When I was a young child growing up across the street from White Park in Concord, I was very fortunate to have my thirst for history quenched at a very young age. My neighbors were lifelong residents of our town and they told stories day after day, sitting on park benches. Unknown to this six-year-old boy, I was experiencing history on a first-hand basis, a rich history that included real life experience from my neighborhood several decades prior. I would listen and learn and ultimately remember those stories, ones that I share with you to this very day.
My neighbor was a sweet old man, kind and friendly and willing to always share a story with me. He would walk down the street with his cane in hand, and his gold rimmed glasses sparkled in the summer sun. He would approach our front door and rap on the door with his cane. When my mother answered the door, he would say “Can Jimmy come out, good day for a walk down to the park.” My mom would retrieve me and I would walk the rest of the way into White Park as my old friend chatted about his own childhood growing up in Concord in the 1890s.
His name was Donald Angwin but he told me to call him “Shammy.” He said everyone calls him that, since he was a young boy. We would find a park bench over by the baseball field and he would start telling me about his days playing for the early Sunset League. He told me he played third base for the Sunset League team “White Park,” and he was pretty good. He told me all about winning the championship back in 1921 too.
We would drift to other conversations from time to time, but it always seemed to return to baseball. If you visit White Park today, you are visiting the historic place that was home to the Sunset League. The State of New Hampshire erected a sign long ago telling about the Sunset League history. “The Sunset League, the oldest after supper amateur baseball league in the United Staes, was officially organized here at White Park in 1909. The original teams were the Haymakers, the Old Timers, the Sluggers and the White Parks. Rich in history and tradition, the league was the training ground for stars such as Red Rolfe of the New York Yankees. Games continue on this original site.” The sign shares some wonderful facts and allows the common visitor to reflect upon what once was.
But I had something within me that nobody else had. My friend was Shammy Angwin, and we spent countless hours sitting on a bench together in White Park discussing baseball time and again. I learned many things about the early days of Sunset League. I also learned first hand about what transpired before there was an organized Sunset League in 1909.
The park was established in 1884 when the City of Concord accepted the gift in the form of a deed from philanthropist Armenia White. She donated White Park in honor of her late husband Nathaniel and hired landscape architect Charles Eliot to design the land with careful attention to detail starting in 1888. The project was completed in the 1890s and we now behold the beautiful results of this effort.
It was about the year Shammy was born in the early 1890s when children gathered at White Park each day in search of activity to quell their adolescent energy. The Sunset League was still several years in the future when boys would gather at White Park to play a game they called “Scrub.” This early version of baseball involved the loss of many balls and there were no uniforms, rules or baseball gloves in many cases. The town elders were very glad to see the new park was being used by the children and supported them in any way they could. The lost baseballs were quickly replaced by the old time fans watching the children at the park. The boys kept playing and became quite accomplished baseball players as the years progressed toward the turn of the century. With the help of park officials and fans that attended the youthful but unofficial baseball games after supper each evening organization was on the horizon.
A league was formed with the blessing of the Concord Park Commission and the first teams were established. There were only four teams as the sign at the park tells us; the Haymakers, Old Timers, Sluggers and White Parks. Equipment was distributed as well as uniforms. A Sunset League president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and board of directors was elected for each baseball season.
Each team player was handed a copy of the rules and all players were required to live in Concord or at least work in Concord for a period of four weeks prior to the start of the baseball season. The Sunset League season started in May and ended on Aug. 1 with all games beginning promptly at 6 p.m. If the field was damp, the Concord Fre Department would sound off the fire horn loudly with two blasts signaling the game cancellation.
Shammy and I would discuss the rigors of the seasons in those first years. There were challenging times and there were most enjoyable times for the Sunset League. World War I arrived and so did the Spanish Flu. The Great Depression also visited as well as World War II. The Sunset League survived year after year, decade after decade. At the end of each season there was a celebration with an outing and banquet. The people that watched the games after supper each evening supported the teams; the hill was full of spectators and those attending donated generously to keep the games going.
As the 1960s progressed Shammy encouraged me to help the Sunset League when I could. I spent many a game as a “batboy” with my reward being the team gifting me the broken bats. Tom Curtis from the Sunset League promoted me one summer to managing the scoreboard alongside White Street. An old pine board painted dark green with bent and rusted numbers to keep track of the team scores. After a few games I actually got quite good at keeping score. Mr. Curtis would always buy me a snow cone off the ice cream truck for helping with the scoreboard.
I remember when Shammy passed away back in 1972. I stood at the scoreboard diligently and honored his memory in my own way. How I missed my old neighbor. Years pass and sometimes memories do fade, but I will always remember my days with my good friend Shammy Angwin, third baseman for the White Park Sunset League team.
It was not until many decades later when I found a picture of a young Shammy Angwin with his White Park Sunset League 1921 Championship team. There he was, second row second in from the left seated with his team. I sometimes look at the old picture and say his name. I hope he knows what an impression he left on this young boy from the 1960s. Rapping on our door with his cane and walking to the park bench for discussions about baseball. The sun glittering on his gold rimmed glasses. He was my first history teacher and I was his first student.