The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-16
SPORTOGRAPHY
(By "Grasy.")


 St. Patrick's Day has long been cele- brated, although possibly not in a way the good Saint would appreciate, by the followers of the pugilistic game
 Many are the great bouts that have been pulled off on this date, although none so notable as that in Carson City, New, fifteen years ago come to- morrow. That was when James J. Corbett lost his title as heavyweight champion of the world to the lanky and freckled fighting machine from Australia who answered to the name of Robert J. Fitzsimmons. The bugs
 who had gathered in the sagebrush capital from all over the country ex-> pected to see great battle, and they were not disappointed in that respect, although many had to count the ties home. Corbett outpointed Fftz in the first round, and there was a lot of premature cheering from the admirers of the pompadoured one. Jim main tained his lead for six rounds, and punished Fitz severely with two body blows and a punch to the head. In the sixth .Fsitz came. up looking de- cidedly groggy, and the Corbett back CTS began doping out ways and means to spend their coin. During that round FitZ bled freely and once drop ped to his knee after a stiff right uppercut. Mdny SpoItS OelleFe CO CH!S day that Jim might have saved his title and their money if he had gone after Fitz harder in the sixth. In the following rounds the Australian grew stronger and Corbett began to tire
 From the eighth on Fitz had the ad-
 vantage, and Jim's chance had gone glimmering. In the eleventh Fitz- Simmons terrible left landed plump on Jim's stomach and then on his face. Fitz did not neglect to follow up his advantage. Then came the four teenth, when F'itz landed his right on the heart, and followed 1t with his left to the solar plexus. That was all.
 How does this strike you as the cir cult of a baseball league: New York,
 Phila ladeIphia, Washington, Chicago,
 Boston, Cleveland, Troy, Rockford, Ill. and Fort Wayne, Ind? It would seem a bit queer these days, and the sched- ule makers wouldn't know what to do with a nine-cIub aggrega ton, but that was the lineup of towns in the first professional baseball league in the his tory of the sport Forty-one years ago to-day representatives from the nine cities met in Golfers cafe. Broadway
 and Thirteenth street, and organazed the National Association, with J. w.
 Kerns, of Troy, as president. Kerns was the head of the Troy Haymakers, one of the crack professional clubs of the country in those days. Philadel- phia, was represented in the league by a. team called the Athletics, which copped the pennant by winning twen- tv-tvo games and losing seven. Bos- ton finished second. Next year the circuit was enlarged to include seven cities. Fort Wayne, Chicago and Rock ford were dropped,and franchises were awarded to clubs in Baltimore, Brook Iyn and Mansfield, Conn. The Ma tionals of Washington were also let in, making two teams in that city, and Brooklyn also had two clubs. Boston won the pennant, and continued to do
 so until the association went to pieces in 1875, chiefly because the prevalence of gambling had disgusted the decent people. Tn 1876 the National League was formed, the circuit including Phil adelphia, New York, Chicago, St. Louis. Boston, Cincinnati, Louisville and Hartford. The following year was disastrous, the National League nearly going to pieces. In that year a circuit called the, International As sociation was formed with Pittsburgh Columbus, Rochester, Manchester, Vt, London and Guelph, Ont, and Lynn, Mass. Baseball suttinly made strange bedfelIows in the good old days.