Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-21
NATIONALS ONCE SCORED
113 RUNS IN ONE GAME
Accomplished That Record Against
Union Club Of St. Louis-H. H.
Mclean Was Member of Team.
BY n. C. BYRD.


but the great essentials of play at pres
ent are far removed There are accounts
of several ball games in some old copies
of Oliver Optics Magazine. published
during the year 1867. 4 perusal Of the
scores of several OF these contests and a
note of a dissertation Oh the sport by an
expert of that period contrasts greatly
with anomalous conditions now.
There is one feature of the game which
is Just the same as 1t always Was--its
popularity. Even In the early days OF
the sport it was recognized as the most
popular. and one note sentence in the
magazine states expressly, This is be-
coming the national game Crowds
reaching as high as JO,Cuo a.t5 1tied some
of the contests. one game especially
drawing an exceptional number 1t was
played between the Athletics OF Phila-
delphia and the Mutual club of New
York. One OF the big games of the year
was the first between the Lowells and
Harvards, which played a series Of three
for the championship of the New Eng
land states. A short prelude to an ac-
count OF the game reads as follows:
Says Game Is Popular.
This game is the most popular in the
United States. and, as q means of de-
veloping the physical powers. is the most
commendable exercise practiced by young
men. The matches of last year were
well attended and the game is constantly
increasing in popularity. The coming
season Is looked forward to with much
interest, and 1t is expected that more
clubs will play than heretofore. Several
of the leading clubs will make visits to
the principal southern cities during the
summer
The account of the game followed this
paragraph, and as 1t is the longest re-
port published about any on., II II,
printed here in order that an idea of the
= .anner IN winch the contests were writ
ten up, may be contrasted with present
oay methous of covering them.
THE GREAT BASE BALL MATCH
The hrsi iIatcn game OF the season
for the championship of New ENGLAND
and the possession OF the silver ball took
pace between the Lowers and TIC mar
wards on the Boston commons yesterday
afternoon. The ball has been In pos
session Of the Lowells since July, 1856.
at which time they won it from the Har-
wards, scoring thirty-seyen runs IN a
game or nine innings To the Iiarvards
twenty-scyen. During the latter part
of the season the Lowells were chal-
lcnged by the King Philips of East Abb
common and resulted In a victory for
T.. owens ny a score Ut Beventy-tive to
seventeen for their opponents. The third
and last game OF tho season was played
between the Lowel1s and the GRANTEES
thus retaining the championship. The
games of last season were decided by a
single game between the champion and
the challenging club, but this season, II
ii single game cannot be agreed upon, a
series Of games, the best two out of
ha yllQ in n fha oct
for the championship. The friends of
the two clubs rallied in large numbers,
there being at least 400 spectators pres
ent outside the guards. while within the
thousand. most Of them ladies, each
wearing the colors of their favoriteS-
that of the Harvards being magenta,
with silver lettering; the color OF the
Lowell S being blue and white with silver
lettering
Inadequate Accounts Of Games.
immediately following this account
was the lineup and summaries, but. as
scores of two other games are reproduc-
ed. they are omitted. Imagine a pres
ent day sporting writer having an ac-
count like this in his paper on the morn
ing following big game. He might
last until the managing editor got hold
Of him, but the chances are he would be
kicked out by the rest of the STAFF on
sight There is as little about the game
as one could imagine. One would hardly
know whether II was a report of base
ball game or something else. The, ap-
parent errors I'm the technical makeup
of the story are possibly due TO the GUS
tOmary manner of writing at that time.
though the lack of conference would have
been inexcusable at any time since Caed
mon made his first attempt to grind oIt
Saxon verse.
1t may be Interesting TO note that tpe
Lowelis finally won the championship
Of the series. The score was. 80 to 20.
A story written shortly after the
great match between the Loweils and
the Harvards. purportlng to give the
technical details Of the game. Is much the
same as some of the present day Iilaga-
zine stories tell Of INSIDE base bal"
The article begins. by saying. This
game. which may be said to have be-
come our national sport, AS cricket is
that OF the English, may be played by
any number, not less than four on q
side. although nine are needed for a
complete field" Which. Of course, is
rather an inadequate definition Of our
conception of base ball.
Ball Is About the Same.
lies pretty well with the one used lin
that time was supposed to be not more
than nine and three-quarter inches in
circumference nor less than nine and
one-half. while now 1t cannot vary
from the regulation nine inches. The
weight was not less than five and one
half ounces nor more than five and
three-quarters. while now 1t is not sup
posed to be more than one-quarter Of
an ounce over or under five ounces.
The bat was practically the same as 1t
now is. with the exception that 1t could
be any length desired. while those now
inches. The diamond was laid of with
the bases ninety feet apart. though the
other markings were different The
great difference to be noted Is the
change in the position OF the pitcher.
Then he was placed in space four feet
wide by six In length at distance Of
forty-five feet from the home plate.
From within that space he was sup
posed to deliver the ball across the
plate within reach Of the striker"
Imagine a man like Walter johnson
pitching a base ball from point only
forty-five feet from the home plate. If
one of the batters ever saw the ball he
would be lucky. and II he couldn't. 1t
would have behooved him to use all his
energies in taking some kind of high
dive to keep out Of the way. Let one of
Johnson's drives hit a man at that dis
lance and he would not know whether or
not he had been hit. But the pitcher at
that time had to deliver the ball with a
straight arm. which prevented him de-
veloping such great speed. AS pitching
mas 8s@G - IL 50