Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-02-22
FEMALE BALL-T0SSING.
A Large Crowd Soon Gets Satisfied witt,
the Performance.

the Performance.
About 1900 people assembled at Agri-
cultural Park yesterday to witness the
baseball game between the Red Stockings
and Blue Stockings of San Francisco,
organizations composed exclusively of
women. 1t was not expected that the
game would amount to much as an ex-
hibition of skill, but the spectators were
not prepared for a performance quite as
miserable as that which was given. The
players wore Bloomer costume which had
an appearance anything but graceful, and
thew were not so remarkably handsome
and graceful themselves as to compensate
for it. While they were not success as
ball-tossers, their conduct was unexcep-
tionable, and their quietDess might be
copied by clubs composed of masculines
appearance until half an hour or more
after the hour announced for the game, and
the spectators amused themselves watching
the futile efforts of an officer TO
keep impecunious but agile boys and
men from entering the grounds by way
of the fence-top. Finally the players
marched upon the diamond fourteen
in number The entire eighteen came
up from San Francisco, but for
some reason best known to themselves and
their manager, four would not play. After
the game commenced the audience were
satisfied with the fourteen as well as they
would have been with fifty-unless they
were better players. Their fielders played
close, for none of the number could knock
the ball out of the diamond, and when one
of them made hit, it was safe enough to
keep on running, but they generally
stopped for breath at all way stations. All
of them threw the ball overland, in the
usual feminine manner. One of the
pitchers had the position of Sweeney or
Incell, and made such preparation that the
spectators expected the ball to pass with
immense force; but these were false pre-
lenses, ending with the same old toss One
of the catchers exercised considerable judg-
ment, STOPPING down so that her skirts
might stop the "grounders that other
wise would have passed between her feet,
for the whole band appeared afraid to
bring their limbs together, man-fashion,
to stop the ball. One of the players had
funny way, when a ball was thrown to
her, of taking a little jump, then throwing
both arms into the air with q sort of
shoe +" motion, ending by grabbing at
the sphere as though it was beam
bag They did not develop much poetry
of notion whey they ran-in fact some
body has remarked that few women do
and it certainly isn't fair to wiring III
pigeon toed female on the public Two or
three times two base-runners would get on
| the third base at once, and not appear to
think that they were becoming too thick
in that locality until the crowd advised
them of the fact-the crowd was more
liberal with advice than it will be with
half-dollars to see another female baseball
contestant then they would scatter like
a cat convention when the bootjack moves
to adjourn. The most amusement was
when dog appeared in the diamond and
joined in the game. but he played too well.
and was put out. Before the first halt of
the first inning was over the spectators
began to move away, muttering something
about the worst blk they ever saw. One
man, a member of the class of men that
always have seen little more than any
| one else, was so injudicious as to remark
| that he had seen worse entertainments,
| but even his hasty qualification of but
not much" failed to keep the crowd from
| hustling him. The game lasted five or
| six innings, the Red Stockings having 80
runs to their opponents 10, and Billy
Mclaughlin, who had been acting as UNI
pire, was immensely pleased when the
manager stopped the play. The assem-
| blage had included all sorts of people
staid and prosperous merchants, physicians,
members of the bar ETC., and it was anus
ing to see them slipping away quietly, and
pretending that they had only been out for
a walk in the mellow sunshine. They may
| quietly wink at each other when they meet
to-day, but it is doubtful if they will inaug-
urate conversations on the subject of base
ball until it blows over" 1t won't do for
one who was not present at the game to
have much to say about the spectators,
either, for the very man you are talking to,
and whom you would never suspect of such
foolshness, is very likely to have been
80 ono Of fbo,,,