Smyrna times., 1908-08-05
HISTORY OF BASEBALL AS
PLAYED BY SMYRNA BOYS
SMYRNIANS AND FORMER SMYR-
MANS WHO WERE IN THE GAME
Comparison Between The Games
Played Here Twenty-Five or Thirty
Years Ago and the Games To-day

Somewhere between one and
seventy-fve years ago, on those
happy but infrequent days when our
teacher didn't keep US for a private
interview after school, we used to go
out in the lot near old No. schoo
house and play ball, and that was
ball. "Old Cat" was the name of
that particular breed of the great
American game. Why cold cat"
nobody knows, or if anybody does he
has omitted to tell. However, out
in the lot we'd GO Scrappy" W.,
Buddy B., Freddy" S., and
Shorty" 4" taking with US from the
woodshed the utensils necessary for
the sport. We didn't use a regular
turned bat, oh, no; shingle whitfield
down to a handle on one end was
good enough. And for a ball we
didn't have one of those nice hard
things that would hit you on the
end of the fingers and make the
joints swell up so your mother would
have to button your suspenders for
you in the morning. We used
chunk of rubber wrapped up in yarn
taken from an old stocking. Of
course the yarn would keep unwind
ing and coming off every once in
awhile, and usually every twice in
a while when the game was very
interesting, but that only lent addi-
tiOnal interest.
Biggest Man Gets Choice Position
"Scrappy would choose to be
'in, and as he was the biggest,
and could lick the others, we could
find no adequate grounds upon which
to dispute his choice. Then Buddy"
would elect himself to "catch," and
as he could thrash "Reddy'' and
Shorty we consented with as
much grace as possible under the
circumstances. 'Reddy'' decided
to pitch, and as Shorty was the
smallest, he had to chase the ball
over the lot, while the rest abused
him. ''Reddy" 1--WE called him by
that name because of his auburn
curls), would take his place in the
pitchers box, spit on his hand, rub
it in the dire, and then wipe it off on
the bosom of his pants. Then
"Scrappy'' (he was named this
because he always had "chip' on
his shoulder, and nothing gave him
so much unadulterated bliss as
"scrap, would wave his shingle and
admonish "Reddy" to give him
'good one, while "Buddy" at
"catch, " would squat on his launches
and make meaningful' faces at
"Reddy''. Then "Reddy'' would
comfort himself into an attitude that
would remove several buttons, and
let fly.
Ball Would Take Strange Freaks.
Maybe the ball would go over the
stone that marked the home plate,
maybe it would go gyrating off in
Ransom's field, and thereby cause
many caustic remarks upon
"Reddy's" ability from Buddy, 4"
whose painful duty was to "chase"
it, or, maybe it would "soak"
"Scrappy" under the ear, to the
delight of the other boys. After
"Scrappy'' had made several dozen
runs, and the joints of "Shorty's'
short legs were screaking, "Shorty
would catch "fy that got tangled
up in his fingers before he could
drop it, or, possibly "Scrappy," in
a misguided effort to hit the ball
when it was ten or fifteen feet over
his head, would strike out, and then
all would move up. Buddy was
"in, "Reddy' goes behind the
bat, "Shorty" takes his position in
the pitchers box, and "Scrappy"
goes to "chase" the ball in the
field, while the rest make sarcastic
remarks about his being as slow "as
a log wagon, not ice wagon, as log
wagons were more plentiful in those
days. After Buddy had made about
seventy-five round trips to the first
(and only base, and "Scrappy'
was almost exhausted from chasing
that chunk of rubber over the lot and
many times over Ransom's field, for
Buddy" certainly was swatter,
they would all move up again plac-
ing "Reddy" Gin" Then "Buddy"
had to do the "chasing, and
Scrappy" had a chance to get
back at "Reddy,". At last when
Shorty's" time come to be "in, ;
the others would suddenly remember
that they had business to attend to
at home. "Scrappy" and Buddy"
would "hoof it, down South street
to Delaware, while "Reddy" struck