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March 11, 2021

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HAPPY FELTON’S KNOTHOLE GANG

Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a pre-game baseball show that actually brought young baseball players of Little League age to the ballpark, allowed them to show their skills to a major league star with the winner of the competition getting a chance to talk with his favorite player. It was the kind of show that achieved something baseball is struggling to achieve today – that is getting more young kids interested in baseball and making many of them lifelong fans. The show debuted 71 years ago in a place called Ebbets Field when the Brooklyn Dodgers were one of New York’s three big league baseball teams. It was called Happy Felton’s Knothole Gang.

The name goes back to the early days of the game, when kids would look for a knothole in the old wooden outfield fences so they could get a glimpse – any kind of glimpse – of a major league baseball game. But the knothole gang we’re talking about here was the brainchild of Francis J. Felton Jr., better known as “Happy,” a former vaudeville performer and orchestra leader, a big guy who played college football but who always wanted to be a baseball player. He knew his great size would preclude that, once saying, “I was a perfect circle. How could I be a perfect catcher?”

Felton met Walter O’Malley one day on a tuna fishing excursion and they got to talking. That’s when Happy mentioned his idea for a TV program that would bring young baseball players to Ebbets Field for a pre-game show in which they could interact with the big leaguers. O’Malley, then vice-president of the Dodgers, liked the idea and brought it back to team president Branch Rickey, who gave it the green light. Happy Felton’s Knothole Gang began in 1950 before all Dodger home games, and continued right through the 1957 season. Unfortunately, it didn’t follow the team to Los Angeles.

Here’s how the show worked. It went on the air 25 minutes before home games at Ebbets Field began. Happy Felton was down in the right field bullpen and he would speak to the three contestants, all of Little League age. Next he would introduce one of the Dodgers players who would work out the youngsters and judge them on fielding ability, speed and overall baseball skills. All three would receive gifts of baseball equipment for appearing on the show and the winner would return the next day with an opportunity to speak with his favorite Dodger.

It was a simple concept and a popular one, with the kids expressing their love of baseball and then having it reinforced by being around the big leaguers. Other kids would be in the nearby stands to watch the competition and see the players. The show was credited for increasing interest in Little League and sandlot baseball all over the city. Proof of the pudding was that it lasted for eight seasons until the Dodgers moved to the west coast.

Happy Felton also did a post game show called Talk to the Stars, where he would sit between a Dodger and opposing player and take phone calls from fans with questions. He’d ask the fan who he or she wanted to speak with. It was more often the Dodger player, but the fans also had a chance to speak with opposing players. Felton was always a genial, smiling host who obviously enjoyed his work.

The Knot Hole Gang was the kind of show that really brought baseball to the kids in a refreshing and honest way. The players obviously bought into it and enjoyed working with the kids and giving them tips on playing the game. It’s certainly something the game could use today, especially with young kids seemingly gravitating to other sports as baseball’s demographic ages. And, of course, there were many more day games back then, so other kids had a chance to watch and dream their own baseball dreams.

With the Dodgers getting ready to move to the west coast, Happy Felton began hosting a children’s quiz program in 1957 on WCBS-TV called “It’s a Hit,” which aired Saturday mornings at 11:30 a.m. He died on October 21, 1964, at the age of 56.

The following video is a complete episode of Happy Felton’s Knot Hole Gang, with Jackie Robinson working with the contestants and the last winner talking with Pee Wee Reese. Enjoy something great from long ago, but something that should still resonate today.

Bill Gutman

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