The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-28
Games Today.
Nashville at Birmingham. Montgomery at Atlanta.

Beaten at the start and hoping against hope, more than three thousand fans saw the Coal Barons open the season with a heart-crushing defeat at the hands of Nashville yesterday.
 Though the game was interesting, and, with the exception of the first inning, well played, the figures put Birmingham on the wrong side of the ledger and noth- Ing but future victory can soothe the unhealed wounds At the end of the third inning the score stood to 1 in favor of the Champions and from that time on the blackboard was unscathed but gloomy
 It has been t'uly said that a baseball player is a hero on one day and the king of beasts the next. Yesterday the Bir- minghammers were not classed as heroes. They played good ball and fought hard for nine long innings, but they failed to bunch their hits and that Is the story.
 If the weather man had worked over time for a score of moons he could not have selected a better day for the open- ing of the baseball season in Birmingham. Not breath of wind was stirring and the sun came out with that degree of warmth which loosens up the muscles of the old stagers and makes the has beens" colts again It was "The good old summer time" and an ideal day for the greatest of American sports.
 Long before noon the more ardent root CTS had begun to assemble on the cor ners and in the hotel Hobbies to discuss the probabilities and possibilities of the afternoon contest and when 1 o'clock. the time for starting the parade arrived, a jam of humanity clogged the streets around the Florence hotel
 Procession Formed.
 When all was ready platoon of mount ed police, followed by Memolis crack band, swung into Nineteenth street and the line of march was quickly made up. Close behind the band was carriage containing MT. Palmer, president of the Nashville Baseball association, President Shepard of the local association and Mms Hightower of Chattanooga and a news paper representative. Next came a carriage containing some of the directors of the club and Henry B. Gray as representative of the city of Birmingham. Then came the players of both clubs the umpire and behind them was tally-ho with two score of rooters aboard
 After marching through the principal streets of the city the procession wended It's way to the park, and after a little preliminary two-stepping around the dia- mond everything was ready for the bout Both teams went out and practiced awhile, and when the umpire rang the gong for the real contest to begin an ex- citing incident occurred.
 Henry B. Gray, mayor pro tenn, intro duced MT. Palmer to the crowd, and told them he would inaugurate the season by throwing the first ball across the plate. Mir Gray announced also that he would do the catching. Very deliberately the protector, mask and init were adjusted to MT. Gray's athletic figure by Newt Fisher. and when all was ready he stopped over the plate, and in some way it hung up in Catcher Gray's init and he held it. The crowd cheered vociferous- ly. and both gentlemen went away feel ing that they had delivered the goods
 Frank smIth In the Box.
 The game opened up with Frank Smith in the box for Birmingham, and barring his wildness he pitched good article of ball. He was unsteady In throwing to bases, however, and made three errors that were a little expensive. He struck out seven men, but offset his fine strike out record by giving five men bases on balls. After the first inning he settled down, and the one run made in the third inning was all that the Fischermen could manipulate off the Birmingham favorite.
 The phenomenal work of the game de- volved upon Jimmy O'Brien and Lowney. The work of the former at third for Bir- mingham was something wonderful, and he frequently drew round after round of applause from the grandstands Lowney's work for Nashville at short was also of