Kenosha News

Two teams combined to form Twin Sixes in 1925

BY DIANE GILES

dgiles@kenoshanews.com

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The last History Mystery question:

In the 1920s, the Simmons Bedmakers and the Nash Motormakers were hot rivals in the semi-pro Midwest League. When the two teams combined in 1925, what did they name the new team?

Answer: The Twin Sixes, named for the two companies’ new products: the Simmons’ twin beds and the Nash’s six-cylinder cars.

The name isn’t nearly as compelling as the reason behind why they combined the team.

The teams were sponsored by the two largest Kenosha industries of the day, Simmons Mattress Co. and Nash Motors.

Both companies had sponsored ball teams for years: Simmons starting in 1919 and the Jeffery team had begun in 1916, before Charles Nash bought the company.

Both teams had grand stadiums: Nash on 52nd Street near 27th Avenue and Simmons on Sheridan Road at 78th Street, where it still stands today.

In 1920, the Bedmakers joined the Midwest League, known as the “outlaw” league because of the fabulous salaries that lured major league players.

In the four years the Bedmakers played in the MWL, big leaguers like “Wee” Dickie Kerr, and Jocko Conlan of the White Sox, Johnny Hughes of the Milwaukee Brewers (No, not the Braves) and Dick Spaulding, who went on to coach the Phillies, were listed on the Bedmakers’ roster.

All of the hullabaloo was a thorn in the side of the Nash team: they had been playing ball in their own stadium long before there even was a Simmons Field. The MWL only allowed one team from a town of our size and the Motormakers were left out in the cold, green with envy.

It was the beginning of the baseball rivalry that just about split the town in two.

In the 1921 season, the powers-that-be put together a five-game series between the two Kenosha teams.

Both shops closed down for the afternoon on the series game days and at the first meeting on Aug. 25, 1921, the police were called down to the park four hours before the game to control the crowd.

The Bedmakers swept the series, and mysteriously, after the Bedmakers last home game on Oct. 6, 1921, a fire broke out that could be seen for miles and destroyed the park, including all the team’s equipment.

It was rumored that Nash fans were responsible, but no arrests were ever made.

The Nash Motormakers were admitted to the MWL in 1923 and Kenosha had a real hurricane on its hands. They had lured Ollie O’Mara and Walter Kinney from the Bedmakers to put on the Nash uniform and play in their new athletic field.

For two seasons, the rivalry continued drawing thousands of people into both stadiums, but the fights that broke out, the gambling and the people under the stands nipping flasks of prohibition booze cast a dark shadow on the sport.

The consolidation of the two teams may have started with a conversation between A.H. Lance, vice president at Simmons and Walter H. Alford vice president at Nash.

The merger was an attempt to curb the community violence and vice, but despite the team winning the league championships in 1925 and 1926, without the rivalry, fan interest faded.

In 1927, financial backing of the club was with withdrawn by both companies and the team folded soon after.

This week’s mystery:

Who brought his popular Wild West Show to the Bonnie Hame area in 1909?

History Mystery appears weekly in the Kenosha News. The answer to today’s question will run next Tuesday.

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