San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-03-07
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with pomp and eclat is the baseball
season to be ushered in on the 10Th
Oh next month in this city. 1t will be
san Antonio's first game in
this city and our opponents will be
the Statesmen from the Capital city
a gorgeous parade is to take place on
that day headed by brass band, and
participated in by city and county
o11cers, who will be invited to lend
tnelr presence to the occasion. Last
year IT was intended to open the sea-
son with glare of trumpetS. but the
iuea was abandoned, and the whole
parade consisted of n few hacks &C.
cupied by the two ball teams which
rolled silently through the streets. 1t
is hoped that if parade will be given
TINS year it will be a good one. Better
than have repetition of last year it
would be wise TO exclude
parade and exert all eff
forts to make the opening
day at the park a grand affair. \ gay
~ decorated grand stand and an add
dress of welcome by the mayor. to he
followed by a custom in vogue all
over the country consisting of the
mayor TO pitch the first ball over the
home plate would fill the bill.
The ruins of San Pedro park still
stand, bat it is expected that work on
the new park will commence next
week. At least, it is hoped SO.
Like many other important discover
les that of the science of curving
baseball was the result of an accident.
1t seems strange to say that through
the idle throwing a half Il clam shell
birth should have been given TO such
an idea, but it is a fact, nevertheless,
and the theory that developed in the
mind of the inventor, as he watched
the curves of the shell while it sailed
along in its irregular and snakey
course, was put to practical use III
baseball and successfully applied al
ter tedious and constant practice. The
man to whom this credit is due is
Brooklynite, William Arthur Cum
mings. This is how he describes it:
Il
gians that first used the curve. got
my theory from throwing clam shells
in playing with boys. / saw that they
curved to the right and left and l con-
ceived the idea of trying to make Il
baseball do the same thing. After Il
great deal of constant practice | aC-
cOmplished the feat. / received no en-
couragement from baseball experts
\ tn 90 OF Ion hoo of M
one thought il could be done. | often
became discouraged, but kept on. At
times l would think l had it and some
of my companions would get behind
the catcher to watch the ball. Some
times they said they saw curve and
other times they said they thought II
was straight, All of this resulted in
much chatting and then l went TO
work secretly. During the fall, when
was at boarding school | kept on
practicing, for it was the dream of my
boyhood days. After l left school in
1865. l found that l could pitch eth
er raise or drop ball. This encOur-
aged me and kept on
Already the fans are picking win
ners of the opening game on April II.
is San Antonio, Galveston, Dallas and
Paris.
Charley Weber writes to Manager
O'Connor as follows from Hot Springs,
Ark: II cannot speak to well of
Fitzpatrick, and l think you did better
by missing Kimerer, although he is a
I nj 10
the best of it by the change. Gil.
pitched a whole game for us the other
day and showed up fine, although he
did not turn himself loose. The Ma
tional leaguers all speak well of him,
especially his 'cross-fire' delivery. He
has got it down pat, and it's beauty.
Another thing the old sport himself
is feeling out of sight Il mean myself.
l tell you the people of San Antonio
will be surprised to see us when we
report in our present condition, but we
will stay here until about the Sth or
) goth of March, and keep on lettering
ourselves as long as the weather
lasts. We climb these mountains like
prize fighters getting in condition"
All the players of the local team
will be here by March 20. An exhibit
ton game will be played on the fol-
lowing day, which is Sunday. This
will give the boys about a month to
get in shape for the season.
Recently paragraph appeared in
sporting paper which said that Mike
O'Connor has played in Texas cOnsec-
utively since 1887. While this would
be nothing to be ashamed of from the
fact that some of the leading ball
players of the day have graduated
from the Texas league ranks in the
past ten years. the Light takes this
opportunity to give a brief sketch of
OConnor's baseball career. He was
born in Marion, Ohio, July 20, 1867,