Clarinda A's Baseball

Clarinda, Iowa was founded in 1851, and incorporated on December 8, 1866. Many stories are told of such notables as Jesse James frequently passing through.  The town is named for Clarinda Buck, who according to legend carried water to the surveyors while Page County was first being surveyed.

Clarinda sits in southwest Iowa, and is the home of the Clarinda A's, our summer amateur baseball team. The Clarinda A's got their start In 1955, when Bill Bench and Vernon Woodard formed and managed a team of local players. Because the financial backing for the team was from local businessmen, they were called the Merchants. The Merchants played their first game in May of '55 and in that first box score lineup were: Jerry Jennings, Dean and Gene Bentley, Ralph Taylor, Norman Discher, Merl Eberly, Max Doughterty, Ken Warrick and pitcher Bill Hullinger (who threw the entire nine innings for a 9-5 victory over Shenandoah).

The Merchants eventually became the Clarinda Athletics, and Merl Eberly took over as field manager from 1961-1997.  Following his 36 years as field manager, Merl continued as General Manager until his passing in 2011.  To this day the Eberly family continues Merl's legacy.  Rodney Eberly serves as General Manager for the team, assisted by Pat Eberly, and Ryan Eberly serves as field manager.  

Over the years the A's have sent over 35 players on to the major leagues including Von Hays, Bud Black, and Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith. You never know who the next player to make it the to big leagues will be. We hope to see you soon at Municipal Stadium, Eberly Field!