One of the premier athletic events in the first half of the twentieth century was the baseball Little World Series between teams from Warren and Bristol, a competition that started in 1895 and ended in 1949.  Periodically, major league players were hired to play, but usually the teams consisted of the best players from the two towns.  Many times the Series was aborted (or never started) due to arguments, bad weather, unavailability of playing fields, or insufficient gate receipts.  However, the important thing to note is that Warren won more often than not.

Fred LaFlamme played third base for Warren in every series that was staged between 1902 and 1914.  Overall he batted .388, the highest batting average among all Warren hitters who went to the plate fifty or more times in the Little World Series.  In his three best seasons, he hit .444 in 1908, .400 in 1910, and .526 in 1912.

During the ten years between 1905 and 1914, Fred also played on the Warren town team, which competed under such banners as the Silk Hats and Warren Shoe.  The team also featured Hall of Fame members Curt Chappelle, Howie Martin, Beany Ryan, Sr., and Jack Simister and won statewide league championships in 1908, 1909, and 1912. 

Ironically perhaps the town team’s best performance came in 1910, when they joined the state’s best league, the Inter-City League, in mid-season and won nine of ten games, with its only loss being a forfeit that resulted from a misunderstanding as to where the game was to be played.  If they hadn’t been required to assume another team’s mid-season losing record, they would have won another title.

The Warren Gazette included these cute comments about LaFlamme: “Fred LaFlamme drove the ball across the railroad into the next field”; and “LaFlamme swiped out a heaven kisser and ran the circle at his own pace.”

One final note: When Warren whipped Bristol three straight to simultaneously win both the Inter-State League title and the Little World Series, the championship dinner was held at Goff’s Hotel.  The menu consisted of oysters on the half shell, cream of chicken soup, salmon salad, roast turkey with giblet sauce, banana fritters with rum sauce, vegetables, Narragansett Lager, assorted desserts, and, of course, Silk Hat cigars.

Pictures from Hall of Fame Archives