Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-09-19
DAYS OF REAL SPORT BROUGHT
BACK TO PRESENT BY RESUME
! OF CRACK ALEDO NINE OF '96
1WO of Initial Diamond Organiza-
ton Here Shine in Profession
al Circles Later.
The days Of real sport!

The days Of real SPORT
Ask Aledo lovers OF the national
pastime. They will tell you that
those days were long way back
when Aledo's first baseball team
was organized.
And a crack organization it was
Throughout the season it swept
through its schedule with no de-
feats, disbanding without a stain
upon the years playing record
Champions Of Mercer county? Well
We guess,
Who was on the roster? Well.
come to think of it, there was Doc"
David. dentist, who is pTacticing
today in this city. Yes, Doc" COW
cred the third sack and he did it
well, too. That's him in the picture
He wore a mustaChe as a disguise
those DAYS.
Then there was Lee Candor. Yes,
kfle same man now behind the tell
er's window at the Farmers Ma
tiOnaI bank Lee" covered the ter
ritOry about shOrtstOp. And then
there was poor old John Arthur,
"Jiggs" the boys called him. He's
dead now. "J;ggs" pitched for the
local organization and after a sea-
son or two of semi-pro ball was
gObbled up by the Rock Island
club of the Three-Eye league.
"Jiggs" was a real pitcher, only he
couldn't stand the gaff. But he sure
had the steam" and the curves,
Graham Was Coach.
Recognize the man in "cir
Just about in the middle Of the pic
ture? That's William J. Graham,
none other than our congressman
from Illinois today, He was manag-
er and coach of the aggregation
when he was not practicing his
profession in office or courtroom
NSou've guessed it, he's a lawyer by
fNGde.
And speaking of royalty, there's
George Graham up in the corner
He was AledO's catcher in % and
mighty good one he was.
"PeaChy" as the boys called him,
was not destined to remain long in
the bushes. He was snapped up by
league scouts and played for years
on various teams in the majors. He
was first tried as a pitcher, but
when his arm weakened was trans
lGIIEu DtIlIQ ire rat AS d tdIGupI
and general utility man ,"PeaChy"
became one Of the most valued
players Of his team and of the
league.
For years he broke into the head
lines on sporting pages OF the
cOuntrys leading daHcs, then, even
as the best of them eventually end,
was reIegated TO the International
circuit
Then there is Fred Cabeen, since
turned banker. first saCker, and
Dale Cabeen, his brother, who play
ed right field. The fans will re-
member Ed Boyd as fast, hard hit
ting left fielder and Hays Dool,
second base. There was Bill"
Graham, "PeaChy's" brother, who
worked in the center garden.
All in all il was a great combin-
alton.
Two of the nine achieved high
success on the diamond. Graham
went to the big league and made
good "Jiggs" Arthur went to the
majors and also made good. Arthur
Has fraiI in body, however, and be-
, came i'll of tuberculosis and died,
his passing nipping a baseball
career destined for the major cir
cult
Starred With Islanders.
The older fans in Rock Island
fOndly recall some of the perform
ances of the lanky- ''bean-pOIe"
from Mercer county. During his
year with the Islanders his team
won the pennant In a 20-game
series with Davenport the Rock
T-E1 nj
Chagrined beyond all measure, Dav-
enporL sought revenge. An inter
esting incident, featuring Arthur
as the hero, is recalled in this con-
nection.
The Iowa pitcher had been prom
ised d fat financial reward If he
could wrest victory from the AFRO
CANT Islanders. The score stood in
Davenport's favor in the Islanders
half OF the ninth inning. There were
two men on bases and two out. The
Rock Island catcher was up. He
was a heavy hitter and Mr.. Iowa
Pitcher decided to pass him in
favor of Arthur, a weak push bat
ter. So the slab artist dished up
SOUR wide ones and the bags were
filled. Arthur stepped to the plate
and pushed the first ball pitched
over the third baseman's head Tor
three bases and the ball game.
Yea, all in all, those were the
days Of real sport. AledO's team in
80 was the first but not the last
of the crack semi-pro baseball or
CARNATIONS put forth in Mercer
county.
GREAT INTEREST