From Painesville to the pros, Tommy Atkins' baseball trek fascinates (Part 1 of 2)

Jul. 4—First in a two-part series

Deep in the pages of the April 1919 Anvil, Harvey's yearbook which in that era was released twice a year as a booklet, the brief history of baseball at the school is shared.

"Baseball began in Painesville High School in 1897," yearbook staff writer Hal Critchet stated, noting the school's best seasons to date.

Then came a curiosity-piquing proclamation:

"The greatest player produced by P.H.S. is pitcher Tommy Atkins."

That statement may still ring true more than a century later.

Fascinating in its nuance, in less than four years Atkins went from high school baseball in Painesville to a World Series championship club in Philadelphia.

And the latter didn't even produce the biggest crowds before which the left-hander parlayed his craft.

Such a tale demands to be unearthed as best it can from the dust pile of history under which it sat.

Atkins was born Dec. 9, 1887 in Ponca, Neb, in the northeast corner of the state about 90 miles south of Sioux Falls, S.D. He was the fourth of six children to father Ernest, who was listed in the 1900 United States census as a nursery man, and mother Lillian.

Being from a town that small "ought to be fame enough for any ball player," it was written in his 1910 Reach American League preview player profile.

"But Tommy has been increasing his right along. When he had reached the age of 3, his parents disregarded Horace Greeley's advice and moved East instead of West. They settled at Painesville, which is something over 20 miles outside of Cleveland. He pitched for the local high school there, and, being something of a rangy kid, made good."

Atkins got his first local mentions for his baseball acumen as a sophomore in the spring of 1905.

The April 20, 1905 edition of the Painesville Telegraph carried a headline after a 21-2 rout of Chardon that read, "Atkins, the Colt pitcher, twirled good ball," after he had struck out nine.

In a 4-3 win over Oberlin Academy on May 31, his dominance continued.

"Atkins, the high school's young sophomore southpaw, proved a wonder," the Telegraph reported. "His cool and heady work in the box, his easy control and puzzling curves gave him complete power over the academy boys who made but four hits off his delivery while they fanned the air 13 times."

The lefty closed the year with a 4-0 win over Willoughby on June 7, as he "pitched in great form and pulled himself out of a number of tight places," with a one-hitter and 14 strikeouts.

It was his junior campaign against a predominantly Cleveland schedule in 1906, however, that shot his trajectory into the stratosphere.

Cleveland South found out the hard way in a 4-0 loss to Painesville in early May.

"He certainly pitched the game of his life, striking out 16 men and allowing no hits," the Telegraph stated. "The way Atkins shot the ball over the pan made the South high bunch gasp."

Then Cleveland East found out, as Painesville doubled it up, 6-3, on May 6. Atkins fanned 17, scattered five hits and aided his own cause at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs and a steal.

The Cleveland newspapers began to take notice as well, with the Cleveland News lauding Atkins: "Tommy Atkins was planted the mustard hue of glory when the game was finished. ... He fairly ate 'em alive. They had nary a chance against his benders."

Cleveland Central was considered the class of Northeast Ohio that season. So shock emanated May 14, when Atkins tossed a two-hitter and logged 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 Painesville win.

Four days later, Oberlin struck out 17 times against Atkins in a 6-1 loss.

Painesville went 9-2 that spring, both losses coming to Central as Central claimed the mythical Northern Ohio high school championship. Central got a rubber match to decide matters May 25 after the first two meetings were split, and despite 13 strikeouts by Atkins, Central won, 3-1.

In the nine games from which pitching statistics were available that year, Atkins recorded 120 strikeouts. The Telegraph noted following the season he hit .275, good for second on the team, and was fourth in fielding percentage at .946.

The higher ranks took notice.

In the summer of 1906, Atkins toiled in the amateur ranks with American Clay Working Machinery, English Woolen Mills and the Cleveland Spauldings, in all instances padding his strikeout totals. He also got a brief look from a semi-pro club in Akron.

Upon signing with Akron on June 13, the Telegraph reported, Atkins "showed such class against the Cleveland high school teams that soon afterward Akron gave him a trial."

Atkins' form was so good he earned a national mention in Sporting Life magazine for its June 30, 1906 edition.

"Tommy Atkins, the Painesville High School boy secured to pitch for Akron, is touted as a wonder," Sporting Life described. "Atkins is 19 years old, is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds and is of stocky build. He is strong and has great steam and good curves."

Atkins, seemingly due to his pitching propensity to earn a living, did not complete his senior year of high school and graduate with Painesville's Class of 1907. He is not listed in the school's 1925 alumni directory, which listed all of the school's alumni to that date since the 1860s, and later census records noted he had made it to the 12th grade.

Akron's manager had him earmarked for a return in 1907 despite going 2-4 in his 1906 trial, and Atkins signed with that club March 7.

In previewing the team's season in its April 7, 1907, edition, the Plain Dealer wrote: "Atkins went to the league last season and early developed a strut that interfered seriously with his pitching. A setback or two did Tommy some good, and he is training this spring along different lines. He is a left-hander, and with the right kind of coaching should make good."

Unfortunately, his Akron stint was brief, as he was released three days later, deemed surplus to requirements after three new signings.

That summer, Atkins toed the rubber for semi-pro teams in Beaver Falls, Pa., Richmond, Va., and Birmingham, Ala., according to Society for American Baseball Research and Sporting Life archives.

But his biggest success came pitching for Bay City in the South Michigan League. There, he got another Sporting Life mention following a 13-strikeout game, and finished the year 19-11 with 215 strikeouts.

That reclamation in Bay City caught the attention of the Atlanta Crackers, a Southern League outfit, for the 1908 campaign.

"Atkins, who used to pitch for Painesville High and incidentally make the local high school sluggers whiff as fast as they came to bat, is now a full-fledged professional," the PD reported in its Jan. 5, 1908 edition.

Atkins tried out for Atlanta and didn't make the club, but garnered enough respect for him to be farmed out to Augusta in the South Atlantic League in 1908 "for a year's training," per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"Atkins' age was against him on the local team, but he has promises and shows signs of developing."

For Augusta, Atkins went 6-7 and did enough to earn another attempt at making the club in Atlanta in 1909.

Did he ever. He tossed a two-hitter for Atlanta on May 2 and fanned eight, taking a no-hitter to the seventh in a 12-0 rout of Nashville.

"I tell you there's class to that Atkins," Atlanta manager Billy Smith told the Journal-Constitution.

Atkins was considered the ace of the staff as Atlanta went on to win the Southern League pennant.

In the process, Major League Baseball came calling.

Jack Horner, who doubled as an umpire for Southern League games in Atlanta and a scout for the Tigers, was effusive in April.

"That Atkins is the best southpaw I have seen this year," Horner said, via the Telegraph. "... His nerve is something the like of which I never saw before. ... I don't see how Atkins can fail to make good. Of course he is in good company, but don't let that worry you."

By July, Atkins had competition for his services. In addition to Horner and the Tigers, the then-Philadelphia Athletics sent scout Sam Kennedy south several times to watch him pitch.

"More than one scout has taken a long look at Tommy in the last few weeks, and there has not been one who failed to speak well of him," the Telegraph gleefully noted back home in its July 23, 1909 edition.

The following day, it came true.

Kennedy signed Atkins to a major-league contract with the A's, with the agreement he would join the club after Atlanta had finished its season.

"Among the number who will graduate to fast company (from the Southern League) is southpaw Tommy Atkins of Atlanta," the Cleveland News stated Sept. 6. "... Atkins hails from Painesville and was the crack pitcher of the high school team there."

In three years, Atkins had gone from the high school diamond to being under Connie Mack's watchful gaze with a World Series contender in the A's.

And the journey had only just begun.

In Part 2, Atkins pitches briefly but memorably for the A's, then goes on to find more success even after his MLB career had concluded.