The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-22
MEN, WOMEN
 | AND THINGS


 villes negro teams I saw my chance to brighten up.
 I had memories of negro teams which had seen play in my boyhood days at Eufaula, and I was anxious to see the riot of fun and hear the 'joshing." for negroes can beat the world when it comes to ''kidding' one another. They have a line of picturesque language in a class by itself
 I'll never forget one game I witnessed at the old fair grounds between the Flu faula and the Cuthbert aggregations. There was not only an intense rivalry mostly ragged betwixt the Alabama and the Georgia "coons." Every inning was near fight" and the game broke up in a general fight
 Boy like, the more fuss, the more fun there was in it for me. In the old days, before the baseball magnates took the joy out of freak coaching, used to get more pleasure out of the clowns on the side
 
 along came the refor1ners, and the edict went out that coaches were to be Ches- terfeldan in their department or the "umps" would fine em.
 reckon it would be impossible for me to qualify as an up-to-date fan, for I still am old fogey enough to love Init and run game, and the bigger the score the better I like it. Whenever I pick up paper and turn to the sporting page and read that the game played the day before was pitchers battle am always glad that I wasn't present. When the gentle man in the box sets them down "one. two, three,' it may please the experts but it bores me stiff. I want to get action for my money.
 But back to the game at Eufaula. The Cuthbert pitcher was at bat, and between him and the Eufaula twirler there was flow of repartee the like of which have never heard before or since. I only wish it had been caught on phono- graph, for I feel sure that 1t would have become favorite record and in a class in popularity with the one of Casey at the Bat" But no machine could catch or give the gestures and facial express sions. It was better than minstrel
 
 I wish I could jot down here all of the challenging and fiery words which darted from the box to the bat. It was veri- table eruption of negro persifiage of a most scathing and personal nature. for when two "culled brethren" get into a wordy battle no epithets are barred, but each combatant is allowed to use any one coming into his mind. I do remember one 'Parthian dart. The Cuthbert pitcher flung at the Eufaula moundsman that he was "nuthin but an amachure,' when smash went the reply, 'Nigger. l wuz 8 professional pitcher when you was still in yo' shirt tail picl5in' cotton" The teams in those days had no uni forms, or if any of the players hap pened to pick up some cast-off ones none of them matched It was at a time when every one caught with naked hands Such a thing as mitt or glove was unheard of, and eatcher's mask would have called forth such dersion that no one would have dared to have faced the crowd wearing one. The breast-plate would have seemed like an ''injun rub ber' bed, and shin guards would have raised howl of laughter.
 | But today the negroes have a league l ,xr;th uniforms and all of the parapnernalia used by the big l leagues. And they play classy ball, ana have two empires and yet. in spite or all this, I am glad to state that every | now and then, in spite of themselves, 1.-the characteristics of the race will crop out and the spectators get their money 1 worth in watching the antics they cut up. For example, on Wednesday afternoon batter had three balls and two strikes. The pitcher wound himself into knot | and let a hot one fly, and the umpire l resitated a moment and called "ball. V The batter kissed his bat and turned and bowed to the lump and trotted down to { first
 1 Students are continually calling our att | tention to the fact that the negro race IS in it's infancy and allowances must be made for it. The unrestrained Joy Of 1 of pleasureA to me. can1watch them by ] the hour. I am glad that negroes are l infants in so far as to give vent to their rassing emotions. It's refreshing to see great crowd of them forget themselves and their surroundings in shouting and 1 clapping at a ball game when the home ] team is winning. Their joy is unconfned. and pandemonium breaks loose.
 Wednesday afternoon the score was tied-it was 2 and g. Then the dumpv ehortstop of the home team went to nat, The bases were filed. It was tense 1 moment. The pitcher was in a hole. He tried an "ont shoot and the Birmingham player landed on it's nose" and away it went for a three -bagger," cleaning the bases and leaving him on third And | then the earth seemed to rock l never saw such a wild crowd. Talk about heroes, he was one. He came in. cap in hand and then began a shower of sil- yer.
 | I have called attention to the enthu- | siasm of the race, but it does not merely waste itself in words. hut backs it un with gifts. for frequently during the
 game when a player pulled off a good
 play he got his reward in coin of the 1 realm. Not only did the crowd scatter l it's gifts on the home team. hut also re-
 warded the visitors The third fielder of l the Nashville argregation made spec taoular catch which robbed Birningham i of home run at critical stage in the same. but the hleachers pelted him with quarters. halves and dollars.
 President Smith told me that the ne | groes were we'll behaved and that at no | time had he any trouble from them.