Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-05-08

grove MN back and MS team to the
right side Of the diamond The ira
Yelling man was there for Cresco.
| plotting the whole business. A cry
was set up by the whole crowd for
! the game to start, but Cresco said
| they could not commerce the game
until their two players arrived. They
would be there soon, and as one of
them was their pitcher they would
rather let the game go by default
/ than begin without him.
There was an immense crowd sur
rounding the field, which was COM
posed of wagons. horses and pedes-
trians. Cry after cry was set up
from the impatient crowd for the
game to commence. Cresco claimed
they could not commence the game
with seven men, as they were waiting
| for their regular two men to come
up from the city. Finally this old
farmer, who drove in with load of
hay covered with his farm hands,
called out: Say, boys, l can loan
you two of my men TO help you out
until your two men arrive
This remark of old Farmer Jen-
kins was cheered by the crowd. The
travelling man who was directing the
affairs of Cresco says: No, we will
wait for our regular two men or
there will be no game The DEBORAH
manager told the Cresco mana ger
that he could put these two men in,
and he could take them out when
ahe two regular men appeared. He
replied that he would see. The crowd
heard this and demanded that Farm
er Jenkins two men be put in the
zane until the others arrived. There
was an immense amount of money
and horses bet or the game, ard the
Cresco people said it was a shame
that DEBORAH should have such soft
thing.
Finally the Cresco manager called
out: Send down your two men, Mr..
Jenkins, from that load of hay, I'll
rut them in the game anyway.
At this call Rad and Taylor top
pled down from the load of hay, and
powerful looking men they were at
that time of their life All eyes were
now riveted on them. The number
of Cresco people that We're in the
play cheered and cheered Rad and
Taylor Those two men had their
oveTalls on, but before going to the
| field they Invested themselves of
their outward heavy shirts. The Chi
case players commenced to laugh as
they saw them descend from the load
CT hay. They might have heard of
Radbourne and Taylor, but they new
or saw them. The Crescos took the
field, and as Rad went toward the
box that sullen, logged and indiff-
erent appearance which was very
characteristic of him somewhat i'm
pressed the Chicago players.
AS big Taylor donned the mask
Farmer Jenkins called out: Don't
hurt yourselves, boys, you know we
begin threshing tomorrow AS Rad
bourne faced the first Chicago batter
he smiled with that defiant air which
always lit up the countenances Of
two men in their different profess
stems. One was John L. Sullivan as
he looked across the ring at his op-
ponent, and one was Charles Rad
bourne when he first faced batter.
You can call it hypnotism, magne-
tism, or any other ism it was there
Just the same. Radbourne showed it
in the many years that he was in the
National League. Sullivan demon
strated 1t in the twelve years he was
champion of the world.
Rad opened up this game by call
ing out to Taylor: Hold up your
hands, Billy! Belt high over the
plate. | want to shoot three or four
halls over it on that cigarette batter
Talk about being on sidetrack and
your train standing still waiting for
the lightning express to pass which
she does with zip. then you'll have
faint idea how Rad sent the first
ball over the plate on this Chicago
City league batter. Rad and Taylor
threw all their ardor and iollity into
this game. This batter famed out
and was glad to leave the Plate. when
Taylor calls cut: Come il here, you
mosquito batters from the prairie
grass of Chicago; | want some OF
the atmosphere famed away from
lere. Their hearts failed. They
knew they were up against the real
thing, where they came from or how
they get there they knew not. Rad
bourne looked at them; he shot I lem
high and he shot them low, with
cures and jumps that made them
sea-sick while they were at the plate.
He retired the side on strikes. Cheer
upon cheer went up from Cresco
when they saw the doom of their bit
ter opponents. As DEBORAH went to
the field Taylor made it worse by
telling them to go out now and show
the people now TO pick UP n ball with
one finger.
The Chicago players realized now
what they were up against, and 1t
affected their entire playing. Taylor.
the first batter up for Cresco, drove
a ball high and dry over the wagons
~ center field into a small creek.
The Cresco players now took heart
when they saw they had sure thing
On their tricky opponents, who We're
catching balls on their fingers before
the game, were now catching them
on their shins and bounding them
cut into the field. Radbourne, who
was always q good batter, drove lin
ers and Yroun1ers through tnel lace
curtain infield. Everything was go
ing against DEBORAH, helter-skelter.
The first inning Melted Cresco sew
en- runs. All through Rad kept strik-
ing the Chicago crowd out and Tay-
TOR, with his kidding. kept telling
them the kind Of balls that were
coming. The DEBORAH crowd saw they
were outjobbed and outwitted and
commenced to leave the field. The