The Washington herald., 1914-08-09
LOCAL BASEBALL
DATES FROM 1860
National Pastime Made Is
Debut IN Washington Be
fore the Civil War.
CLUB CALLED NATIONALS
Late Senator Arthur P. German Was
Member Of Team Catching Ball
on First Bounce Was. Out.

Baseball made Its debut In this city in
1sso The frst club organized here was
composed principally of youths who were
pages In the House and Senate. or of
young fellows. who. having graduated
from that position. we're holding ofices
OF more importance around the Capitol.
Mr. A. II. Ragan. OF This city. one OF tn.
organizers OF the club. Is the authority
for this story.
The club was called the Nationals and
the late United states Senator from
Maryland. Arthur Pus German. who was
a Senate page in the eos, was the crack
pitcher OF the club. George Hibbs, who
is still living In Washington, was Cor
mans catcher. Raglan played in left
field.
I'VE did not know anything about the
game then" said Mr.. Ragan, so We
wrote to baseball dub in Newark. n. j.,
and told them that we wished to learn
the game and asked them to help US out
the best they could.
The True spirit.
with true baseball spirit-for tina;
spirit was alive even In that day-they
not only sent us down a little pamphlet
including the rules Of the game, but also
a ball and bat We organized our club.
which included enough material to make
our four mines. and prepared grounds"
In those days. the pamphlet shows
catcher or a fielder was allowed to catch
a ball on the hrst bounce-that is, Il
counted as an out Just the same as II he
had caught II on the ny.
No gloves or other protection was al
lowed ar that time. Men who tried to
protect their hands in any way were
called ''sissies'' and were driven from
the game.
Could Bat Harder.
The method Of pitching made it possi-
Bile for a batter to ait the ball with much
greater force than today, according to
Mr.. Raglan The pitcher was not allowed
to bring his hand above his knees, and
the batter could call for Just the kind OF
ball he preferred. That is, he could call
for q high BALI or a low BALL" and
the pitcher had to give him just what ne
wanted.
A high ball was between the waist and
shoulders and low ball was between
the waist and knees There was no call
ing Of balls, and L the pitcher did not
give the batter Just Nhat was called for,
the batter could stand at the plate and
let the pitcher wear himself out.
The ball was thrown very much slower
than the fast one Of Walter Johnson
of today. The result was. Mr.. Ragan
declares, that a good batter could drive
a ball harder and farther than the bat
tiers Of the present can do.
Catch Them on Bounce.
The catcher was allowed to catch fouls
and the third strike on the first bounce
Either a foul or the third strike caught
on the bounce put the batter out. o.
"Of course" continued Mr.. Raglan. the
number of runs We made was far in sx-
cess OF the scores made today. Twenty
I'VE or thirty runs a game was not an
Unusual score think IL was much
IivelIer game than tile present one. In
our day the freedom with which the ball
was batted kept every one in the held on
the jump. Half a dozen runs game
was a common thing.
I'VE used to play match games with
teams from New York and Baltimore.
and Cleveland But the teams
in those days were made up solely OF
men resident in the C:ties- To have en-
ployed a player in rnother city voull
have been regarded rs a breach Of ethics.
The result was that local feeling was
intense. Every mar on the Washington
team had his friends and relatives YELL
ing to him that the eyes Of his fellow
townsmen were upon him The rivalry
was very bitter.
THE players not only received no SAL
airy, but they pad all their own ex-
penses 1t was considered beneath the
dignity OF a player to accept money TO
battle for the honor Of his town.
The prize played for was generally the
ball that was used in the game as a tro-
ply and had the date OF the game AMI
the name Of the defeated club painted on
L. Then II was hung up in our clubroom-
Each club liked 20 have as many balls
as trophies of victory as possible.