The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1905-01-27
PLAN BASEBALL LEAGUE.
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA TO HAVE
ORGANIZATION.
COMPOSED OF EIGHT TEAMS
II is Planned by Northern Nebraska
Enthusiasts to Play Ball Next Sum.
mer-12o Games on the Schedule,
Forty for Norfolk Town.

Northeast Nebraska is to have u
baseball league of its own. At least
that Is the present prospect and that
will be the case If everything goes
well. The movement is already on
foot and signs are looking up The
baseball fans believe in signs, and the
chances are that there will be an
eight.team league in circle surround-
ing Norfolk next summer
1t is the intention of those who have
already got together on the matter
and talked it over, to include towns in
the league which lie in wheel with
Norfolk as a hub, and which are linn
tied at the outer edges as Pilgcr east;
| Tilden, west; Creighton, north;
Wayne, northeast; Humphrey, south
west. The towns which are to belong
to the league are to be Norfolk, Tildon'
Stanton, Pilger, Humphrey, Pierce,
| Creighton and Wayne. Enthusiasts
! in each of these towns have been cor
responding for some time with w. w.
Roberts of this city, eX-manager, and
Mr.. Roberts is satisfied that the
league can be made a big success.
AS planned now there will be l2O
games played during the season of
four months. That will make a game
every day. One-third of these games
are to be played in Norfolk. That will
give the fans of this city just forty eX-
hibitions during the summer months
of cracking good baseball. And local
authorities on the matter declare that
Norfolk will easily support forty
games and do 1t well.
There has always been a good bit
of latent enthusiasm in the national
sport so far as northeastern Nebraska
is concerned, and in many by-gone
seasons the fact has been amply dem
onstrated that the financial end Of the
play could be made a success If it
had to. During the summer just past
Norfolk had no baseball club, due
largely to the fact that the weather of
the preceding year had spoiled the
prospects. In seasons past, however,
there were baseball clubs here and
good ones. And there have been some
rafting good aggregations around in
other towns of the circle that is pro-
posed.
The first league baseball ever at
tempted in this section was in 1888,
when Norfolk boom days were on.
Lockwood was the star pitcher and
Harry Lodor was one of the best au-
thorities. They're about the only ones
still remaining in town. Later came
the team of 1897 that played so many
bitter games against West Point.
Sometimes West Point won and some
times Norfolk won, but the struggles
were always keen to the end. In that
team Leland Spaulding of this city
developed into professional material
and the Morrison boys, "Biddy
Shorts" Bobby Black-later of LIE
Mars, Iowa, and now slated for an
Dad Turner were stars, while Ragan
and Corbett, the fast battery for West
Point, proved the backbone of that
crowd. In one of those games the
most sensational episode that ever
happened in northeastern Nebraska
baseball, occurred. 1t was the odd
game and interest was at white heat.
Currency hung in big patches from
| fingers Of either sides supporters.
Kim Valentaine, son of Judge Valen-
tine of West Point, was umpire. He
called a West Point runner safe at
first, whom Norfolk fans considered
clearly out Then the fireworks. Val
entine had to be escorted to his hotel
under police protection, to escape mob
violence. That ended the games be-
tween the two clubs.
A couple of years later the Glen
wood, Iowa, team made trip through
this territory. It was the first time
the local club had been deefated. The
result was that the whole team was
hired and none of the players returned
home.
That same year saw good playing at
Stanton, Humphrey, Creighton, Til
den, Neigh, Pilger, Newman Grove,
Elgin and other towns. On the Fourth
of July the Omaha Originals came up
for three games that split the win
nings. 10 Glaski, from Humphrey,
later made the Western league.
Creighton always put up good base
ball, and probably always will. Haley,
for instance, is natural born pitcher
and the Greenes are clever. 1t was
Creighton that furnished the most sue
cessfu university baseball manager
that Nebraska ever had-Mike Hen
derson.
Those interested are requested to
correspond with w. w. Roberts of
Norfolk.
THURSDAY TlDlNGS.
j. +. Plantz of Fremont Is in the