The Ball Players of the Plutos & Sprudels, and Their Major League Connection

 

The West Baden Sprudels baseball team, early 1900s.

You may have heard recently about Major League Baseball’s decision that players from Negro Leagues are now considered Major Leaguers.

That means several players who once donned French Lick and West Baden uniforms have finally been elevated to pro status.

If the thought of organized baseball in our small towns sounds farfetched, well, believe it. From around 1909 to the mid-1910s, two semipro baseball teams thrived here. Made up primarily of hotel employees, the French Lick Plutos and the West Baden Sprudels borrowed their team name from the mascots associated with the mineral Pluto Water and Sprudel Water the hotels were famous for.

Look closely and you can find baseball diamonds
in early historic photos of West Baden (top) and
French Lick Springs hotels. The West Baden baseball
field was enclosed within the double-decker
bicycle track.

Each hotel had a baseball diamond on property, and baseball was played regularly during the warm-weather months, primarily as a spectator sport for hotel guests. They actually called their two-team association the Springs Valley League. In 1909, the Plutos dominated the series with a 126-20 record.

Meanwhile, a young man named C.I. Taylor was building the Birmingham Giants into a powerhouse of the South. The Giants were comprised mostly of top players from Southern black colleges, and Taylor’s own brothers made up a third of the team. The Giants knew of French Lick and West Baden after a swing through Indiana playing a series of games against the Indianapolis ABCs.

Sensing opportunity in Indiana, C.I. Taylor relocated with his family and some of the Giants to West Baden with the idea of settling in the Springs Valley. They instantly breathed new life into the Sprudels. In the month-long stretch at the beginning of the 1910 season, the Sprudels and Plutos faced off 19 times, with West Baden owning a 12-5 advantage with two games ending in a tie because of darkness. The Sprudels had finally flipped the competitive balance. And during this era when both hotels were under separate ownership, baseball further stoked the rivalry between the two towns.

The Famous Taylor brothers: "Candy Jim,"
"Steel Arm" Johnny, C.I., and Ben
(left to right).

C.I. and his brothers were known as The Famous Taylors. “Candy Jim” Taylor was a player/manager who played immaculate defense at third base. Johnny “Steel Arm” Taylor earned his nickname thanks to the zip on his pitches. Ben Taylor, the youngest of the four, was a pitcher/first baseman and the most accomplished of the bunch, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

C.I.’s Sprudel teams also featured guys with those classic, memorable baseball names: Bingo Bingham, Dizzy Dismukes, String Bean Williams, Doc Wiley, Morten “Specs” Clark (known for his glasses), Tullie McAdoo and George Shively. As the Plutos made counter-moves to bolster their roster, they brought in new players like Bingo DeMoss who’s renowned as the best second baseman in the early era of baseball. (And also one of a handful of players who played for both the Sprudels and the Plutos.)

The French Lick Plutos

All those players eventually moved on to careers in the Negro National League, which was formed in 1920 as the first sustained major professional league for African American baseball. Even though the Plutos and Sprudels were independent squads, they were a legit factor in this era of baseball. They scheduled games again other affiliated Negro League squads of the era, and even white MLB teams like the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. Both the Sprudels and Plutos played 100+ games in a seasons and took road trips to other cities, further proof that they were de facto professional teams.

Now, more than a century later, these players who doubled as waiters, porters and bellmen are finally getting their due as Major League Baseball stars. Yet another fascinating thread in the fabric of our history at French Lick and West Baden Springs Hotels. You can discover even more history about the Plutos and Sprudels within the African American history exhibit at the French Lick West Baden Museum.