Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-28
OLD DAYS Of BASE BALL
Ted Sullivan Recalls the Ma
tiOnaIS of 1867.
BY TED SULLIVAN.

The old Nationals of Washington were
the base ball pioneers Of the national game
in the west. They were all nearly clerks
In government employ at Washington. They
went west In pure amateur style, paying
their own expenses. Grand opponents of
the game they were. The team consisted of
George Wright one Of the greatest short
stops that ever played: Williams Bel III
rong, Fox, StUdley, Smith and others The
playing OF this team set the natives of the
west wild with their artistic handling of
the ball Jake Schaefers artistic mdnipu-
latlon OF the billiard balls is no more skill
ful than the way the members of the Ma
tional team handled the ball and bat, 10
the amazement OF the people of the west.
The Washington players toured the west in
grand style. defeating all corners Until they
met the Forest City team of Rock ford III
at Dexter Park. Chicago where they ner
defeat al the hands OF Rockford who at
That time had A. @. Spalding in the box
Before the arrival of those WASHINGTON
men Chicago and Rockford had heep hit
ter rivals in amateur base ball the rhf
cage EXCelsiors had defeated tie Rock
foTds ten days before the Nation1Ie' ar
IIE3i' so an Chicago argued that f. Rcck-
lcFd could beat this great team from Wash
lngton and they could beat Rockford the
Nationals. Of course would be easy tor the
chicago team.
Wen, the crowd came to Dexter Park,
ana big one II was. But the Nationals
jumped in and beat the supposed fnyfncf5Ia
thlcagO amateur team by 40 To 4 This
defeat amazed the people Of the west and
noItANest as they could not reconcile the
uncertainty Of The game They accused
ibis peerless organization OF Washington
OF puFposely losing the game to Rockford
SO that they would get bets on the chi
easo contest. Today we find class u clubs
utieaJnS major league club occasionally
while they are training In the soDfb ana
YET put one OF those minor league cIubs In
a race OF six months with the majors ana
,ney would not be able TO win ten games
IN the whole season
The loss TO Rockford and the victory over
ire chicago ENccisiors created a great
scandal In Chicago, but when II was found
OUT that the officers OF the Nationals were
from me best circles Of the capital and
that the players were men of social stand
Ing IN this city, and that the team itself re-
toSeu all gate money and other revenue for
!is expenses, The people of Chicago and
me west were only too eager to apologize
The Nationals were followed the next
year, ISbS, by the three premier orgauIza-
lions OF the east-the Athletics OF PhTa-
oeipnia, AtIantics OF Brooklyn and Unions
or MoTfIsania. The aim of these three
high-class organizations was to show their
wild, woully cousins in the west the art of
1a tung and catching the ball The Ath-
letcs had on their roster Malone Nc
Bride, Fisher Al Reach RadcNT parr,y
Cuthbert, Count Sensenderfer. Huebel ami
Bechtel The Atlantics OF BROOKLYN were
composed Of Mills Zeitlein, Joe Start Boh
FergesOn, Dick Pierce, Chas Smith. JacI,
Chapman. Crane. Mcdonald and Tom Plat
The Unions OF Morrisania held in their
ranks Birdsall, Pabor, Goldie. Martin and
Geo. Wright. The men enumerated we're
combination of gentlemen and base baII
players that were the pioneers and ey-
ponents par excellence OF the first pro-
1essiuual ball in the east or west The
next year 1859, came the first clean-cIt
salaried team. the famous Cincinnati
Reds. With this team began all that is
commend1ble in professional base ball
namely, discipline and team work You
VIII hear once In a while today a few
players or fans who are baskinR In their
sunshine OF conCeit and Ignorance say
that ln those days they did not know how
10 play Tor batters. Although a very
small boy then. / remember having seen
at that time Harry Wright and ANDY
Leonard. who were respectively left and
center FEEDERS OF the Reds pull I'm and
pull out. pull west and pull east for this
and that kind of a batter while playine
the outield for that great organization I
have seen some ball players right In our
own day. and not $50 days of. with 60
dense a brain that you could not with n
Winchester rifle shoot an up-to-date
bright base ball idea through their heads.