Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-23
BY JOHN 81. GRUBER:

bail WAS Robert Mathews. called
Bobby" He was not greatin bulk, Tor
he was Of slight physique. weighing
but Ito pounds. and rising from the
ground in his stocking feet only hve
feet five and one-half inches. In bis
time he divided with Arthur Cummings
the honor OF discovering the curve ball,
although now that distinction Is be-
slowed entirely on Cummings. But
Bobby was master of that art of pitch
ing and master of all arts connected
with the pitchers box. 1t has often
been the subject of discussion among
old-timers what truly phenomenal
pitcher he would have been had the
muscular strength of some OF the other
noted pitchers of his day been added
TO his variety of strategy
Mathews was born in Baltimore, No
vember II. 1851. He began to play ball
| n 1867 with local clubs In 1871 he left
home 10 do his first professional work,
| accepting an offer from the kekionga
club of Fort Wayne, Ind. In those
confined to big cities. but small towns
| in many instances produced mines
| that swept everything before them
| These mines" were largely made up
| of home talent and of material taken
from adjacent farms. Among the most
noted Of these were the Haymakers OF
Troy. n. " and the Forest Citys OF
| Rockford Ill. Fort Wayne entered
| the lists also, giving its club the Indian
name Of Kekionga, and In 1871 import
ed a. battery-Mathews and Lennon
from Baltimore, and Joined the Ma,
| tional Association OF Professienai
His First Big Game.
The first championship game pitched
L ut a.
land. against the Forest City team OF
| that city. The Forest City team mus.
not be COMPOUNDED with that OF Rock
| ford. III, 1t was the model game Oh
| the season. resulting . to 0 in favor OF
| the Kekiongas The result drew the
eyes of the base ball world upon the
| Young Baltimorean, whose fame dates
| from that contest. The glory Of the VIC
| tory was much increased by the circun,
| stance that the opposing pitcher was Al
Pratt, the star of his time. whose catcher
was Jim Dcacon) White. Hits were ex-
tremely scarce Cleveland getting only
| i've off Mathews and Fort Wayne put
| six of Pratt OF the five hits made py
| Cleveland the Deacon got three Inc
game~lasted two hours, which can De
accounted for only My remembering the
custom then In vogue of suSpenoinS pay
when the ball was knocked over tne
/ fence or lost until it was found and re-
| turned. -
A peculiar feature of the season oi
| 1871 was that of the six shut-out games
| the Kekiongas took part In -FOUR. Alter
| shutting out the Cleyelands they were
shut out n to by Boston. Spald.ng
pitching: IL TO D by the Mutuals, WATERS
pitching, and 4 to by Rockford, flshef
pitching All these shut-out games were
played away from home.
Saw Opening Of War.
While Mathews, in the model game
of May 4, 1871. began his professional ca
reer, Pratt was at the summit or his
reputation Both lads saw the opening
| of the civil war, but whereas Mathews
probably was among the youths who at
Hacked Ben Buffers Massachusetts sol
diers with brickbats their passage
through Baltimore. Pratt was carrying a
musket as a private in the ranks OF
Pennsylvania regiment. Pratt IS one OF
host of soldiers who must be creoltea
with the expansion OF the national game.
which before the war was mainly con-
| fined to the east, town Galf' being the
favorite pastime west of the lAllegnenfes-
| In the camps during the war games were
played between companies Oh eastern diu
western regiments, and when the Soldier-
PLAYERS returned home they organized
teams. and the game spread over every
part of the country. including the soi,n'
where Federal prisoners taught the
|
national outdoor sport.
/ Pratt had some unusual experiences on
the diamond. After the shock OF ISL. &c
ca stoned by the shut-out administered oy
Mathews his team met a local team ana
won by a score OF 1:a to l. Only five IN
In:ngs were played and in that time the
CIevelands made 101 hits. Had the run
nine innings been played. the high, score
| reco-d would undoubtedly have been
broken. This was and is still held oy
the Niagara club Of Buffalo, which. on
June s. 1862 defeated the Columbia ciuo'
also of Buffalo, by a score of 20? to H.
scoring fifty-eight runs In the eishth IN
ming. Again Pratt was never able TO de-
| feat the Kekiongas- He met them twice
! a fer the shut-out contest and lost eacn
| time nv scores of Ii to 4 and 10 10 u
/ cleveland Quit the association after D..
and Pratt quit the game. too. he setiiea
down q staid married man, and devoted
his spare time umpiring important Games
lin Pittsburgh. In 1852 he became manager
of the Allegheny team In the american
| Association. But after two years expert
| ence he gave up the job. and Is now
| prosperous business man in Pittspureh;
iNearly twenty years ago he was repoIeeu
dead and was given an obituar! notce
a column I'm length in one OF the ,It,s
bureh newspapers. He not only had tnr
uncommon experience OF reading MS own
death notice, but also o. artend.nS the
funeral of the man who wrote II.
49,. Jim White Star.
l. Tim White. who later was distinguish
| ed by the sobriquet Of Deacon. was