The Hopes of Spring ... Our Baseball History

Old Brooksville
Oct 10, 2025
7 min read

Updated: Feb 12

This issue covers our local history of baseball. From the very early beginnings before the Civil War and how it spread to the south and ultimately Brooksville. Along the way we'll see the teams and stories that shaped the character of the game and those individuals who succeeded as well. Baseball has been played in Brooksville since around 1900 by various accounts, but it is also fascinating to see how it arrived here.

Thanks to the following for their contributions

John White

George Allen Jr.

Lou Charity

Hernando County Historical Association

The Smithsonian Institute

Ken Burns

The earliest photographed baseball team, the 1846 New York Knickerbockers. New York teams began around 1842 in the city. By 1861, there were 62 pro teams in the National Association in the North. In 1861, a new team was chartered for Richmond, Virginia, but the Civil War temporarily put a stop to expansion in the South.

Candy Cummings (above), a 5'9" 120 pound pitcher, seen here in 1869 for the Brooklyn Stars, invented the curve ball in 1867 when he began throwing sea shells with a flick of the wrist and noticed how they curved. He quickly utilized this pitch that was considered unhittible by many against Harvard in 1867 and was denounced as "devious" and a "snake."

Shortly after Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, this cartoon depicted his victory over rivals John Bell, Stephen Douglas, and John C. Breckinridge, whose bats are inscribed with their political positions. Lincoln steps on “home base” and holds a split rail labeled “Equal Rights and Free Territory” as a skunk disdainfully raises its tail toward the three losing candidates. The president-elect advises them that to succeed, they “must have ‘a good bat’ and ‘strike a fair ball’ to make ‘a clean score & ‘a home run."

The Civil War ironically did more to promote the game than any other event of that time. By 1860, baseball metaphors were already used in political cartoons, denouncing or praising the new president, Abraham Lincoln. Soldiers were also playing the game in the camps and southern prisoners or vice versa northern boys in southern camps as they both learned the game. Southern boys brought it down home after the war. However, for a while the South was economically devastated and any venture into organized baseball would have been considered foolhardy. By 1870, the game had reached Richmond with an organized team and slowly worked its way to Florida. Keep in mind, the South was still largely an agrarian society and most young men were expected to work on the farm or factory mill and not play games. So it was not always easy to field a team of capable young men. By 1880, there were many teams in Florida. College boys had the head start with a bit more time and money, but slowly hometown teams were sprouting up everywhere, and soon Brooksville would be bitten by the baseball bug.

April 21, 1863 - Union prisoners at a camp in Salisbury, North Carolina face Confederates in a baseball game under guard. Southern exposure to the "Yankee game" led to spreading the game to southern towns once the war was over. By 1880, there were many semi-pro teams in Florida.

Area baseball team (1880). Teams from towns in Central Florida and North Florida began playing organized baseball during the 1880s. After 1885, it was possible for teams to play teams from other towns as travel became easier. Teams were usually made up of young athletic local businessmen.

Neighborhood lads show off their batting styles (1895). Negro leagues were already being established in Florida during the 1880s and 1890s.

Area baseball game (1905). A rather laid-back and casual affair.

The first photographed local team was this 1925 Brooksville team taking on all comers.

During the early days, long before television, live radio broadcasts and cable sports, the only way local residents could see a ball game was attending local baseball games between regional teams. Baseball was the national pastime. Around 1910-1915, baseball cards with stars like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson would appear in cigarette packs locally. Young men like Eddie McIntyre recalled that during the 1930s he would rush to buy a newspaper and read the box scores to see how many hits Joe DiMaggio had the day before. Regional teams had some fierce competition that local newspapers would cover on the front page. Standing, stats and league leaders would be published for the West Coast League in which Brooksville was a key member during the 1930s. Some of us recall during the 1950s and 60s how the World Series would have men bringing transister radios to school to get up-to-date scores. We have one teacher who brought a TV to class and put his science teachings on the back burner as we watched the 1959 World Series instead. During the 1920s to 30s, folks would gather in front of Rogers Department Store to catch live radio broadcasts of the World Series. Baseball was king.

Eddie McIntyre (1937) as a member of the Brooksville Firemen baseball team. McIntyre would go on to be a star in football, baseball and basketball at Hernando High School and was selected by the Orlando Sentinel in 1940 as Florida Athlete of the year. He would later coach football at a Georgia high school and the legendary Ray Guy, an NFL Hall of Fame punter for the Oakland Raiders, averaging 42.4 yards per punt in 14 pro seasons (1973-1986)

1929 Brooksville baseball team. These were home teams that traveled from town to town and drew big crowds before television. A match in Brooksville against a Tampa team drew over 2,000 fans on a Sunday afternoon. The Tampa team featured a young Al Lopez, who became a Hall of Fame catcher and manager. Manager Wilber "Pop" Goode (seated) was a big league player going as far back as 1905 with the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders would become the New York Yankees in 1913.

A rousing baseball game with Brooksville Kiwanis against the American Legion (1930). Local live games were quite common before the days of television and big league radio broadcasts. The big ad was for Celo, a Sarasota based celery soft drink popular time the 1920s and 1930s.

The Hernando High School baseball team were Gulf Coast Champs in 1938.

1st row: Bill Barnett, John Patterson, Roy Austin, L. Hardy, unknown, Abe Surasky, Eugene Hardy

2nd row: Unknown, Eddie McIntyre, Robert Chick, Jake Varn, Chas. Keathley, Weston Evans, Melvin Kelly, unknown, Curry Russell, Frank Hancock, C.H. Luke, Malcolm Shepard, Coach Bill Sult

A Nashville newspaper covers the beginning of Brooksville Spring training for the Tennessee Vols baseball team, a minor league club in the Cincinnati Reds organization. The Vols practiced at what was then called Emerson Field from the mid to late 1950s. Famed country singer Eddy Arnold was part owner and would stay at Brooksville's El Motel.

Kennedy Park Baseball team, Brooksville (1991).

Front row: Travis Delaine, Corey Taylor, Ozzie Whitten, Brian Sanders, Joey Brown, Stephen Cassell and Henry Waddy.

Standing: Coach Daniel Oliver, two unidentified, Desmond Nathan, Clarence Adams, Jamal Williams, Christopher Daley and Coach Raymond Knight

The Hernando Youth League Little Boys (later Dixie League) age 11-12 played in the state tournament in 1959 in Pensacola. They rode this bus and packed their lunches. Pictured in alphabetical order: Bobby Barnett, J.W. Cano, Doug Chorvat, Danny Cimbora, Robert Draper, Henry Griffin, Paul Hlavac, Jerry Jones, Charles Nation, Billy Parker, Bruce Snow, Frank Vohun, Lynn Thompson, David Whitehead and Coach Ernie Raulerson

Hernando High School baseball team 1967 - State Champs - Class B

Front: B. Varn, E. Moen, C. Barnett, G. Ellis, S. Ragan, H. Lee, B. McGee, S. Sharp, K. Frazier

Back: Coach Varn, B. Wilson, L. Farmer, L. Lee, R. Teele, D. Moen, R. Frazier, Asst. Coach Farmer

1976 Hernando High Baseball Team

Top: Asst. Coach Fred Farmer, Ted Farmer, Tim Jinkens, Steve Helms, Rodney Shafer, Alan Chatman, Coach Ernie Chatman

2nd Row: Mike Hill, Curtis Lashley, Mark Steponaitos, Calvin Saxton, Gary Wright

Front: Shelton Lee, Jeffrey Duvall, batboy,Tom Browning

The 1984 Hernando High girl's softball team won the State Championship

Members included: Adriann Platt, Marcey Lee Abrech, Linda Harrison Burke, Shelia Churchill Bonilla, Sarah Huckaby Mamo, Coleen Nelson, Amy Fluman Rettig, LaSonya Stewart Scrivens, Lea Hamilton, Kelly Williams Hale, Tracy Jones Young, Michelle Tallent, Tomyka Donaldson, Darcina Hendricks, Wanda Griffin, Laura Shiveler, Dawn Edwards Quinn, Scorekeeper Paige O'Hearn Dennis, Coach Tom Varn

Hometown boys who made the Big Leagues

Bronson Arroyo (pitcher). Born 1977. Hernando High grad 1995. Played for Pittsburgh (2000-2002), Boston Red Sox (2003-2005), Cincinnati Reds (2006-2013), Arizona Diamondbacks 2014, out with Tommy John surgery 2015-2016, Cincinnati Reds (2017) Best record 2010 - won 17 lost 10. Lifetime record - won 148 games. Also an accomplished guitarist.

Christian Arroyo (no relation to Bronson Arroyo) born 1995. Hernando High Class 5A - Florida player of the year 2013. Selected by the San Francisco Giants (2017), traded to Tampa Bay Rays (2017), Cleveland 2019, traded to Boston Red Sox 2020.

Mike Walker - pitcher, born 1966. Hernando High grad 1984. Pitched for Cleveland 1988-1991, Chicago Cubs, 1995, Detroit Tigers 1996

Wilbur "Pop" Goode - born 1885, pitched 1905 for the New York Highlanders (later named the New York Yankees) Returned as an outfielder and player with Cleveland, Boston Braves, Cubs and Phillies then Chicago White Sox between 1908 and 1918. Came in contact with teammates from the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Later operated a pool hall in Brooksville. Died in 1963.

Don Hankins - born 1902. Hankins' family moved to Brooksville when he was four years old. Pitched for the Detroit Tigers 1927

Wayne Garrett, born in Brooksville 1947, played third base for the New York Mets (1969 World Series champs) until 1976, then Montreal 1976-78, St. Louis 1978