Pretty excited to add this Three I League official ball for my Bloomers collection. The Illinois Iowa Indiana (3 I or 3 Eye) League was around from 1901 to 1961. the Bloomers (aka Blues, aka Cardinals, aka Bengals, aka Cubs) were a part of the league from 1902 to 1939. This ball is from the 50s based on Totten being league president. Maybe someday I’ll find an official ball from when the Bloomers were active, but I’m happy to have this in the meantime.

This is a Type-1 photo of Herman Schwartje (misspelled “Schwartze” on the back) posing at old Fans Field in Bloomington. On July 27, 1925, Herman threw a perfect game for the Bloomers against Springfield (IL) in a Three-I League game and this photo was taken for newspaper coverage. I love this photo for a number of reasons. It gives us a glimpse of Fans Field (gone for decades), the conditions of the field, and even a few fans in the stands. Additionally, the Society of Baseball Research, refers to this image as one of the earliest examples of minor league teams using uniform numbers.