The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-01-17
lSPORT WRITER
BOOSTS, THEN
HAS SOME FUN
HENRY p. EDWARDS SAYS oIA-
MoND is A GOOD ONE AND so
rs THE cITY-FoR RALLToss-
ERs-BEcAusE NOT MUCH TO
DO.

In an interesting contribution to the
current issue CT the Sporting News,
Henry P. Edwards. sporting editor of
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, heartily
toasts Pensacola's advantages as a
baseball training ground for the
Cleveland and Toledo teams which
come here late next month for spring
practice.
Besides toastfng it's advantages in
that respect, Mr. Edwards, who is now
in this city. slightly roasts the print
tive spirit of this progressive place.
However, the article was written
only day or so after his arrival here
and since then he has probably found
several people that have seen big
league baseball and know how to pro-
nounce the name of the great Cleve-
Aland player Lajoie. 1t will be recalled,
also, that there was a theatre attrac-
ton almost daily from mid-October to
January 1 and. while the mid winter
hiatus is now on. good shows promise
) to be as frequent after January 81
when Margaret Ellington comes here in
'.Kindling''
On the whole, the article speaks
much for the city and the baseball
grounds and the concensus of opinion
among the fans yesterday was that 1t
is a good boost. The story:
Pensacola, Fla, Jan. 11.-Special
Correspondence.-The are several
reasons why the Maps should like Pen
sacola as a training camp. First of
all, they have an agreeable sort Of
climate down here close to the old
gulf. The winds do not seem to wills
tie and chill as much as they did at
Mobile, where the Maps trained in
1909 and 1912. Next in order comes the
baseball park. Pensacola had prac-
tically nothing in the way of baseball
field until two years ago, when Messrs.
Schad and Oliver, two local fans, made
up their minds that one of the best
ways to advertise a town was to place
a baseball team on the field.
Business follows the national game"
was their slogan and they enclosed a
field, built some fairly respectable
The outfieId however, was full of hills
and valleys and now and then an out
fielder was known to come a cropper
when he stepped in a hole OF more than
ordinary proportions. The inf1eld was
barren of grass. nothing at all like the
big league plant, but 1t was ball park
and Pensacola was happy. The fans
organized an independent team and
defeated all the other semi-pro out
fits Of this section, but it was difficult
to obtain adversaries way down here
and Schad and Oliver, the pair who
had placed the town on the baseball
map, made a trip to Mobile, where the
Maps were training a year ago. They
induced Manager Harry Davis to send
his second team over here for three
days.
The second team was commanded by
Joe Birmingham, now manager of the
Maps. That was a lucky visit for the
Pensacolians, for when Birmingham
succeeded Davis as pilot of the C1eve-
land club, he decided that the Maps
should train at Pensacola. It having
met with his approval when he was
captain of the Yanigans, he saw no
reason why it would not fill the bill
as a training camp for the entire squad
with the Toledo club thrown in.
Bob GiIks Fixes Up the Park.
Naturally, however, the Pensacola
outfield did not appeal to Birmey.
Neither did the skinned infseId. Fear
-~tng that Joe Jackson might break a
lleg in that treaeherous garden or that
his all-star infield would be sent to the
hospital through faults of the clay dia-
mond, Scout Bob Gilks was dispatched
to Pensacola to place the field in
Shape. 1t took Gilks a few days to
convince the residents that what was
good enough for semi-pros was not
good enough for big leaguers. He A.
nally convinced them, though, and
public subscription raised the money
for GiIks to go ahead to fix up the
park. The hills were cut down, the
valleys filed up, and the infield sodded.
Nature is now aiding in the good
work and by the time the Maps and
Mud Hens arrive here late in Febru-
airy they viii discover a playing field
really better than the majority of
those in the south. 1t can be scarce
" compared with billiard table, but
the Maps have trained on lots worse.
It is located in easy running distance
from the San Carlos hotel, where the
athletes win stop. It is also reached
by street cars.
Pensacolians can scarcely await the
arrival of the big leaguers, that is the
arrival of the celebrities. They sure
want to get a peek at 'Polecn 'Lajoy''
IN action and II General Joe Jackson
does not poke the ball over that right
field fence two or three times a game
they win ask for their money back
yean Gregg they have heard of, but
TtAey do not really regard him as a
Ahero yet. Next OF ''Lajoy' and Jack
son, they want TO see Fred Banding
and Doc Johnston. Johnston has play
ed here few times as a member OF