El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-16

4 Nd now my story shifts &c a
IA baseball club-the Eckfords-
= - which swept through two seasons
achieving 14f victories without suffer
ing a single defeat; to a man-Joe
sprsgue-who pitched and won every
zone Of those games for the Eckfords.
The records of both are without
parallel in baseball history; accom-
plishments so remarkable that they
never can he surpassed nor closely ap-
preached
The Eckfords. as I stated in a pre-
vious article. represented Williams
burg, then a separate town, but now A
part Of Brooklyn It was the first
team 1 PLAYED on and held down sec
ond base in every one of those games
that We won while establishing our
record mark.
Our winning streak began with the
opening OF the 1862 season and con-
rinued right through TO the end of 1868.
During that time We played-with one
eXceptiOn-every team of strength and
Importance in New York. Brooklyn.
Philadelphia, Troy. Syracuse. Albany.
Washington and the smaller cities. And
we beat them all. not once. but as
often as they cared TO try conclusions
with Us.
Couldn't Play ExceISiOrs
The single exception was the Ex-
celsiOr team of Brooklyn. We wanted
to play them. issuing repeated chal-
lenges- But their captain. Joe Leggett.
refused for the sole reason that he had
become angered during the summer of
1862 when our captain, who was cap
tain of A picked nine on which LegGett
played. was presented with a souvenir
ball. Leggett thought he was entitled
10 il and vowed afterwsrd that so long
as he was leader of the Excelsiors he
W r11- ha
Eckfords- He kept his word
Joe Sprague. in my opinion. was the
greatest pitcher of all time When one
calls to mind the fact that he pitched
and Won-14a games in two seasons,
pitching three times a week. it doesn't
leave much room for argument, does
It?
SpraEue Had speed and Control
Sprague- throwing an underhand ball
had terrific speed and wonderful con-
Sprague threw a curve ball-that was
back in 1S62-which means that
Sprague, not Arthur Cummings of the
Brooklyn Stars of 1864. OF Bobby
Mathews. of the Baltimores of 1861
was the original curve-ball pitcher.
Curves Then Unknown
In those days when Sprague pitched
for our Eckford team a curve ball. as
such. was unknown But We always
noticed that some Of Sprague's deliver
les took a sharp twist. sometimes turn
ing in and sometimes turning away
from the batter. All OF US used TO
remark about the peculiar EyratiOns of
the ball that he threw. II was not until
some years later. however. when curved
balls became an established fact. that
We recognized the delivery then called
p curve. as the very same kind Of ball Z
that Sprasue had thrown in 1862 and !
1868 while pitching himself-and the Z
Eek fOrdS-ro fame.
And vet the amazing accomplish /
ments Of both the Eckfords and /
Sprague never have found their way in !
the record books No mention is made
hat / can account for this failure TO
chronicle properly the greatest dual
feat in the entire history of the game
And that is that the record was made ]
in the days before any records were
zept-in the era before tabulatiOn be
gan. 1t was not until along in 1864
and 1865 that Henry Chadwick put into
operation his tabulating system and be-
gan preserving records
Red StoekinGs' Record OutcIassed
The Cincinnati Red Stockings o: 1863
have gained undying fame for having 1
won IS games. tying one and losing
none in that season. but their record is
in comparison with the /
II straight victories of the Eckfords /
Of 1925 The Red Stockings record /
=
tories one tie, and three defeats. and /
not one defeat. as some records show. i
The Red Stockings were defeated two !
straight games in the fall of 1870 by
The Chicago White Stockings. a team I
which I organized. captaired and man /
ged. That team was recruited for the /
sole purpose Of beating the arrogant {
Red Stockings-and il accomplished its /
object in the most sensational baseball /!
series ever played. In a later article /
shall deal with those two games one I
which was witnessed by the greatest I
,rowd-50. 00O-tkat ever saw a pro- /
-essionai ball game in America
First Admission Ten Cents
Historians differ as TO when and 4
where the first game was played at 4
which admission was charged The (
cal fact is that the first game OF that |
kind was played on June Z. 1864. be I
ween two picked mines. one from /
Williamsburg and the other from New
iork II was staged in the enclosed I
Union Ball Park in Brooklyn. The ad-
mission price was 10 cents,
Il was u. H Cammeyer. thoe owner