Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-07-12
OLD-TIME BASEBALL.

can't lot across the way from where Live.
was pretty hot stuff, that game Of ball,
and it moved right along according to Hoyle
from the jump, sos that you'd ha thought
you were lookingfa at a bunch OF professionals
playing the game. The kids had the who'll
works in the way of properties. Every last
one Of EN- had those big catching gloves,
and plenty Of them had catching masks, and
breast pads, and that sort Of gear. Each
nine-ah yes, they played the regular game,
nine on a side-had it's own collection OF
bats, and the tads played with the regular
league ball. There was an empire to keep
track OF the game and bulldoZedal hands, and
when the kids wanted TO protest his decision
they slammed their catching mitts onto the
ground in the regular professional way.
well, while | sat in my window and
watched the game l couldn't help but com
pare it with the brand o ball us kids used to
play when / was only knee high to a potato
bug myself, so to speak.
In the first place, our accessories were a
whole lot on the improvised and impromptu
order, you can bet on that. The ball was
generally one of those lumpy, rock-hard af-
fairs of the homemade variety, that, after
one wetting in the old pond, would forever
after remain about as springy and light as
q ARAhA - vi PIX l1ad W. up "a OAAS
thickness Of mosquito netting. There never
was any such a thing as a common or com
munal proprietorship in that ball, either.
The ball was invariably the exclusive prop
erty OF the exceedingly rich boy of the gang,
and the way he would tyrannize over the
rest of the gang in return for permitting EN-
to play with his ball was something awful.
He'd make all the rest of us grovel before
him before he'd consent to permit his ball to
be used, and then he'd wan TO boss the
game from the beginning just because it was
his ball that was being played with. III
things didn't go just to suit hIm-if, for in
stance, he Wasn't permitted to stay at the
bat pretty nearly all of the ~time-7he'd pick
up his ball and sulk and decline to play any
more, and then the game I'D be all off for
the remainder Of that day. The boy that
owned the ball for a sure thing had a hor-
rible edge on the situation when was a tad.
The bat was generally a fence picket
Whitfield Town at the sharp end to make a
half-round handle.
1--WE didn't play any nine-to-a-side, like
the kids do nowadays, of course. There'd
be about five or six, or eight or ten, OF us,
and we'd go through a solemn little cere-
mony known as 'batttinses' in order to
choose sides; that is to say, the two biggest
boys, or one big boy and the kid that owned
the ball, would go through this ceremony.
One of EN- 'ud throw the ~fenee-picket bat
to the other, who would catch it around the
middle. Then they'd each put a hand over
the Others hand until the end of the bat
was reached. The boy that clutched the last
remaining handful had to throw the bat
backward over his shoulder ten PAGES. Ii
he successfully accomplished TINS, he had the
privilege OF picking out the kids that he
wanted to play on his side. II he didn't
make good in throwing the bat backward,
the, other boy had the first pick Of the
boys. This, of course made up some pretty
lop-sided scratch teams, but that never
bothered any OF us-the lop-sideder the bet
ter.
There was only one base-frst base
and that wasn't owned by any first baseman.
The only two official players on the out
side were the pitcher and catcher. The
| other outs didn't amount to anything, and
it was their business to field the ball when
the batter would paste it on the nose with
the fence-picket. If ! had a dollar for every
| thousand miles I've CEASED after balls this
way, without ever getting a chance to bat
the ball myself, Id be on Easy street to-
day.
"The batter would be given the regulation
three strikes, and waen a boy with anykind
| O. gumption went in TO bat vita that fence
| picket swa en- he generally stayed there,
swatting tie sphere until the exercise tired
him out. 1t was Ike hitting at a balloon
with a bass fiddle, welding that fence picket
bat. aud tie kid at bat had all kinds Of fun
maxi Z the helders work. If, however, he
failed % connect with the balloon on the
third strike, lie was put out this way; He'd
start on a lope for first base, and then the
catcher would throw the pig-ead ball at
him with all his might.
''Ihe latter's only nance of not being
out consisted Of his chance of not being hit
bv the ball as thrown at him by the catcher.
| lat the catcher generally winged him nine
times out of ten, and, | might add, he gener-
ally raised a lump on him when he did hit
him. If, however, the catcher failed in his
Workmanship, all the batter had to do
would be to lope back to the home plate,
while one of the unfortunate iielders poked
around the lot to find the ball. Oh, it was a
great game, that. I've started in APPLYING it
early on.Saturday morning, being elected as
one Of the no-account fielders, and I've hot
footed after the ball right along until dark
without ever getting a whack X at the sphere
Win Luc ndl. Inc bIS boNS anu tuc hlu
owning the ball m%onopolized the batting
function from dawn until dusk, unless, as
| say, the whole thing broke up in a row be
fore that owing to the sulkiness of the lad
who had the proprietary right to the ball
in play
"As often as not the game nd be broken
up by the arrival on the scene of SOM big
/ individual OF advanced age-some man fully
IA or 10 years of ~age-wno'd ask us if we
wanted him to bat us a few flies OF
course, we'd feel fiattered over the attention
and patronage of a person so large and elder
ly as that. and we'd adjourn the game and
take our places way out in the lot and let
him whack away at the bail, while we cheer
fully CROPPED around the lot and waded
through the pond and took a chance on
being eaten up by f%erocious dogs in yards,
a-hunting the ball from his bat.
"rhe way the kids play it uow's all right,
OF course, but somehow or another, from
the solemn and busine>slike and profes.
sional kind O way they % at it, | can't make
u,-Saif believe tnat they have ANYTHING lk