Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-05-02
And a Great Crowded. Portsmouth
People Saw 1t Done.
THE SCORE SEVEN TO FIVE.
Matthews and Leonard Fight Each Other
For Tho Mastery, But the Associates of
The Former Stick Closer to Him and He
Carries of tho nonors There Was No
Rowdyism Mayor Baird Tosses tho
First Ball Over tho Plate.

Gilt-edged twlrling, the cleverest
kind of fielding and timely and OPP
terms of Norfolk's victory over Ports
mouth yesterday afternoon. And lack
of hitting and ginger were the causes
that can be argued why Portsmouth
failed i'll her attempt to wrest victory
from the visitors, for the fielding Of
the team was of a fair quality.
1t was an ideal dag for outdoor sport
and it was appreciated by the great
throng of people who gathered at
League Park to see the contest be-
tween the rival teams of the twin cities.
or course the hopes of Portsmouth
"rootcrs, fans" and enthusiasts ran
high, and the fever even reached the
staid and dignified. they carrying upon
their faces before the game began quiet
smiles of contentment, begotten by the,
TO them. positive assurance that the
wearers of the Gray and Green" would
soon be Respondent with the roseate
hues. accompanying the satisfying and
always edifying word victory
MAYOR BAIRD THERE.
About l:1O Mayor Baird, in company
with Messrs. Brady. Butt and Cunning
ham, drew the two teams about him
and 10 .hem he delivered Il brief but
very appropriate address, which the
players seemed to appreciate and heed,
as both Norfolk ana Portsmouth play
ers and even the rooters for the re-
spec;ive teams behaved like men, not
single wry word being spoken or dis
turbancc of any kind taking place. The
only criticisms of any kind at all dis
courteous being directed ut Mr.. Craige.
the umpire, who unQucst onably has
sand or some other substance in his
eyes. as he was certainly rank on balls
and strikes. He played no favorites,
l.,
mouth got tho worst end of the several
raw deals he peddled out.
THE GAME BEGINS.
Every body thought Portsmouth
would win. aud so it seemed. too at the
beginning. for Mr.. Matthews, he of the
strong arm and still steadier head.
failed to twirl 10 the satisfaction of
the gentleman who held the indicator,
and as Il consequence thereof the first
three PortsmouthianS to face the visit
ing twirler walked. thereby filing the
bases. 1t was then thai the "rooters'
got their moneys worth. and the air
resounded with the echoes of the many
funny sayings INDUCED in. Kemmer,
the big fat fellow, with his big fat bat,
took his position ut the rubber and he
must have "hoodooed" Matthews for
the time being. FOR he got one where
he wanted ii ana 'whack" and away
the little white sphere went out for
mouth urchnS chased each other in
rapid succession across the home plate,
and every single solitary "rooter' in
this city was as happy as "a clam Mt
high tide" and they did not fail to
show 1t in voice or gesture. Meyers.
big SHAM" failed to connect with Mr..
Matthew'S willowy delivery. but Clark
MT Tor one bag and kemmer trotted
across the rubber. Bambert died at
ilrst and Luskey hit n "beaul" for three
bases, scoring Clark. This ended the
inning, for Leonard, the next man IN.
five runs.
Norfolk came to the bat. and here
they struck tough proposition in Mr..
Leonard. who ut once demonstrated to
the "Phenoms" that he, too, knew a
thing or two about the little game they
call baseball. especially that particu-
lar, important and responsible part of
it performed III the centre of the dia-
mond.
spratt hit hot groundcr to Eam-
bert, and Johnnie married his fielding
average ny not getting it, and Spratt
gave him the laugh at the initial bag.
Jim Smith, Norfolli's very clever short
stop. lined hit out for one base, which
advanced Spratt to third. John Smith
was thrown out al first, but in that
move Spratt came home Armstrong
went out from Bammcnt to Meyers
Sullivan, who looks ana acts like
hitter. didn't do Il thing but line her
cut for double, scoring Jim Smith
i'u!sifer went out to Longley, thus end
ing the inning with two runs to their
credit.
Portsmouth did not score again. al
though the chance for run-getting was
never better or brighter than it looked
in the seventh EOhnle Walked fnliow