Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24
BASE BALL THE WORLD OVER
AS SEEN BY A SAILORMAN

THE Idea of the game OF base ball being
played in England doesn't seem so curious
to a man-o'-war's man 1t probably does
to a landsman," said a Washington man
who used to be a chief petty officer in the
United States navy.
Base ball has girdled the world, and the
btuejackets OF the navy have done most OF
the girdling Not only have American naval
sailors played the game among themselves
on the beaches of practically every civilized
country on the globe. but they've started
the base ball bug a-going in a whole lot OF
places.
Take Honolulu. In the Hawaiian Islands,
for instance. The Americans down there
that Is, the isiand-born sons of native
American parents-never took much of
shine to base ball till the hluejackets of
the navy got them worked up over It
When Al Spalding's woodworking bunch of
ball players made their tour a good many
years ago a number of games were played
in Honolulu, but the folks down there took
only polite interest In the contests and
attended the games more for the sake OF
being civil to gang of visiting Americans
the sport.
But when the men from the men-o'-war
in the port Of Honolulu began to play
games Of ball among themselves IN the en-
NlTOIS Oh I1OuOIGIu the JouIiS lti4ONS Dpl II
down there. away off the base ball beat and
out of the base ball atmosphere, began to
sit up and take notice. The instinct for the
game was in them, all right, but they'd
never allowed it to develop. The blue
jackets got them all worked UP over the
game, however. and they began to form
scrub mines and practice playing ball. After
a few years they fell into the way. of play
ing with the men-o'-war men, and 1t soon
fell out that they won as many games as
they lost.
AT the present time base ball is a raging
and rampant bug down in the Hawaiian Is
lands. There's regular professional inter
island league down there, and they play
bully ball, at that-not a shade under the
best brand of ball dished out by the minor
leagues of the mainland, as the Hawaiian
folks call the United States. There are
clever mines representing Honolulu, La
haina, Hilo. Hanelei. kahalui and other i'm
portant island towns. and they draw big
crowds of keen rooters, who know every In
side ldnk of the game and who keep as
close cases on the players as the fans al
any ball park IN this country. Young Mr..
Carter, the governor of Hawaii. rs a base
ball bug, and so are most of the leading
Hawaiian officials. Most of the Hawaiian
teams are made up of island-born Ameri-
cans mixed up with pure Kanakas, and
there are some all-Kanaka mines that put
up a sure-enough nifty article of ball.
Quite number OF professional players
from the minor leagues of this country
have gone down to Hawaii to join the pro-
fessonal mines of the islands. and they've
all done well. Some prominent minor
league players have during the past few
years gone to Honolulu to winter and pick
up some spare change by playing ball and
keeping in hrst-rate condition, amid the
most beautiful surroundings in the Whole
world, bar none. at the same time The
ladies attend the games In Hawaii, and
they're enthusiastic rooters. just as are the
fan girls in the states.
Base Ball Popular in Japan.
American buejackets introduced the
base ball bug into Japan too Base ball in
Japan Well, 1 should say yes! Base bali
till you can't rest in Japan! Some of the
corkingest games of ball I ever looked at,
especially from the fielding point of view,
I've seen in the coast cities OF Japan
played by the little brown men who admin
istered the beautiful walicpiag to the army
of the car.
Shore parties of bail-playing sailormen
from our ships interested the agile and imi-
tatiye little Japs in the game as long as
ten years ago, and returning Jap students
from the United States helped to plug the
game OF ball along in the dominions of the
mtkado. They've got several ripping profess
sional leagues a-going In Japan at the pres
ent time. and the Japs have taken to the
game like ducks to water. They re natural
ball players. being quick cats on their
feet and clever at getting at the meat and
meaning of the inside stuff, and they're
wild over the game. You wouldn't want to
see better game of ball anywhere than
one, for instance, between the Kobe and
NagaSak teams, or a game between the
clubs representing Hakodate and Yoko-
hama. The Japs are wonderful flelders, and
I've seen some Unfolding by Jap players
that would make the most seasoned fan in
this country blink. The Japs weak point
seems to be in the stick work. They are
not there with the clouts just yet as they
will be later when they get the hang of
the batting business better, and their pitch
ers know how TO tie the batsmen In bow
knots. The pitchers OF Japan have got
everything that the best of EN- have In this
country, and the top-notch ball pitchers are
fairly idolized by the Japanese fans, who
regard the curves of the pitchers as pos
sessng something OF the mysterious and in
applicable. A picked nine from Japan Wis
tied San Francisco and some of the other
Pacific coast cities last year. playing with
some of the best of the slope clubs. and they
went away with more games than they'd
lost. The little chaps have got swell whips.
being naturally muscular and trained In ath-
letic work from their infancy They are
extremely sensitive over misplays that they
make, and the last time was In Kobe
heard story OF . Jap outnelder who'd
actually committed suicide because he'd
muffed aY ut critical point In an impor-