[citation needed] A ball club featuring many players who later formed the core of the Infants was established in Zanesville in 1907, when local investors purchased the Youngstown Ohio Works.
[2] The investors also offered a contract to the Youngstown, Ohio, club's ex-manager, Marty Hogan, a former major league outfielder.
[1] Hogan managed the Infants in the 1908 season but moved on to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the following year, leading that team to its first championship in the Tri-State League.
[3] Meanwhile, the Zanesville team competed fiercely with the Wheeling Stogies, who took the Central League Championship with an 88-50 record.
[citation needed] In July 1909, the Zanesville Infants earned a spot in baseball history when the team participated in the first electrified night game in Grand Rapids, Michigan.