The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-08-08
BY HAL POD.

BY HAL FOO.
One OF tile greatest aids to the mo-
rale of the men with the national
army, both in America and abroad,
is baseball, according to Lieutenant
Colonel Dilligham. commander OF the
Fourth Replacement regiment at
Camp Gordon, Georgia. In fact, ath-
letics of any clean kind, properly sys-
tematized among the soldiers OF
Uncle Sam, is a great aid to the mo-
rale of the camps.
Camp Gordon has the baseball
hug" badly. even the officers from
the ton down being seriously afflicted
with this national disease. Baseball
is the one big sport here and at any
game of consequence each competitor
appears with a military band and sew
leather lunged rooters, as the case
may be.
Eattaiions are Rivals.
Rivalry is especially heated among
the various battalions, and about the
only thing lacking seems to be pop
bottle" ammunition for the umpire. A
lieutenant, captain or sergeant gener-
ally umpires the games and the prl-
vate who would cast pop bottles would
be in serious trouble indeed. one
pleasing feature of the games lies in
the fact that there Is no wrangling
whatever over the umpire's decisions
what he says goes.
There are about 1000 men in the
tenth battalion, OF which am mem
Der. and | was fortunate enough TO
make the battalion team at third base.
In our team we have former member
OF the Chicago White Sox behind the
bat, former Southern League pitch
er. an Iowa State League second base
man and an old Federal League player
in center field. The rest of the teams
personnel Is made up Of former col
lege players and semi-pros, while most
of the teams here have old leaguers in
their lineups who have been caught in
the draft. This will give one some
idea of the kind of baseball that is
PLAYED at Camp Gordon
We had q game Saturday with the
Fifth Battalion, winning by 8 to l, and
only one error was made in the game.
This was by the Fifth Battalion short
stop. In the box for the Fifth was, a
man named Hoffman, formerly OF the
Pacific Coast League, and two other
former league players were in the
lineup. The Camp Gordon team itself
is made up entirely of league players
who have been caught In the draft.
Plenty of Material.
There are about 10000 men In camp
here now and, of course, from among
so large a number a very excellent
baseball team could be picked.
These conditions are true of all the
larger training camps and review of
the personnel of men playing baseball
on the various camp teams OF the
country will show many names tamil
lar TO major league fans. In fact,
national army nine would be able to
give an account of themselves against
any team selected from the two major
leagues.
Here at Camp Gordon two baseball
leagues have been formed and two
more are in the process of formation.
The two best leagues are the National
and American and these are known as
the major leagues. The two now be-
ing formed will be known as the In
ternational and Eastern leagues
Form Leagues.
The various regiments-three batal-
lions comprising one regiment-make
I'D the major leagues, each the Amer
lean and National having fine teams.
the other leagues and there will be
about eight teams in each league
Then each company also has team
an dthe battalion teams are the pick
of the best players from the four COM
panies which comprise one battalion.
Games are played every day on the
various diamonds on the drilling
grounds, each league team having
tbraa yanaC WppklV
One of the principal reasons why
the commandment here favors base
ball. and I presume the same is true
of other camps as well, is the fact
that it is vastly beneficial in close
fighting with hand grenades. 1t teach
es accuracy, for one thing, and helps
keep the muscles of the arms and body
In perfect trim.
Enjoy other Sports.
While baseball is the leading sport
here and in most other camps of the
country, other sports should not be
overlooked. and a few words might
also be said of the athletic training
all of the men are compelled to take.
Almost every day. both morning and
afternoon, under the leadership of ex-
perienced sergeants or lieutenants act
ing as athletic instructors the various
platoons of each company go through
systematic physical exercises. These
exercises are done with the arms, legs,
body. and also consist of deep breath
ing. They are splendid for keeping all
OF the men in perfect physical condi-
ton. and | firmly believe that a man
coming into the army a weakling, will
60 out Of 1t strong and healthy.
Boxing is another sport in which
we frequently participate, and we are
frequently taken out to see the former
professionals perform in the ring.
There are former champions of the
various classes acting as instructors
here and in other training camps in
America and abroad.
A compilation of figures relative to
the interest shown in baseball at Camp
Gordan might prove of interest, and
presume the same average Will pre-
vail at other camps as we'll
During single month here, accord
ing to the camp physical directors
figures, 19s,500 Khaki clad boys wit
messed 1850 of their fellows take part
in 1859 games, bouts, athletic meets,
etc, under the Y. M. G. A. auspices.
In these figures Camp Gordon rank