LEBANON VALLEY BASEBALL LEAGUE COLLECTION, 1936-1963 
#67

(.3 cubic feet)

by Robert S. Harding, 1983

Introduction

Ray Darnbach of Richland, Pennsylvania, a trucker in Lebanon since 1916 , was an officer of the League for at least 25 years. He kept the scrapbook of the League games and events from 1936 through 1961, except for 1962 and 1963 seasons,. By March 16, 1963, he had gone to the " big diamond in the sky" as one newspaper report put it.

The collection is a detailed history of the League and includes names of the teams which played, reports of the games, problems attendant to both professional and amateur status of a minor baseball league, and standings. It contains newspaper stories, letters and memorandums.

The Lebanon Valley Baseball League was started in 1931 and was amateur through 1934. The players were paid in 1935 but the League folded in 1939 because the teams couldn't meet their payrolls. The league was reorganized in 1941 on a strict amateur basis. Because of World War II, the league was idle in 1943, 1944, and 1945. From 1946 through 1963, the League played every summer season.

Information in the collection includes several problems areas: players and manager criticism of the quality of umpires, getting stories to certain press people in a timely fashion, and internal friction within teams.

Scattered throughout the articles about the Lebanon Valley Baseball League are newspaper clippings about major league games, well-known sports figures such as Connie Mack, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and a few write-ups of World Series. There are also stories and pictures of boxing, bowling, swimming and other sports events.

One scrapbook, seemingly started in 1935 with items added until 1945 has an eclectic flavor. Besides Lebanon Valley Baseball League articles, there are pictures and newspaper clippings of the killing of John Dillinger, the Bruno Hauptman trial, the Dionne quintuplets and floods in Pennsylvania.

Scope and Content

The Lebanon Valley Baseball League collection was originally a series of scrapbooks, kept annually, of newspaper write-ups of the League games through the baseball season. It is interspersed with some correspondence regarding League affairs. Also include are pictures and stories of major sports events which presumably were of interest to the owner.

This collection is of interest to persons studying amateur baseball from 1936-1963 in minor league: how it was played, how it was written up some of the problems, and the dedicated persons who kept the game and League going.

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