(To listen to the audio of this blog post, use the purple play button.)
Ballplayer, Tank Commander, and Lawman
David Orville Mathias, known as “Matty”, came to Hutchinson, Kansas, in March 1934 to play professional baseball for the Hutchinson Larks. Born in Merom, Indiana, June 24, 1906, he was stretching it to play with the ball team which had an age limit of 26.
The Hutchinson Larks existed from 1934 through 1938 (when it became the Hutchinson Pirates through 1942). It was in the Western Association of class C teams. The Larks became a St. Louis Cardinals affiliated team 1935 through 1938.
Facing the 1934 Hutchinson Larks in the Western Association were the following teams: Bartlesville Redwings, Joplin Miners, Muskogee Tigers, Ponca City Angels, and the Springfield Cardinals.
The Hutch ball games were held at Carey Park “under the lights” as night-time baseball became popular. Single games started at 8:30 p.m. Price of admission was sometimes advertised as 25 cents for ladies and 40 cents for men, other times as “25 cents Everybody”, although booster nights allowed fans to watch the game for free if they had acquired a ticket from a local business.
Cold beer was available for purchase by adults who wanted to cool off and relax in the summer heat. It was a brief diversion from the region’s dust storms and the country’s Great Depression.
Children, including my father who was 14 years old, would chase foul balls and home runs. They would either return the ball to a team representative for a small reward or keep the ball for their own ball practice.
Many youngsters dreamed of becoming a big-league star like Lou Gehrig, Carl Hubbell, or Jerome “Dizzy” Dean.
In 1934 the Hutchinson Larks, managed by Boyce Morrow, finished in fourth place with a record of 66 wins and 68 losses. Mathias, a “big right-handed” pitcher accumulated a season record of 15 wins and 12 losses, and an ERA of 4.47. He performed in front of many of the 43,941 fans who attended the home games.
After one season on the team, Mathias played ’35 in Omaha and part of ’36 in Houston.
Matty and Ruth McFadon married April 25, 1936. They had met in 1934 when Matty came to Hutchinson and became one of the ballplayers renting space at the McFadon boarding house.
After making Hutchinson his home in ’34, Mathias worked the off-season and later year-round for service stations in Hutchinson. In the course of Matty’s workday he occasionally learned news helpful to local law enforcement. When he had information to share, he called the sheriff’s department.
It was while he was a service station manager at C. W. Kelly at 30th and Main that Reno County Sheriff Guy Ankerholz drove up to the station and invited Mathias to work for the department. This was 1940-41.
On December 15, 1942, Mathias was drafted by the US Army. In the European Theater, he served in the 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division with Patton’s Third Army and also in the Seventh Army. Mathias became a staff sergeant and tank commander.
He was shipped overseas in October 1944 to Marseilles, France. In March 1945, along the Rhine River in France, he was severally injured by shrapnel which lodged in his back.
Mathias received medical attention at a hospital in Verdun, France, before being shipped back to the States. He continued receiving care at Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and Brighman City, Utah, before his final return home to Hutchinson in December 1945, having earned a Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart decoration.
Ruth Mathias recalled her husband’s war wound and immobility: “Matty’s injury had jammed together some of his vertebrae. He was in a cast from the top of his head to his waist with openings cut out for his face and ears.” She remembered him saying: “If you don’t get me out of here I’m going to eat my way out!”
Mathias rejoined the Reno County Sheriff’s Office about 1950. He served as undersheriff to Victor H. Frazey and then in the same capacity under Sheriff Roy Sheppard.
He ran for sheriff unsuccessfully in 1954 and 1958. After losing to Calvin Sheppard in the Republican primary for sheriff in August 1958, Mathias resigned.
He then worked maintenance at Dillon’s Lake and followed that job as a warehouse watchman for Dillon’s.
Ruth Ann was a lifetime Hutchinson resident. She worked as a bookkeeper and receptionist for Dufek Oil Service Company, and was a bookkeeper for the Hutchinson Welfare Office where she was working when she retired.
Matty died in 1973 at age 66. His wife, Ruth Ann, joined him at Eastside Cemetery, Hutchinson, in 2000. They had no children.
Until next time, happy writing and reading!
This is an expanded version of an article I wrote and published in 1986 for the “Good News Blues,” a Reno County Sheriff Department newsletter.
Jim, thanks for this. This history is so hard to find. My grandfather played around the same era, a bit earlier–1912-15 or so– in KC, for the Blues. I remember his arthritic knuckles from being a catcher before they invent gloves! But almost no history remains of the roster, games, etc. Denise
Denise, Thanks for your comment. What was your grandfather’s name? There’s one website that has a database of players. I’m going to update the little info they have on Orville Mathias. Maybe your grandfather is in the database! Jim
PS–please do share your blogs with the local history and library archives! This is important city history!
Denise
Denise, Thanks for your comment. I did share it with the Hutchinson News sportswriter but now I’ll forward it to the Reno County Museum. Your encouragement has also caused me to think about sending it to the Kansas Authors Club Facebook page. I’ve been limiting my KAC stuff to blogs about writing, but why not a blog that covers historical research and writing? Thanks again! Jim
This is a colorful piece of history. So glad you shared it.
Letty,
Thanks for your comment. Looking back, baseball was real entertainment during the Depression and before TV. Of course, World War II was such a huge part of everyone’s life, that it’s impossible to imagine if you didn’t live through it.
Jim
Jim,
I really liked the story about Matty.
Tom
Tom, I thought about you and your dedicated service on Memorial Day. But anytime is a good time to thank you for your military service. Thanks for giving so much! Jim
Playing minor league baseball was and still is a tough row to hoe but it sounds like Matty enjoyed it. We all tend to forget the sacrifice that was made by many during WW2 (the “big one” as my mom, who served in the Navy, always called it). I like how you’ve given us a full picture of his life.
Shayne, Thanks so much! That means a lot coming from you. You’re a masterful historian and writer. Your stories at Captured and Exposed are always fascinating. Yes, none of us can really understand WWII unless we were part of the effort–working, fighting, sacrificing. Jim
Jim, I love history and I love baseball, which means I really enjoyed this blog. My father played baseball at Knox College in Illinois and attended his first Cubs game in 1918 at age 16. Years later my siblings and I accompanied him to many Cubs games, taking the famous “L” from Wilmette which stopped at a station just a block or two from Wrigley Park. He knew the Wrigley family so he could get tickets if a particular game was a popular one with the decent seats already taken. I don’t know if he ever took advantage of their friendship, though, because he wasn’t someone who typically asked favors of people.
Anyway – I know a lot about the history of the Cubs and Sox teams but nothing about baseball, teams and players in Kansas, especially Hutchinson. Thanks for your interesting research. Susan
Susan, thanks so much for commenting! How well I remember growing up going to Cubs and White Sox ballgames. Sometimes we also took the “L” to the ballpark. My dad loved the games! He probably got his start as a fan by attending games at Carey Park and listening to the radio. Jim
Hi. Interesting story about Mathias; must have been a lot of research. Did you ever meet his wife? I love these ‘short stories’ about real people; everyone has a story which will be interesting to one degree or another and you’ve written quite a few. Thanks, Sean
Sean, Thank you for your comment and question. Yes, I did speak with his wife back in 1986. Your question has led me to decide to add a little more to this story. I’ll edit and re-record the audio.
Ruth reminded me how tough things were during the Great Depression. She said that jobs were nearly impossible to find and if you had one it wasn’t any income.
She also recalled that Matty’s shrapnel injury had “jammed together” some of his vertebrae. He was in a cast from the top of his head to his waist with openings cut out for his face and ears. She remembered him saying: “If you don’t get me out of here I’m going to eat my way out!”
Hi. Hard to imagine a cast like that. Probably the sort of man who really would have eaten his way out. Sean
Hi Jim, Enjoying your Sandhenge posts. Larry
Larry, Thanks for letting me know. They are fun to research and write. Jim
Fabulous story about a fabulous life.
I probably passed him by at Dillon’s Park and had no idea. Wow! Rock
Thanks, Rock. You know this better than me, in our writing we’re always looking for and finding characters. I expect a little bit of Matty will show up in one of my characters in the near future.