Then and Now: Answer Edition

Last week, after a brief false start, nine of you correctly identified the location of our . Reader Mary Ellen Sierzega was the week’s winner, as she was the first to recognize the photo as DeSanno Field.

Via the Phoenixville Historical Society:

DeSanno Field, under construction in 1952 at the corner of Mason and Wheatland Streets, is the home of the Babe RuthLeague. The building in the background is the old Phoenix Iron rolling mill.

Recognizing the need for a place for kids to play baseball after Little League, a local group organized a league for players between the ages of 12 and 15. Initially the teams played in the “Little Bigger League” which is one step up from the Little Leagues, but within a few years they joined the Babe Ruth League. Mr. A. P. DeSanno donated the property next to the DeSanno factory building for the new field.

The field was not a level lot and it needed much grading in order to build a good baseball field. Fritz Shoemaker, a foreman at the Iron Company helped by providing slag and fill and a bulldozer to grade and level off the field, the slag to provide a solid base for the fill to be put on top.

The original league management in 1952 consisted of Fritz Shoemaker, George Pufko, George Howard and Paul Custer. The teams were the Red Sox (managed by Jack Reifsnyder), the Cubs (managed by Jim Vojcsik), the Indians (managed by Tom Byrne) and the Braves (managed by Fritz Shoemaker).