The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-06-15
SOME INCIDENTS
CONCERNING THE
NATIONAL GAME
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF AN ELY
PRINTERS BASEBALL
CAREER.
MANAGED THF NEVADA STARS
The Peculiaritics of Baseball Amer
lean" and Sample of the
Language.

"If the sun shines again, we may
have some baseball" remarked an
enthusiast to a News reporter to-
day.
He then unwound himself for
three-base hit and tore loose few
yards of curves concerning the game
that would demonstrate even to an
advocate of ping-pong that he had
the craze. He seemed particularly
proud of the Ely team and was anX-
ious to see the boys mix 1t. up with
any aggregation of ball players. His
sack was large one, and he was
willing to place 1t on the "Invinci-
bles," as he called them. During
the course of the conversation this
fan fell to discussing old-timers, and
among them he mentioned Phil
O'Rourke.
Phil O'Rourke Is now plying his
trade-that of printing He has
tried many games, including base
ball, printing, piano playing, billiard
playing and last, but not least. story
telling. 1t Is said this printer can
narrate circumstances by the hour
of an unusual variety and then can
tell some more.
ORourke started the professional
game in 1888, when he played with
the old Stockton team, the bunch that
had them all faded during that pc
iod, and which afterward was the
pennant winner In the California
league. Later he went east, and
In 1886 was behind the rubber with
the Athletics of the American Associ-
ton, under Harry Wright. One year
with the Quakers and he struck still
further east and landed in New York,
where he played first and also wore
the mask for the Empire State team
of the National league.
From New York this printer went
to Chicago, where he played two
years-'88 and 'S9-and in '94 was
back again with the New York bunch.
The next year he returned to Cali
fornia, where he resided until he
came back to Nevada.
In 1897 he had the Nevada Star
team that won out on the Examiner
tournament. This ended his baseball
career.
Speaking of national baseball, II is
agreeable to know that the game has
never left public favor and today the
great American game Is even more
popular than it ever was during the
time the Ely printer played. The
two big leagues now are the National
and American. outside of Ely the
greatest baseball town in the coun-
try Is Chicago. Chicago has teams
In both leagues and both are near the
top, SO that there is little wonder that
the people of the windy city are en-
thusiastic. There is nothing so con-
ducive to enthusiasm as being on the
NWTtN NtNnrn I'll 4.
assertion he had better attend con-
test on the local diamond when the
Ely boys are in the lead, If this
doesn't change his opinion, then it
would be useless to argue with him.
Baseball Is made up of curves and
puzzles and accompanying it Is base
ball English, or "baseball American"
would probably be expressing it more
correctly. To one who knows not
the game, "baseball American" is
just as impossible for him to under
stand as the HottentOt's vernacular
Here's a sample concerning the great
Mathewson, as published in the Chi
cago Tribune:
MIR. Mathewson lived up to his
rep for little while. Before the
big show ended the Cubs made him
look like an expired meal ticket
|. e. full of holes. Fifteen hits, for
total of eighteen bases would have
eked more runs, but for the chivalry
and beauts which which fringed the
field on all sides. The champions
required nine hits to tie the score
and twelve to win out by margin of
one run. This shows how hard Matty
died and how well and truly the
Giants stuck to him in his advers-
ity"