Bealls founder's love of baseball made Bradenton big-league city

BRADENTON -- It's safe to say Bradenton wouldn't have spring training baseball and McKechnie Field, let alone an updated version of it, if it weren't for Bealls.

Bealls Inc. founder R.M. Beall was enamored with America's pastime as professional baseball teams made their way to the Sunshine State in the early 1900s.

Beall convinced St. Louis Cardinals owner Sam Breadon to make Manatee County the team's springtime home, bringing the first major league spring training game played on the Gulf Coast south of Tampa Bay when the Cardinals faced the Boston Braves on March 16, 1923.

Breadon owned an orange grove in Manatee County, giving Beall a connection to the owner. But what sealed the deal for the move from Orange, Texas, was Manatee's promise to build McKechnie Field and a pledge by Beall to sell $2,000 worth of tickets, according to "The History of Baseball in Florida and Manatee County," penned by former Bradenton Herald sports editor Jabbo Gordon.

R.M. "Bob" Beall II, chairman of Bealls Inc., remembered how special baseball was to his grandfather when R.M. Beall watched a young Bob Beall play Little League and the Boys Club teams.

"It was certainly important to my grandfather," Beall said. "There wasn't much football in those days. That was the sport, as you

know. I think it was a real coup to bring a team here for spring training."

Before the Cardinals came, Beall kept up with another professional league, the Florida State League, where he started a team called the Bradenton Growers that played from 1919 to 1926 at the Ninth Street Park before heading for McKechnie Field. They didn't field a team in the 1921, 1922 and 1925 seasons.

The Growers received more day-to-day attention from Beall, though.

"Beall had the biggest financial interest and considered them his team," Kent Chetlain, a historian and former Bradenton Herald sports editor, said in a 2010 interview. "He told me, 'I was such a fan, whenever we played at home I'd close my store and go to the game.' He said Sheldon Moody, the big local banker at the time, told him if he kept doing that he was going to go broke."

The younger Beall hasn't kept up with baseball much, nor has the company. Getting its name out there with professional sports teams isn't a goal of the company anymore.

But Trevor Gooby, the Pirates' senior director of Florida operations, still considers Bealls to be a major partner. Bealls will sometimes send employees to help out at the ballpark, Gooby said, and Bealls will team up with the Bradenton Marauders in the summer for a series of promotions to honor the 100th anniversary.

"It's definitely a neat partnership the two organizations have," Gooby said. Fans will see a Bealls $5 coupon on the back of their ticket at games and concerts, but don't expect to see a stadium or arena called the Bealls Center or Bealls Field.

That type of marketing wouldn't be productive for Bealls, said Conrad Szymanski, a member of Bealls Inc.'s board of directors.

"Today, those are very expensive propositions," said Szymanski, a cousin of Bob Beall. "Let's say you want to be a pewter sponsor of the Tampa Bay Bucs, which they came to us and offered us. That number approaches a million bucks. You have to weigh that money against advertising in the Bradenton Herald and we chose to advertise in the Bradenton Herald."

-- David Wilson, Herald sports reporter, contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bealls founder's love of baseball made Bradenton big-league city ."