For a print edition, please contact the editor of our Special Publications, Jennifer Mertz.
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STORY INDEX Service still most important product at Ligonier Telephone Co. A black and white sensation: Tiny Screens a big attraction in early years of television A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done Indiana Extension Homemakers better the lives of families Small towns once supported their own movie theaters William Jennings Bryan among among orators at Rome City's Western Chautauqua Dr. David Rogers - Man of mystery, and benevolence DNR restoration programs working: Once abundant wildlife returning to area Rise of girls athletics have changed face of school sports Decades of intramurals: Ruth was greatest player ever: Frick Frick's predictions for 2000 not far off Small Wolf Lake big winner in 1942 basketball regional Four in a row: Finally with a gym of their own, KHS cagers went to 'Sweet 16' four straight years Ink to flow into 21st century at county's newspapers Broadcast media: Manahan was pioneer in Noble County broadcasting WAWK's history dates back to 1959 Health trends: Changes through the century occurred in medicine, health care Scarlet fever, polio were early health scares From sanitarium to partnership: A century of Noble County's medical care Funeral directors ran ambulance service in county prior to '74 'EMS arrives in time for '74 tornado LaGrange County doctors once made house calls by horseback Country doctor delivered babies in his home and drove a Thunderbird Service to mankind condensed to footnotes of history Who are the people of the Amish faith? Two controversial religious sects from the 1970's have impact on Noble County Churches with rich heritages served parishioners in LaOtto, Ege
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Ford C. Frick was reared on Noble County's sandlots Baseball executive
always considered himself a 'lucky fan' ''I'm just a lucky fan.'' That's what Noble County native Ford Christopher Frick called
himself during his nearly half-century association with professional
baseball. The former school teacher turned journalist and broadcaster,
who was a good friend and ghostwriter for Babe Ruth, served as
National League president from 1934-51, and commissioner of baseball
from 1951-65. Frick, who has a large contingency of relatives still living
in Noble County, often talked fondly of his humble upbringing
and his early baseball playing days. Born Dec. 19, 1894, in Wawaka, Frick, at the age of 6, moved
with his family a few miles east to the town of Brimfield. Frick's
father, Jacob, was postmaster in Brimfield and also worked for
the railroad. As a boy, Frick remembered that every vacant lot and every
pastureland was a potential diamond in the small hamlet of Brimfield. His idol as a youngster was Ed Morley of Brimfield, a tall,
lean, broad-shouldered pitcher who played for semi-pro teams
in Toledo, Fort Wayne and South Bend. His love of baseball grew after getting a close-up look at
the Chicago Cubs who played an exhibition game in Kendallville
in the summer of 1907 (the first year the Cubs won the World
Series). The Cubs took on the Kendall-ville Blues at the Noble County
Fairgrounds on the city's northeast side. Frick was among the
youngsters who didn't have a ticket for the game, but sought
a glimpse of the players outside the fairgrounds. ''Among the last players to come along was a smiling, darkly-handsome
chap,'' Frick recalled in his book, 'Games, Asterisks and People.'
''He spotted me, big-eyed and mouth agap, watching in awed silence
as the athletes walked past. He grinned, and said, 'Hi, kid,
want to go to the ball game?'' ''I gulped, and managed to convey the idea that I would,''
said Frick. ''Tell you what you do. Just carry these shoes for me, and
when we get to the gate you just walk in with us. Maybe the gateman
will let you by.'' Frick did exactly as he was told, and the ''miracle'' happened.
Frick walked right in with the players and even got to sit on
the ground alongside the players' bench. Among the famous Cubs playing at the fairgrounds were Joe
Tinker, Johnny Evers and France Chance - the most famous double-play
combination in the history of baseball. (''Tinker to Evers to
Chance'' was immortalized in New York sportswriter Franklin Adams'
famed poem about the national pastime.) That one incident contributed greatly to Frick's lifelong
love of the game. Frick attended grade school in Brimfield and then went to
high school in Rome City, where he graduated in 1910 with 10
other classmates. Frick's first job as a boy was as a newspaper carrier. He
worked in the summer weeding onions, and also worked on the railroad.
He also worked briefly in the offices of Flint & Walling
Co., Kendallville. After high school, he went to Fort Wayne's International Business
College and lived in the Summit City where he got his first taste
of the newspaper business. While taking business classes at the college, he joined the
staff of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. As an office boy and
police reporter, he was paid $3.50 a week. Frick graduated from the business institution and then went
on to DePauw University where he played baseball and ran track. In 1915, he graduated from the university in Greencastle. The next year, Frick joined the Walsenburg, Colo., high school
faculty as an English teacher. He also began working for the
Colorado Springs Gazette and soon gave up teaching to concentrate
on newspaper work. Frick continued his dream of playing professional baseball
and in 1916 he joined a semi-pro team, the Cubanolas at Walsenburg. Newspaper reports claim he had two flaws as a player. The
first was he couldn't throw and the second, he couldn't hit lefthanded
pitching. He hadn't faced much of that back in Indiana. Frick then turned his attention to writing and courting. He
met a girl, Eleanor Cowing, of Walsenburg, who was a student
at the high school. They were married in 1918. The same year he became supervisor of training in the rehabilitation
division of the War Department for four states - Colorado, Utah,
New Mexico and Wyoming. In early 1919, he worked for the Rocky
Mountain News in Denver before moving to Colorado Springs to
open an advertising agency and write an editorial column for
the Colorado Springs Telegraph. He also taught at Colorado College. In 1921, a story broke in Colorado that was the turning point
in Frick's life. A devastating flood hit the area of Colorado
where Frick was living. He was the only reporter the newspaper
had who could cover the story because of the widespread destruction.
He contacted an airplane pilot who flew him over the area where
he got pictures and a story that received great acclaim. Arthur Brisbane, New York editor of the Hearst newspapers,
read Frick's story of the Colorado flood and gave the energetic
young man his biggest career break. Brisbane offered Frick a sportswriting job for the New York
American, an offer Frick jumped at. Two years later, in August 1923, Frick moved to the New York
Evening Journal. While employed there, he covered the New York
Yankees and forged a close relationship with Babe Ruth. He later
became Ruth's ghostwriter and a golf and bridge partner. Frick was living in a dream world. What a thrill it was for
him to watch those great New York teams which dominated baseball.
To report on the careers of future baseball legends like Ruth
and Lou Gehrig was something he never believed possible only
a few years earlier. In May 1930, Frick expanded his efforts to radio and worked
as a sportscaster with WOR in New York. He filled a dual role
until February 1934, when he was named the first director of
the National League Service Bureau, the publicity arm for baseball's
National League. Shortly before his 40th birthday, on Nov. 8, 1934, Frick was
elected president of the National League. He succeeded John A.
Heydler, who resigned because of poor health. One of Frick's first acts as N.L. president was an enthusiastic
endorsement of the proposed national baseball museum and a suggestion
to include a Hall of Fame to honor the game's greats. City fathers in Cooperstown, N.Y., took up Frick's suggestion
and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was built and dedicated
on June 12, 1939. According to his official Hall of Fame biography, Frick as
National League president was instrumental in saving the Brooklyn,
Philadelphia and Boston franchises from bankruptcy, and also
helped place the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh clubs on firmer financial
footing. Some of his toughest assignments were when he was forced to
discipline such well-known baseball characters as St. Louis pitcher
Dizzy Dean and manager Leo Durocher. Frick survived his most burdensome task in 1947 when Jackie
Robinson broke the color line barrier in baseball. He stood behind
the president/general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch
Rickey, who signed Robinson. ''The National League will go down
the line with Robinson and I don't care if it wrecks the league
for five years,'' said Frick. He vowed to ban forever anyone
who tried to halt the integration process. Frick held the position of National League president until
September 1951 when he was elected commissioner. His salary as
commissioner for the first seven years was $65,000 annually. The elevation of Frick to the game's top post marked the end of a long and difficult search by the club owners who could not decide between Frick and Cincinnati Reds president Warren Giles. Some National League owners were hesitant about voting for Frick because there was no apparent candidate to replace him as league president. It was not until Giles withdrew from the race that Frick was elected and Giles took the N.L. post. As baseball's third commissioner, Frick guided the national
pastime through an era of unprecedented expansion and transition,
bringing back renewed stability. During his tenure, the majors grew from eight to 10 teams
in each league, the national television contracts were refined,
and many new procedures were adopted, including the free-agent
draft and the college scholarship plan. As commissioner, Frick helped popularize night baseball and
saw the Major Leagues expand to the West Coast with the New York
Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers moving to California. Frick worked diligently to broaden the international scope
of the game. He assisted groups in Japan, Latin and Central America,
Holland, Italy and Africa, introducing many of the members to
baseball for the first time. After serving two seven-year terms as commissioner, Frick
retired in November 1965. He was inducted into the National Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1970. Frick's health declined in the mid-1970s, and he died on April 10, 1978, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, and a son, Frederick C. Frick, and two grandchildren. He is buried in New York state. Timeline of Frick's life · Born Dec. 19, 1894, in Wawaka, Ind. |
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