Evening Star Newspaper, June 28, 1931, Page 78

5 We. THE SUNDAY STAR; WASHINGTON, D. C. JUNE 28, 1931.° Old Washington Ball Clubs and Players The Potomacs, the Nationals and the Pythians Were A_Amozzg the First Organized — Fa- mous Tour of Team in 1867. ® By JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. HERE is a certain fascination about ae2 ball which, when once acquired, never leaves one no matter how old he may become. Oiher sports, of course, have thcir good points, too, as well as their enthusiastic followers, but th= grip does not secm as lasting and the devotees t7 o large extent sconer or later lose interest, and many entirely d:ift away from their particular pastime of former years. But not so with bas: ball—never! Indeed the en- thusiast when he becomes too old to hobble to an occasional game will at least read the score in the newspaper, and especially so if the Washingtons are anywhere near the top. It is certainly the king of American sports, and is about as.cecure in its position as is the Consti- tution itself. Natu:ally, the oldest inhabitant looks back to his early days of base ball and sees much regardirg the game worthy of repeating. Above all others, of course, he sces the teams of his own city and the boys who used to line 'em out, and those who scooped in about everything that ‘¢came their way when it was their time to field the ball. And the pitchers and the catchers, too, he has praises for, for the battery in the early days was just as important to the success of a team as it is today. But while the old stager may be justified in praising the ball tossers of old, he must confess that the Washington aggregation, at least for the last 15 years, is a great improvement over anything we ever had before that time. Indeed, professional base ball seems to have never been taken seriously—or to have had the right back- ing here—until early in 1905, when the control of the team—then in the American League— was taken over by W. H. Rapley, Scott C. Bone, Thomas C. Noyes, Henry L. West, Benjamin S. Minor, Henry P. Blair, Corcoran Thom and E. S. Walsh, and who met and elected Mr. Noyes president, Mr. Minor secretary and busi- ness manager, and W. H. Fowler, treasurer. Of course an effort had been made from 1901, the first year the Washingtons played in the newly formed American League, to bolster up the club, but no one was willing at that time or before to dig deep enough into their pockets for the wherewith to purchase a team of first- class players. Indeed, in 1904 the Washington team was 50 poor that it distinguished itself by making the rotten record of winning 38 games and losing 113, an undesirable record, which is believed still holds good in the Ameri- ean League. O not misunderstand the wriler as inti- mating that the Washingtons never had any good players until within the last few years, for this he does not mean. But the thought he does wish to convey is that the Washingtons until within the last decade always had big holes in the line-up that could have been closed or strengthened if the right players had been purchased, and that there has never been a time when such players could not have been secured for a proper considera- tion in cash. Today we have a team that is worth money, and probably not one of our general line-up would not be quickly purchased at a good price if the management wished to sell. But why do so when the team is being properly supported, the stockholders are receiv- ing a just dividend, we have a winning team, and everybody is,happy. Of course base ball in Washington goes back a long way, and there are some bright spots as well as some dark spots in its history. On November 4, 1859, The Star published an ac- count of what was probably the first base ball club organized in Washington. It says: “A base ball club has just been formed in this city and promises to prove an efficient organi- zation. It is called the ‘Potomac,” has 21 mem- bers, with McLane Tilton as president, Leonard C. Gunnell as vice president and Richard B. Irwin as secretary. It is a good sign to see such health-promoting exercises taking the place of insipid enervating amusements.” The National Club could not have been far behind the Potomacs, for in The Star of May 7, 1860, we find recorded a contest between these teams, and the reporter was good enough to tell us what part of the city the clubs hailed from—the National Club from Capitol Hill and the Potomac Club from the first ward, which subsequent to 1820 included the area west of Fifteenth street to Rock Creek. In the early days of the sport the teams that made 21 runs first won the game, but this one - was allowed to go to the score of 35 to 15, as the following account states: “Base Ball—A game of base ball was played on Saturday last on the Mall between the Potomac Club of the first ward and the National Club of Capitol Hill, in which the latter club was worsted, 35 to 15, in seven innings. Potomac Club has challenged a club in Balti- more to play a match game here on the 6th The Nationals of 1878-79. Front row, left to right: John W hit pitcher; John Hollingshead, left f Balaski, right field; ; Darby, pitcher; Elliott, tlu_rd base; McClellan, short stop. The Star’s rcport of the game: “The friendly match between the Potomac Base Ball Club of this city and the Excelsior Club of Baltimore came off on the grounds south of the President’'s Mansion yesterday afternoon. Quite & number of visitors were present and witnessed the sport and were highly pleased with the game throughout, the opposing clubs bearing their defeats with the most perfect equanimity. The Excelsior came out winner at the close of the game. At night they par- took of a rich entertainment prepared for them by Gunther at the order of the Potomac Club. We understand the Baltimore club made 40 runs to 24 by the Washington club.” (The ecity directory gives Gunther as the barkeeper at the Ebbitt, so one might imagine the nature of the refreshments.) Evidently the base ball season was about as long then as it is at present, for on September 11 of the same year we find two local teams— the Nationals and the Potomacs—crossing bats. The Star, always interested in local matters, grew rather enthusiastic in its account of the forthcoming game as published on September 8, and went out of its way—T71 years ago—to make a prediction which time has fulfilled to the fullest—and base ball is, and probably always will be, the American “national game.” OME folks also scem to think that the at-- tention given by the ladies to the game is a matter of recent years, but the account which follows shows this to be far from the case, since from the very beginning members of the fair sex have been enthusiastic rooters whenever it was known that two good clubs would meet, and for verification we sumbit what The Star said September 8, 1860: “We are much pleased to see that this manly sport, until lately confined to the North and East, is beginning to be duly appreciated in our Southern cities. Combining grace, quick- ness and strength in the requisites for a good player, it gives an amount of open-air exercise that can be obtained in no other game that we know of, and in a community where the large majority of the young men lead so sedentary lives, as in Washington, it has long been a desideratum. Last Spring the Potomac Club—which is the pioneer organization of the South—played several interesting and closely contested matches which gave a great impulse to the game, and now we have here three thor- oughly organized clubs—the Potomac, Nationals and Pythians—beside a host of minor organi- zations. On Tuesday next the Potomacs again try their skill against the National Club. We dre informed by amateurs that these clubs are both in fine playing condition and were never more evenly matched all anxious to see a ¢ 3 BEodf Senator Arthur Pue Gorman, elected president of the National Base Ball Association in 1866. He played ball with the National and other early Washington clubs, and accompanied the Nationals on the club’s famous tour of 1867. ND the game came off as scheduled, and but recorded for all time the names of the players who took part in the contest, and besides gave a description of the costumes worn by the players, a matter the historian appreciates, since old accounts of current events are rarely satisfying as to details. This is The Star’s account of the game: second base; Babe Trots, catcher; Myrtle, first base; Oscar Standing: Phil Baker, center and catcher; Jack Lynch, opposing nines were as follows: On the part of the National—Messrs. Brown, Hibbs, Gorman, French, Dooley, Beale, Wright, McCanant, Ben- ner. On the part of the Potomac—Messrs, Smedberg, Bigger, Robinson, Trook, Hartley, Wood, Mitchell, Camp, Wise. “The Nationals were dressed in deep blue pants and jackets and red bells, with jockey caps and chamois. leather gaiters well clogged at the heel and ball; while the uniform of the Potomacs consisted of a light gray dress of similar fashion in all respects, both sides pre- senting & very fine appearance, exhibiting as they did some of the best proportioned thews and sinews in this community. The prepara- tions having been perfected, the word was given to play, and the boys went at it in fine style. The playing was good on both sides, many fine strikes, runs and catches being made. On the part of the Potomac Club, Messrs. Wood, Trook, Hartley and Bigger batted exceedingly well, and Mr. Mitchell exhibited splendid run- ning, often making a base while the ball was passing from the thrower to the catcher. I'OP the National Club, Messrs. Wright, Hibbs, Gorman and Brown made excel- lent strikes and very fine runs. The best catch of the day was made by Mr. Dooley of the Nationals, a fly catch in the left field from a splendid strike by Mitchell. Messrs. Hibbs and Bigger won golden opinions on all hands as easy and even pitchers; while the catchers— Messrs. Smedberg and Gorman—occupied their difficult posts with honor. “The Clubs. “National—Brown, 1b.; Hibbs, p.; Gorman, c.; French, 2b.; Dooley, If.; Beale, cf.; Wright, ss.; McCanant, 3b.; Benner, rf.; McCormick, scorer. “Potomac—Smedberg, c.; Bigger, p.; Robin- son, 1b.; Trook, ss.; Hartley, 2b.; Wood, 3b.; Mitchell, if.; Camp, rf.; Wise, cf.; R. B. Irwin, scorer. “Umpire—J. F. Bean of Excelsior Club of Baltimore. “We give below a score of the game as fur- nished us by a member of the committee: “Innings. [} “National .ccoc00002 1 7 0 1 “Distance from base to base—30 yards. “Number of balls bowld—Bigger, 170; Hibbs, 202. “At the conclusion of the game each club gave three hearty cheers and a ‘tiger’ for the other, and then both clubs united in giving three hearty cheers for the umpire for his impartial conduct throughout the game. Mr, to be declared the victor, is to between the Potomac and Na- grounds of the latier on ways. But the name Gorman we all know, er