PEORIA SUNDAY MORNING LEAGUE

Ed Saurs

1923-1936 Player & Manager

1941-1977 League President

Ed Saurs is the longest-serving President of the Peoria Sunday Morning League.  After his 14-year playing career, Saurs served as League President for an extraordinary 36 years from 1941-1977.  In 1968, Ed Saurs was recognized by the Peoria Advertising Club (later the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame) as the third recipient ever of the distinguished Neve Harms Meritorious Service Award. 

During his playing days in the Sunday Morning League, Saurs had a career batting average of .274, 187 hits, 14 home runs, and 41 stolen bases.  Saurs played with Peoria & Pekin Union Railway, Illinois Power & Light, Peoria Life Insurance, and Cohen Furniture.  During his nine seasons playing with Cohen, he helped the club to four League Championships.  He served as the Player/Manager for the back-to-back-to-back Championships in 1932, 1933, 1934.  Saurs was the first individual to be inducted into the Peoria Sunday Morning League Hall of Honor in the Inaugural Class of 1975.

Harold Lintz

1930-1942 Player & Manager

1978-1979 League President

From Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Bio: When he was 19 years old, in an era when managers of semi-pro baseball teams were often grizzled and gruff veterans, Harold Lintz managed the E. N. Woodruff team in the Sunday Morning League.  But that wasn't even the beginning and was very far from the end. For over 50 years, Peoria baseball was a vital part of his life, and certainly he belongs in the front row of those select few in our town who should be called "Mr.  Baseball."  You name the level of baseball in Peoria, and Harold Lintz has been a part of it.  He played at both Spalding and Bradley; he's in the Bradley Athletic Hall of Fame. When he was just 16, he managed the Woodruff team in a Junior League. 

In 1928, he won the Peoria City Championship with his young team, then the regional, and finished second in the state tournament played at Wrigley Field.  He served on the Peoria Park District baseball committee and on the Illinois High School state baseball tournament committee. 

At a time when the Sunday Morning League was thriving, drawing big crowds each Sabbath, he was a player, manager, and league officer for a half-century.  He played a major role in developing Little League baseball in Peoria in 1951. He was on the board of directors of the Peoria Chiefs of the Three-I League from 1953 until pro ball left town in 1957. Later, he served on Mayor Dick Carver's committee to bring professional baseball back to Peoria.  Fittingly, he has received the Neve Harms Meritorious Service to Sports Award. This award goes to unselfish people who have given great amounts of their time without compensation to a sport they love.  

During his 13 seasons as a Player & Manager in the Peoria Sunday Morning League, Lintz played with the Allen Lumber Co, E.N. Woodruff Colts, and Commercial Solvents.  He spent 11 years with the Woodruff Colts.  His career batting average was .213.  He finished his career with 107 hits, 59 RBI’s, and 18 SBs.  Lintz was inducted in the Inaugural Class of the Hall of Honor in 1975

W. Lewis Williams

1928-1945 Player & Manager
(and 40 years as secretary-statistician)

From Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Bio: Lew Williams, a former standout Bradley and semi-pro baseball player who has served for 40 years as secretary-statistician of the Sunday Morning League, has won the 1984 Neve Harms Meritorious Service to Sports Award of the Peoria Ad Club.  Williams will receive his award at the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet set for Feb. 16 at the Continental Regency Hotel. The award is given annually to a Tri-County sports figure who has toiled for many years at a particular task without compensation. 

He has serviced the Sunday Morning League for 54 years as player, manager, and officer, putting in countless hours supervising the League's scorekeeping and keeping complete batting and pitching records of every player throughout the season.  He also handles all advance publicity for the League and is the League's contact man for all local media.  Williams is a physical science technician at the Northern Regional Research Center.

During his 18-year playing career in the PSML, Williams achieved a career batting average of .259. He finished with 212 career hits, 819 at-bats, 112 RBI’s, and 31 doubles.  Williams spent nine seasons with E. N. Woodruff Colts.  In addition, he also suited up with Jackson-Keenan Sports for three seasons, Keystone Steel & Wire for two, and finished his career with four seasons on the Commercial Solvents club.  Williams was inducted into the Inaugural Class of the Hall of Honor in 1975.

Charles Thome, Sr.

1923-1959

This 1976 Hall of Honor inductee was an elite hitter that dominated the batting records of the League.  Upon his retirement in 1959, chuck was the all-time Sunday morning League leader in every possible batting category.  He retired the PSML king in hits (480), doubles (80), triples (37), home runs (49), RBI’s (263), stolen bases (117), at-bats (1487), and runs scored (337). 

His career home run record of 49 stood for an unprecedented 60 years. 

His career batting average is .323.  And he won two batting titles, one in 1933 & another in 1935.  The patriarch of the legendary Thome family, Charles Thome sr. Was one of the most feared batters in Peoria Sunday Morning League history.

George Burger

1919-1947
Player & Manager

George Burger played in the Sunday Morning League for 8 seasons between 1919 and 1947.  He played for the B&M Clothing Store team in 1918 and 1919 – the 3^rd and 4^th seasons in League history.  He then went on to a long career with the Caterpillar Team both as a player and a manager.  As a player, he was on the 1931 Caterpillar Championship team. 

As a pitcher, his career record was 9-4 with a 2.73 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 105 innings.  As a manager, he led the Caterpillar team to four championships in 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945.  He then finished his career with Illinois Furniture Co. in 1947.  Burger devoted 28 years of service to the Sunday Morning League and ended with a combined 5 Championships as a player and manager.

Lance Conner

1941-1969
Player & Manager

The legendary Lance Conner managed two Sunday Morning League teams to League Championships: the 1943 Gipps Brewing Team and the 1969 Illinois Valley Glass Team.  His two League Championships were 26 years apart.  In between, he played for the Gipps Team for seven seasons from 1941-1952.

Leo Schrall

1935-1939
Player & Manager

The legendary Leo Schrall played in the Sunday Morning League for the Hiram Walker club for three seasons, finishing his playing career with a .313 batting average.  As a manager, he led the Hiram Walker team to three PSML Championships in 1935, 1938, and 1939.

From his Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame Bio: Leo Schrall, the highly successful Bradley baseball coach who led the Braves to two appearances in the College World Series enjoyed one of the most varied baseball careers in Peoria's history.  A Notre Dame athlete, he played Minor League baseball, and after his playing days were over, he became a manager. He ran the Hiram Walker entry in the Sunday Morning League for a number of years and also was manager of the Peoria Redwings in the All-American Girls Baseball League.  But it was at Bradley that he achieved national fame. His teams won 346 games while losing only 189 in 24 seasons and after his retirement, he was named to the Hall of Fame of the National Collegiate Baseball Coaches Association. 

Schrall first took Bradley to the College World Series at Omaha in 1950. The Braves lost their first two games that year to be eliminated, but he took them back in 1956 for a fourth-place finish.  Bradley joined the Missouri Valley Conference in Schrall's first season. Under his direction, the Braves won four Valley titles outright and shared a fifth.

Art Thome

1942-1962

This 1978 Hall of Honor inductee is a true all-time great.  He owns 4 batting titles (1943, 1951, 1952 & 1958), which are the most of any player in PSML history.  His first batting title was .424 in 1943 and his last batting title was 15 years later in 1958 with a batting average of .436. 

In 1951 he led the league with a .390 average and in 1952 he led the league with a .471 average.  Upon his retirement in 1962, he finished with the second-highest career batting average of all time: .362.  He also finished near the tops of many other batting categories upon his retirement: hits (427 – 2^nd place), doubles (64 – 3^rd place), triples (28 – 3^rd place), home runs (22 – 7^th place), RBI’s (218 – 2^nd place), at bats (1181 – 4^th place), runs scored (222 – 3^rd place).

Dick Diekhoff

1949-1974

Dick was an elite slugger during his 25-year Sunday morning League career.  Upon his retirement in 1974, he was among the league leaders in many batting statistical categories. 

He finished with 422 career hits (3^rd place upon his retirement), 23 career home runs (7^th place upon retirement), 251 RBI’s (2^nd place upon retirement), 1452 at-bats (2^nd place upon retirement), and 234 runs scored (3^rd place upon retirement).  His career batting average was .291. He won the 1972 batting title with an average of .434 for the Illinois furniture team. 

Rhodell Owens

Alan Ulevitch

Joe Ulevitch

Ruth Ulevitch

Harry Dean Blair

1945-1964

If there was a triple crown award for career pitching stats, Mr.  Blair would own it.  He's the all-time career wins leader with 103, he's #1 overall in career k's with 949 & he has pitched the most innings ever with 1337.3. 

His 1949 season is one of the top years ever for a pitcher. In that season, he had 12 wins & 110 k's! Additionally, he had a career batting average of .227.  Harry dean blain is indeed the dean of Sunday morning League pitching.

Harvey Kreps

1933-1952

Harvey Kreps was one of the all-time greats on the mound.  This 2-time PSML pitcher of the year with Cohen furniture (1946 & 1949) ranks 5th all-time in career wins with 77. 

His 1104.3 innings pitched places him 3rd overall. He finished his career ranked 10^th all-time in strikeouts with 627 & 5^th all-time in E.R.A. with a 2.83 earned run average.

Larry Leonard

1937-1952

Larry Leonard had a tremendous 14-year career in the PSML.  His first two years were on the Pabst Club.  Then he played for 12 seasons on the Cohen Furniture Team.  During his 14-year career, he was a 4-time League Champion on the 1940, 1946, 1948, and 1949 Cohen teams.  Larry’s career batting average was .321.  He finished his career with 296 hits, 50 doubles, 10 triples, 8 HRs, 124 RBI’s, and 45 SBs.

Ray Striebich

1925-1944

Ray Striebich was one of the earliest elite hitters in the PSML.  Upon his retirement in 1944, he finished in either first or second place all-time in 6 offense categories.  Ray was the all-time hits leader (397), triples leader (30), home run leader (31), at bat leader (1294), and the runs scored leader (241).  He finished his career 2^nd place all-time in doubles (54).  His career batting average was .307

Robert Schmitt

1948-1972

Robert Schmitt was one of the all-time greats on the mound.  Upon his retirement, he finished his career in 5^th place on the all-time wins list with 62.  He finished in second place on the all-time strikeout list with 798.  He finished in 6^th place all-time innings pitched (851.6).  He retired with the 10^th best career ERA of 3.03.  He was the 1962 Pitcher of the Year for Raber Packing.  And in 1963, he turned in the 2^nd best season ever for strikeouts.  He had 142 K’s in the 1963 season.