In 1945, Fredrick Wilmer moved to Indianapolis, Indiana from the warm sunny beaches of Miami, Florida with a dream in mind. He envisioned a major league baseball franchise, in the rapidly growing city of Indianapolis. Wilmer felt like the city and popularity of the sport of baseball could rival that of St. Louis and Chicago, and being the businessman that he was, he immediately set to work on a new ballpark. Fredrick was able to secure a spot of land in the downtown district of Indianapolis and for $750,000, Wilmer Stadium was built and readied for baseball. From his childhood, Wilmer remembered and cherished the memories of playing on the beach and going out into the ocean and had become mesmerized with fish and other oceanic animals. He decided his team would be called the “Sharks” and the name would stick. Even though the Sharks wouldn’t play in a Major League Baseball game until 1958, Wilmer’s drive and love for the game put baseball in Indianapolis, and the city has never looked back.
Indianapolis Sharks 