The Simon Brothers Baseball Team of Pottawatomie County, Kansas

When John M. Simon and his wife Minnie (Hagerty) Simon had their first son in 1893, they had no idea that their farm in Olsburg, Kansas would one day host a baseball diamond or that the team that played there would be comprised of their ten sons. Oldest son John A. Simon had clear memories of his father's dream and how the older boys would work with the younger ones to teach them how to play the game.

In the 1920s, baseball became synonymous with Babe Ruth and towns throughout the country formed teams and played teams from neighboring towns. Though many took the sport seriously, these were largely groups of amateurs who played on weekends and the games were a town event. Cars were still a luxury for most families, so local teams rarely traveled far.

By the mid-1920s the Simon Brothers Baseball Team played in several towns in Pottawatomie County, Kansas in Northeast Kansas. The teams they played would often be from Manhattan or Westmoreland, the county seat. Though the brothers enjoyed playing, it was hard work. The older ones farmed or had other jobs, and practice was in the evenings with most games on Sundays.

In the late 1920s the family team was "discovered" by Kansas Senator Arthur Capper, who was well known as the founder of Capper's Weekly, a popular weekly tabloid that published from 1913-86. He bought the brothers their first set of professional uniforms and paved the way for the team to play an exhibition game at the 1930 World's Fair in New York. Twenty years later John (Jack) Simon was still describing the awe the brothers felt after traveling from the Kansas prairie to the big city.

The brothers were:

John Alma (Jack) Simon (1893-1954)

Jacob (Jake) William Simon (1895-1964)

Floyd Walter Simon (1898-1982)

Glenn E. Simon (1901-1974)

Roy Raymond Simon (1903-1983)

Clyde E. Simon (1906-1978)

Bert Simon (1907-1993)

Nile (Cricket) Simon (1909-1987)

Herman (Ted) Simon (1909-1987)

Ernest Edward (Ed) Simon (1913-2010)

While some brothers left the state for military service, they generally stayed in Kansas. Only Floyd died outside the state, in California. John and Jake were barbers. Floyd and Glenn farmed in Pottawatomie County in 1930. Ed was living on the family's farm when he became the last surviving brother in 1993. He lived to be 97.

The photos show the brothers in about 1930 and again as older men. Most married and had children, so perhaps the baseball tradition continues among their descendants.