The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-28
ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST
 BASEBALL SCANDAL

The allegation that baseball is crooked Is the favorite contention of certain chronic knockers, and while the "root of all evil" has undoubted- ly affected baseball, in common with all other human institutions, it may safely be said that no other trade or stones at the players or magnates of the diamond.
 In spite of the prevalent honesty of tho game, there have been scan dals in baseball, and today marks the fifty-third anniversary of the first scandal of this kind, for it was on Sept. 28, 1865, that the New York Mutuals got into the baseball hall of shame. On that day the Mutuals played the Eckfords. The former club was considered the stronger, but, greatly to the surprise of the fans, the Eckfords won by a score of 29 to II. There was great rivalry be- tween the teams, and large sums were wagered. Certain suspicious circum- stances led to an investigation and ii was found that three of the leading players of the Mutuals had sold the game to the gamblers.
 l That incident left a bad taste in the mouths of the supporters of the game l and when baseball became a profes- sional institution it was viewed with | great suspicion by many people. The i National Association, the parent base | ball league, was almost wrecked by | the gamblers and when the NatiOna l league was formed in 1876 the pro | dnniHnd fn RnnCta l warfare on the gambling element. IT the second year of the leagues exist
 once, however, a scandal developed tic action of them agnates, might have been the death of the game.
 The "crime of TT" easily takes pre-
 cedence over all other baseball scan
 dals. The Louisville club had a gooC
 lead and was considered a certain
 winner, when it left on it's last triI to the East toward the close of thu 1877 season. The Colonel were II 1 such a position that they could los' half of their remaining games ant utill cop the flag. The Louisville
 team began it's eastern invasion
 against Hartford, although the game
 were played on the Mutual ground:
 in Brooklyn. Errors caused the Go
 lonels to lose the first game agains
 the weak Hartfords. On the follow
 ing day, when the poolrooms agail
 bet heavily on Hartford, certail members of the Colonel again mad errors which lost the contest. So , continued, the Colonels losing sever straight games against much weake
 clubs. Devlin, the star twirler of tn Louisville team, seemed suddenly t have lost all his cunning, and othe
 members of the team played like nov
 Ices. .s The Louisville management com
 menced an investigation, and, by SC
 curing possession of telegrams, fore
 ed confessions from Devlin, Nichol
 and Hall. Captain Craver was als expelled for refusing to permit tn management to see the telegrams h had sent and received. All four me were fired out of the game for life . Reylin pleaded for reinstatement a every meeting of the National Leagu r for years thereafter, but the mag r mates refused to relent. It was foun ? that the poolroom sharks had mad
 hundreds of thousands from the dea
 the four players receiving only $10
 each That was an object lesson tha Q has never been forgotten. and base t ball has been practically clean eve | since.