Knothole Gang
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Currently, popular use of the concept of the Knothole Gang is a minor league baseball promotion used by many of the minor league teams as a special ticket package for children (usually no more than 12-14 years of age) in an effort to bring more families out to games.
An example of teams using the promotion:
- Billings Mustangs - $12 38-game season pass
- Jupiter Hammerheads - $15 free admittance to Tuesday games
- Rochester Red Wings - $3 ticket on selected games
- Palm Beach Cardinals - $15 free admittance to Tuesday games
- Syracuse Chiefs - $15 Sunday game activities
- Wichita Wranglers - $10 10-game pass
In addition to game admission, souvenir t-shirts, meet-the-players autograph days, and free or discount merchandise may also be included in the membership.
Historically, the St. Louis Cardinals are recognized as sponsoring the first "Knothole Gang club". A quote, from Baseball Though a Knothole - A St. Louis History by Bill Borst, pages 38 - 39, tells the story. "W.E.Bilheimer, a St. Louis insurance man, introduced the idea of a 'Knothole Gang'. With each fifty dollars worth of stock purchased [in the Cardinal franchaise] went one bleacher seat that was opened up free of charge for the city's youth." The date was the beginning of the 1917 season. This came about as part of the plans when Mrs. Helen Britton sold the Cardinal's club to a "fan syndicate from the city's prominent businessmen that formed an army of stockholders", page 38.
The knothole gangs came about naturally as professional ballparks were first being built with wooden fences. Kids without the price of a seat would find that the wooden fences surrounding the parks provided spy holes to watch the games for free. These holes were created when knots in the wood popped out. Naturally gangs of kids gathered around the knotholes.
In the late 1880s (perhaps 1889) - New Orleans Pelicans owner Abner Powell promoted the first knot hole gang when he allowed kids to watch free if they showed good behavior.
The Brooklyn Dodgers gave over 2 million free passes to kids during the 1940s and '50s. A photo of youngsters laying on the pavement to grab a view from under the center field gate at Ebbets Field, circa 1930s, can be seen at the following link.
