistics

Name	G	CG	W	L	PCT	IP	AB	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HB	WP	ERA
Edward Post	41	19	19	8	.704	245	912	181	91	55	112	203	5	6	2.02
Jim Hilderbrand	11	3	3	2	.600	71	251	53	38	23	68	46	5	1	2.92
Dick Mix	10	4	6	2	.750	66	259	69	40	24	44	35	0	1	3.27
Wally Post	40	11	17	7	.708	184	716	179	98	68	87	167	3	10	3.33
Joe Nuxhall	18	7	7	7	.500	100	337	55	62	42	145	119	9	20	3.78
Virgil Dickenson	29	7	4	11	.207	126	504	135	88	57	74	85	3	10	4.07
Ken Lanning	25	0	3	2	.600	73	275	68	48	39	70	61	7	8	4.81
Glenn Purdue	13	0	2	4	.333	47	182	47	37	27	37	38	4	4	5.17
Elmo Commotti	7	4	3	2	.600	51	212	67	32	30	17	26	2	0	5.29
Ed Moeller	15	2	4	4	.500	56	242	78	51	45	38	20	4	3	7.23

Source: Baseball Guide and Record Book 1947 edition. Note: Records of games at Dayton on August 23-24 are not included in the team and individual statistics due to failure of the official scorer to report them.

1948 Muncie Reds

The 1948 Muncie Reds (from left to right):
Front Row: Gerard, Snuggs, Valentine, McConnell, Ford, Ensley
Middle Row: Dartt, Davis, Santora, Nieman, Sutton, Striegel, Greene
Top Row: Wilson, Trava, Hemmel, Bush, Kaufman, Miller, Blazo (manager)

1948 Muncie Reds Team & Individual Stats

FIN	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Manager
3rd	80	59	.576	2	50,925	Mike Blazo

Team Batting 2nd

G	AB	R	OR	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	SO	RBI	LOB	AVR
139	4740	818	769	1290	1895	216	85	73	59	222	629	27	825	682	1090	.272

Team Fielding 1st

G	DP	PB	PO	A	E	PCT
139	89	29	3584	1469	302	.944

Muncie defeated Portsmouth 4 games to 0 in the first round of the playoffs. Muncie Lost to Zanesville 4 games to 2 in the final round.

Batters and Statistics

Name	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	RBI	SO	PCT
Bob Nieman	138	507	117	186	318	45	9	23	2	23	99	1	131	57	.367
Bob Dill	94	276	65	93	170	25	11	10	1	8	88	0	76	41	.337
Mike Blazo	28	91	9	29	42	5	1	2	1	1	9	2	18	6	.319
Billy Ford	138	536	103	168	228	28	13	2	12	12	85	3	69	79	.313
Harold Treinen	77	298	63	90	151	17	7	10	4	38	16	0	57	49	.302
Walt Polinski	49	203	31	61	86	10	3	3	1	2	22	0	36	21	.300
Joe Sutton	113	434	104	123	169	21	8	3	10	67	67	5	38	46	.283
Wilbur McConnell	80	219	14	59	76	2	6	1	0	0	20	2	31	19	.269
Carl Bush	138	546	72	142	206	23	10	7	1	13	31	3	102	77	.260
John Moore	43	156	23	39	48	7	1	0	3	0	16	3	10	27	.250
Arnold Davis	92	350	70	87	150	7	13	10	5	19	63	4	56	75	.249
Wayne Carlson	115	417	73	99	121	10	3	2	6	16	80	1	39	78	.237

Pitchers and Statistics

Name	G	CG	W	L	PCT	IP	AB	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HB	WP	ERA
Larry E. Miller	32	15	16	7	.696	179	690	158	82	63	65	133	5	6	3.17
Grant Eoff	9	4	4	2	.667	60	227	49	31	24	40	68	1	5	3.60
Ray Trava	37	14	15	9	.625	215	857	210	130	89	112	207	5	5	3.73
Harold Ensley	40	6	12	7	.632	186	693	143	122	85	167	218	9	17	4.11
Leon Snuggs	19	0	3	1	.750	46	182	48	32	21	35	50	2	5	4.11
Ken Lanning	18	7	9	7	.563	116	440	109	72	54	96	103	1	4	4.34
Corky Valentine	23	7	7	9	.438	116	466	111	88	59	99	80	9	5	4.58
Stan Kauffman	31	2	7	6	.538	114	450	129	75	59	58	58	1	6	4.66
Don Striegel	16	1	2	6	.250	64	249	70	68	57	96	40	5	9	8.02

Source: Baseball Guide and Record Book 1948 edition.

1949 Muncie Reds

The 1949 Muncie Reds (from left to right):
Front Row: Sumwalt, Rozanno, Juliano, Stephenson, Scrgo, Adams, Holdren
Middle Row: Sasso, Ewen, Lamb, Kruer, Bycofski, Sinn, Ruehl, McMahon
Top Row: Settles (business manager), James, Miller, Ross, Fisher, Ralston, Dana, Stewart, Blazo (manager)

1949 Muncie Reds Team & Individual Stats

FIN	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Manager
3rd	75	63	.543	5.5	49,004	Mike Blazo

Team Batting 2nd

G	AB	R	OR	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	SO	RBI	LOB	AVR
139	4687	856	747	1277	1753	208	74	40	79	172	725	42	913	704	1152	.272

Team Fielding 3rd

G	DP	PB	PO	A	E	PCT
139	96	18	3583	1518	316	.942

Muncie defeated Springfield 3 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs. Muncie Lost to Marion 4 games to 3 in the final round.

Batters and Statistics

Name	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	RBI	SO	PCT
Harold Treinen	74	296	60	109	172	22	10	7	4	22	17	2	59	40	.368
Joe Juliano	126	419	80	136	177	19	5	4	14	15	63	4	73	40	.325
Louis Ruehl	102	400	83	125	181	25	11	3	3	21	72	0	64	46	.313
Rocco Sgro	139	536	115	155	183	13	3	3	8	27	86	8	70	91	.289
Vic Fleming	76	202	22	57	76	13	3	0	2	1	12	2	36	18	.282
Edward Ralston	130	482	91	134	197	26	8	7	5	23	76	5	91	92	.278
Joe Lamb	102	351	69	97	154	23	8	6	1	7	76	3	55	77	.276
Sal Sasso	121	442	115	121	161	22	3	4	10	29	123	3	62	62	.274
Ron Melgaard	74	278	52	76	94	10	4	0	7	12	31	1	41	24	.273
James Fister	36	125	22	32	46	3	4	1	1	8	30	0	33	33	.256
Edward McMahon	54	205	26	46	58	7	1	1	2	4	16	0	16	57	.224
Robert Hirsch	37	149	20	33	51	7	4	2	1	1	9	2	18	46	.221

Pitchers and Statistics

Name	G	CG	W	L	PCT	IP	AB	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HB	WP	ERA
Stan Kauffman	14	3	4	1	.800	62	244	66	33	18	18	32	3	1	2.61
Max Sumwalt	25	9	12	3	.800	123	481	106	56	38	40	90	5	4	2.78
Ed James	17	10	8	4	.667	120	480	129	57	37	41	89	0	5	2.78
Maurice Fisher	14	6	5	7	.417	96	370	80	59	34	50	60	5	10	3.19
Michael Bycofski	13	5	4	3	.571	63	260	70	44	25	35	42	4	2	3.57
Ed Kruer	20	11	10	7	.588	133	516	115	76	56	76	88	4	9	3.79
John Stewart	10	5	5	2	.714	53	210	54	27	25	26	46	1	3	4.25
William Sinn	18	3	5	4	.556	80	323	90	47	38	37	65	7	6	4.28
Tony Danna	25	5	4	7	.364	108	432	125	86	60	79	79	1	7	5.00
Jerold Riddle	17	5	7	6	.538	94	366	102	68	55	70	61	3	6	5.27

Source: Baseball Guide and Record Book 1949 edition.

1950 Muncie Reds

The 1950 Muncie Reds (from left to right):
Front Row: Long, Sumwalt, Brown, Melgaard, Messina, Calacurcio, Gross
Middle Row: May, Bycofski, Lamb, Thornton, Bowman, Blazo (manager)
Top Row: Crook, Rhame, James, Shaulis, Sweeney

1950 Muncie Reds Team & Individual Stats

FIN	W	L	PCT	GB	Attend	Manager
5th	73	65	.5289	17	39,354	Mike Blazo

Team Batting 5th

G	AB	R	OR	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	SO	RBI	LOB	AVR
139	4650	797	789	1229	1870	208	85	88	49	72	666	37	1070	679	1097	.264

Team Fielding 7th

G	DP	PB	PO	A	E	PCT
139	93	35	3540	1371	331	.937

Muncie did not qualify for the playoffs, finishing fifth behind Springfield with a .5289 percentage to Springfield's .5294.

Batters and Statistics

Name	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	SH	SB	BB	HB	RBI	SO	PCT
James Brown	63	192	50	67	121	11	2	13	1	5	46	1	45	33	.349
Billy Bowman	96	314	47	102	144	16	7	4	2	2	44	1	62	33	.325
Charles Thornton	37	139	29	44	63	9	5	0	0	2	25	3	23	25	.317
Joe Lamb	99	357	70	105	151	19	9	3	1	3	69	4	50	70	.294
Vic Fleming	40	133	19	39	57	7	4	1	1	0	7	2	22	21	.293
Walter Sweeney	128	479	77	137	231	33	11	13	3	14	37	9	82	93	.286
Don Jostworth	115	454	87	129	167	12	13	0	4	20	73	3	38	56	.284
Robert Shaulis	118	415	74	110	180	15	8	13	3	4	65	5	62	112	.265
Frank Calacurcio	135	492	105	130	195	20	9	9	11	8	79	5	55	110	.264
William Bunch	117	422	71	99	180	20	5	17	1	3	70	5	85	130	.235

Pitchers and Statistics

Name	G	CG	W	L	PCT	IP	AB	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HB	WP	ERA
John Stewart	16	11	8	5	.615	104	381	81	34	28	43	105	1	9	2.42
Don Gross	30	17	15	7	.682	187	704	158	80	65	61	169	5	6	3.13
Ed James	23	12	10	8	.556	178	741	203	118	85	59	117	1	7	4.30
Prentiss Rainey	13	3	4	3	.571	77	520	88	48	38	33	50	3	5	4.44
Max Sumwalt	34	16	16	10	.615	211	826	207	136	110	90	193	7	6	4.69
Bob Crook	27	9	8	9	.471	129	510	131	93	69	70	88	6	10	4.81
Buster Rhame	14	5	5	5	.500	91	358	95	65	49	57	70	1	8	4.85
Robert Long	18	2	3	4	.429	51	201	48	39	28	42	62	1	11	4.94

Source: Baseball Guide and Record Book 1950 edition.

After the Ohio-Indiana League season ended the Muncie Reds suspended operations, becoming the last professional team to play in Muncie, Indiana. See where the Muncie team called home by Clicking on McCulloch Park to visit that page and view more history of that era.

Former Muncie Reds In 1951

The 1952 Issue of the Official Baseball Guide reveals that a number of one time Muncie Reds players enjoyed more than ordinary success during the 1951 season. Here are some capsule reports on some of the players, and please excuse me if some have been overlooked.

AAA LEAGUES

International League (AAA)--Wally Post, Buffalo, batted .306 in 111 games. He had 21 home runs and and batted in 65 runs. Sent up to the Cincinnati Reds near the end of the season, he batted .220 in 15 games. He fielded .980 with Buffalo.

American Association (AAA)--Bob Montag, Milwaukee, batted .256 in 86 games, hit 9 home runs, and batted in 86runs.

AA LEAGUES

Texas League (AA)--Bob Nieman, Tulsa-Oklahoma City, led the league in batting with .323, including 14 home runs. He batted in 144 runs.

Joe Nuxhall, Tulsa, had a won-lost record of 13-22 in 43 games and an earned run average 0f 3.43. He issued 102 bases on balls.

South Atlantic League (A)-- Harold Treinen, Columbia, batted .265 in 85 games. He hit 14 home runs and stole 9 bases. His fielding percentage was .982.

Charles Messina, Columbia, batted .263 in 33 games at shortstop and fielded .893.

Ed Ralston, Columbia, batted .247 and fielded .910 in 66 games at third base.

Daniel (Buster) Rhame, Columbia, had no decisions in 13 games as a pitcher.

Al Spaziano, Savannah, batted .238 in 89 games as a catcher.

A LEAGUES

Central League (A)--Max Sumwalt, Charleston, won 10 while losing 5, in 29 games, and was involved in one tie game. He had an earned run average of 3.45, fielded 1.000 and batted .261. His hits included one home run.

Ken Lanning, Charleston, won 8 while losing 7 and had a 4.17 earned run average. He fielded .929 and batted .160.

Lloyd (Spike) Foster, Charleston, batted .193 and fielded 1.000 in 18 games in the outfield.

Jimmy Brown, Charleston, batted .240 in 100 games. He fielded .984 in 68 games as a catcher and .950 in 14 games in the outfield.

Eastern League (A)-- Carl Bush, Schenectady, batted .273 in 140 games at first base. He hit 8 home runs.

B LEAGUES

Piedmont League (B)--Leonard Lamont, Newport-News, batted .260 in 142 games. He hit 12 home runs and scored 77 runs.

C LEAGUES

Pioneer League (C)--Bob Crook, Ogden, won 7 while losing 2 in 20 games. He had an earned run average of .526.

Joe Lamb, Ogden, batted .258 and fielded .975 in 80 games at first base.

Charles Messina, Ogden, batted .257 and fielded .917 in 95 games at shortstop. He hit 8 home runs.

Bill Bowman, Ogden, batted .231 in 12 games as a catcher.

Don Jostworth, Ogden, batted .191 in 14 games as a shortstop.

Maurice Fisher, Ogden won 7 while losing 6 in 30 games and had an earned run average of 4.02

Don Gross, Ogden won 10 while losing 4 and had an earned run average of 1.11. He was in 16 games.

D LEAGUES

Appalachian League (D)--Bob Crook, Welch, won 7 while losing 1 in 14 games and had an earned run average of 2.31.

Bill Bowman, Welch, batted .308 in 40 games as a catcher.

Joe Lamb, Welch, batted .246 and fielded .968 in 18 games as a first baseman.

Daniel (Buster) Rhame won 9 while losing 4, in 17 games, and had an earned run average of 3.56.

Ralph Mason, Welch, won 9 and lost 14 in 37 games and had an earned run average of 4.77.

Prentiss Rainey, Welch, pitched in 12 games and had no decisions.

Frank Calacurcio, Welch-Kingsport, batted .291 in 71 games at second base.

Mike Blazo, Welch, Manager-Catcher, batted .225 in 28 games as a catcher. He hit one home run and led league catchers in fielding with a .994 average.

Alabama-Florida League (D)-- Tommy Venn, Tallahassee, batted .315 in 82 games, including 8 home runs. He is a catcher.

Coastal Plains League (D)--Harold Ensley, Roanoke Rapids, won 4 while losing 3 in 11 games. He had an earned run average of 6.32. He also was with Concord in the North Carolina "D" league, winning 7 while losing 11 in 22 games. He had an earned run average of 5.22.

SOURCE: 1952 Official Baseball Guide and The Muncie Morning Star Newspaper Archives.

Muncie Reds that Made It To The Major Leagues

The following players played for the Muncie Reds and later played in the Major Leagues:

• 1947: Dale Long, Joe Nuxhall, Wally Post
• 1948: Bob Nieman, Corky Valentine
• 1949: Maurice Fisher
• 1950: Don Gross

Sources

Stephenson

• Pictures, captions, history, most of the statistics and information for this page were furnished by Bob Stephenson who was employed by the Muncie Reds team, during those memorable years.

• 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950 Baseball Guide
• Muncie Newspapers, Inc., archives