OHIO HOT STOVE BASEBALL LEAGUE, Inc.

The Hot Stove League was first conceived by and enterprising sports editor Karl Artman, of Selma, Alabama. His original idea was to form fun clubs where the members could swap ideas and discuss organized baseball in all its phases. With this thought in mind, several clubs were formed in the spring of 1935. Unfortunately, Artman passed away before his ideas had a chance to fully materialized.

Although more than 50 Charters had been formed by 1940, World War II seriously hampered the growth of the organization. Cy Butler, of the Alliance Review, had been interested in the organization as Alliance was the first city in Ohio to receive a Charter on November 18, 1937. Butler's interest in the idea led him to  purchase the franchise in January of 1942 and, as a result, the National Hot Stove League Headquarters was moved to Alliance with Butler becoming the National President. Under his leadership the program then grew to more than Charters and 100,000 members. After his death in 1965, the national program lay dormant until 1967, when a group of men that had been active in hot stove League Baseball pooled their efforts to incorporate as OHIO HOT STOVE BASEBALL LEAGUE, INC and reactivate the National Organization, so the benefits of Hot Stove League Baseball for Boys, Girls, young Men and Women could be offered to any community that desired it. Unfortunately the nation organization could not be revitalized.

Today there are only 11 Charters serving nearly 300 teams consisting of approximately 4,000 players in the state of Ohio, but the commitment to Boys, Girls, young Men and Women and the ideas of Karl Altman and Cy Butler remain the same: To provide the opportunity to discuss and play organized baseball in all its phases.

2023 Hall Of Fame Honoree :: Howard Rinehart

Hall of Fame Members

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