Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-09-14
Ar. Jack Littlegame's Opinion Q
Baseball.

Who should meet but Sam Skingame,
made up like regular swell, full suit of
black, stove pipe nat, patent leather boots,
and all
What's the lay, SAM" SEE l, What's
yer little game?"
"The Nashunal game" SCI Sam. "I'm
a member and stakeholder of the Dirty
Stockings
YES, but what's the game, Is 1t
bones or papers! SCI l kinder ignorin
the stockins.
ats the one.b ball game" seq Sam. "The
Nashulal Game of Base Ball. Want to
jinea"
Well, don't mind" says I, "but I'd
like TO be left OUT of wearing the stocAins
till cooler weather"
"Stow that" SEE Sam "Dirty Stock
ms is the pet name of our professional
nine"
SO Sam agreed to let me have some OF
his stock an some brads to pay for mem
bership, and We went up to the Cheatem
grounds to see the first game for the cham
pionship betwe the Dirty Stocking and
the Soiled shirts Of Sedalia. 1t was hot
as blazes, but you may pick me up for a
Hat II there Tarnt more than three thou
! sand people sitting there In the sun
Pretty soon the game began. The first
thing they did was to select an umpire.
An umpire's duty is to STAN out one side
an boiler, an to make sure thing of it,
every once in while he sings out, "One
| bawlw 1.-TWO bawll" After they had
the Dirty Stockins picked up big club
! o,,i Itsla trN,, v>Nota lilo /.
! pavior with rammer. Three other chaps
went and stood on three little sail-lof'
cushions three other fellows winked al
each other and got as tar out in the fielc
as they could; another man planted him
self about fifteen feet from one of tht
little cushion. Sam says they call thi'
man "short stop" because he don't stoi
there long before his head is caved in by
the ball. Thsn player stood behind TIT
chap on the little iron plate, an anothe
went in front Of him aa' began to pitch
ball at his head, and he lodged it, an thel
the chap behind would chuck it back.
Bime-by the Teller that held the full
hand of clubs got mad, struck the ball an
drove it into the short stop man
stomach, flung his club back AZ knocke,
out the front teeth of the man behind
then he ran at one of the chaps on the IL
tie cushions, knocked him down an
stomped on him, and went for the chap O,
the next cushion; but the ball got Their
somehow before him. an the chap on thu
second cushion grabbed it an fetched hin
pelt side of the head as he come w
Then the umpire yelled "Out" Thu
croed cheered, the wounded was carried
off in an ambulance, new men put in thei
places, and they began all over again.
asked Sam if anybody ever got bur
playin' the Nasbunal gamer
mot enough to interfere with thu
game" says Sam. "We've located GU
grounds pretty near the city hospitals
have our own ambulance, coroner anC
undertaken, and the doctors bring thu
medical students over to all the matches L
study surgery. We did have life ant
accident insurance agent but the first two
matches failed his company"
Sam says that when the Nashunal game
was fust introduced, men used to play fol
| the fun an exercise; but sense John Nor
rissey, Jim Fisk and our kind have takei
the game up, they have TO pay membe
of the professional nine thousand dollar
for the season, his doctors bill, an all h
can make through his friends in side bets
You can bet your pile the Nashuns
| games big thing.