The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-08
.BROUTHERS AND BARNES WERE INE
 BOYS WITH STICK

sLet us put wreaths on the donnes
 of the living" as some gifted author
 has suggested; but while honoring the
 Johnsons and the Kauffs, let us not
 forget the heroes Of the past. This seems to be an appropriate occasion, for this is the anniversary of the birth
 of two of the greatest men who ever wore the livery of big league servitude.
 We refer. ladies and gents, to the inn mortal Ross Barnes and the incon- parable Dan Brouthers. There may have been better second baseman than swat than Brouthers, but if so no old time fan can be convinced of it.
 Barnes was born in Rockford, III, in 1850, on the eighth of May, and on the same date eight years later
 Brouthers made his mundane debut at
 Sylvan Lake, N. Y. Roscoe Barnes
 wa zson1y a little shaver when baseball
 began to be played in his native town.
 Tn fact, the Forest Citys of Rockford
 were the oldest aggregation of base ball players in the West, and it was
 with thA club that Barnes, SpaIdiTg, Anson and ether great players. of the early days got their start. In 1872 Ross joined the Boston club of the old National Asspciation and helped that team to win four straight pennaftss He batted s-4O4 in 1872, .453 in 1873. 1858 in 1874 and 1886 in 1875. When the National League was launched in EI876, Barnes went to Chicago with Al spaldfng, Deacon Jim White and Cal
 McVey, these four deserters from the Boston club constituting the original Big Four of the diamond. Barnes led all Nhis pennant-Winning teammates in bas sting .403. Barnes was not only a
 great batsnans but he was easily the e11r -Ir<. z According to the veterans Ross was much of the same style of player as
 Johnny Evers when the Trojan was
 at his best with the Cubs. Barnes re- tired from the diamond in 1881 and
 was broker, boniface and bookkeeper until his Heath a little more than a year ago.
 Dan Brouthers, whose real front name was Dennis, got his baseball start at Wappinger's Falls, N Y and made that town famous wherever the base ball language is spoken. In the late '70s he played with Troy, then in the National League but he didn't become famous until 18S15 when he Joined the Buffalo Natiopa1s. He was with Buff falo five seasons, and not only led all l the hrst-sackers of the league in field ing his position in 1882, but for two seasons led the league in batting. His batting averages for the five years
 were: .318, .S67, .371, .3z5 and .35s
 In 1886 Dan went to the Detroit Nationals batting .370 that year .419 in 1887, and -306 in 1888. The Detroit
 team then disbanded, and Dan joined the Bostons, leading the league in bat 1 ting in 1889 with an average of .373 dn 1890 Brouthers went over to the
 Players League. batting .345, but in 1891 the great swatter was back on the initial bag for Boston. He batted
 8 49 that year. Dan then spent two
 seasons with Brooklyn, swattfng 1885
 and .348. In 1894 the wappinger's s
 Falls terror played with the Baltimore Orioles, and batted .344. In 1895, for the first time since 1880. Demon Dams
 batting average fell below the 300
 mark. He came back the following year with Philadelphia, batting .33O
 That practically marked, the end of
 the career of the greatest swatter Of
 his time. For fifteen years Dan had
 batted way over the BOO mark, and
 he was nearing forty when at last his old bat failed him. Brouthers made the longest drive in the history of the game, for he once poled a ball that
 travelled 1900 feet before it stopped
 rolling. Some swat!T