The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-07-30
Northern League Nurtured Stars
for Big Leagues
AND MANY FOR MINORS
Such Names as Reulbach, or sheldon, the
Boy Wonder, Jack" Coombs, Eddie
Collins and Larry Gardner Were Once
Familiar in Vermont Box Scores.

Lovers of baseball in Vermont, par
ticularly the cities that at one time tig'
ured prominently in the old Northern
league, invariably con all obtainable
baseball literature to unearth informa-
ton that will lend color to their current
reading about the players who received
their primary baseball education in the
. old league and were imbued with the
rudiments of the game during the regime
of that organization. The league was a
real cradle for the nurturing OF players
for the higher branches of organized
baseball.
While in its infancy, the league gained
eminence as a stamping ground for fu-
ture major league ball tossers, and hard
,ly week passed but what scout de.
tailed from some club of the two big
leagues mingled with the spectators to
get line on some reputed star. The
ball played in the first year of the league
compared favorably with any outside the
two high circles of baseball. At that
time the national baseball commission
was not as we'll organized as it is to-
day, there being several outlaw leagues
in vogue. There were no legitimate re
straints placed on players in these
leagues The club offering the largest
stipend always commanded the best of
these rowing ball tossers. N
The greater part of the players in
the Northern league were college play
ers. These collegians came from schools
that permitted summer baseball. The
arrangements of the teams in the old
league commissioned experts to visit the
different colleges and universities to look
over the material, and thus the cream OF
the colleges throughout the country was
drawn into the different clubs of the
circuit After the first year of the
league, payers were signed into faster
and organized baseball, and so it contin-
ued while the league lasted, player after
player being called to don big league
uniforms.
To-day this old league has worthy
representation in the major leagues and |
In the other organizations under the
supervision of the national baseball com.
mission. Such stars in the national lime
light as Reulbach, Coombs, Eddie Col |
Inns and Larry Gardner received their
preliminary baseball education in this
state.
heulDacn, LOT so many years the iedu-
ing pitcher in the National league, made
his debut while playing in this fitp un.
der the name of Sheldon. He was then
student at Notre Dame university
later commencing course at the state
at Burlington. Ii was at this
stage that he responded to the call. The
Chicago Nationals was the club TO be
favored with his services. Reulbach,
while not the sensation of former years,
still has many years of big league base
ball left in him.
Jack Coombs, the premier pitcher
OF the American league last year, is Con-
ME Macks best bet again this year.
The Maine farmer partook of the knowl-
edge of baseball in Barre Montpelier,
while attending Colby college. Eddie
Collins, one of the brainiest players in
the game to-day and teammate Of
Coombs, attended the Vermont school of
baseball while student at Columbia
Dan Moeller, who is said to
be the find OF the year, is displaying
an excellent article of ball in right field