In the early decades of the last century, baseball was the national pastime. Literally. People did not just watch it, they played it. Companies had teams. Towns had teams. In fact, there was a league of town teams in southern Illinois called the “Hard Road League.” Carterville, Herrin, Marion, Harrisburg and Johnson City were members.
Albert Bleyer, who was born in 1898 and lived in Carterville, loved baseball, but he was only a fair player. He was, however, something of an entrepreneur.