The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-07-14

 tween opposing and enduring forces" -Wm. H. Seward.
 Long time ago, when baseball was in it's infancy. the great national game was played on Deacon David Sher- woods lot, where nowadays Clinton avenue joins Fairfield, on the south side of the latter thoroughfare. MT Sherwood was a deacon in the North church, and a devout churchman, but he believed "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men,"
 The deacon's homestead adjourned his broad acres and the venerable owner used to sit in chair outside his house, under the shade Of large tree, and watch the games.
 The rules governing baseball were much more lax then than they are today, with the result that there was some remarkable batting, fielding and pitching indulged in, which thrilled | the onlookers who were just as en- | thusiastic over the close work as they are today.
 No Admission Charged. The field was open, free to all, and the spectators at times often crowded too closely around the diamond and interfered with the game. Some of | the best players were Nat Jones, John Curtis, William Hincks, William flaw ley and George Richards, the latter son of the Rev. George Richards. pas tor of the North Congregational church.
 In 1866 George Richards played first base most skillfuly. His reverend father would stand a short distance the shade of a huge umbrella he would watch his sons perfect catches. This, of course, caused a large pro- portion of the North church congrega- ton to follow the games, which wsH usually won by the nine on which | George Richards played first base.
 There was no thought of money making in connection with the sport
 for short, became justly prominent The T. B. F. U. S. was a social club, | to begin with, and held its meetings in the hall over D. N. Reads, at the corner of Main street and Fairfield avenue. This club, at the very start, displayed such keen business acumen that there were soon financial results in good measure, which was unknown before this time.
 l This club made arrangements with Dick Sherwood, no relation to David, by the way, for the use of his race track and trotting park. which was and Dick to go fifty-f1fty on the re- ceipts paid in by the multitudes fran tic to witness the games played by the
 T. B.'s with visiting baseball clubs.
 Blue Nine Was Licked.
 Yale university had an exceptional
 nine one year, with Mitchell and Cor tez as battery. This nine, together with a large number of students, visited Bridgeport to play against the T. B.s. To make a long story short, the Yale nine was overwhelmingly de- feated.
 Dick Sherwood's trotting park,
 where admission was charged, was the large tract of land on Fairfield ave
 nue where the circus pitches it's tents
 when it comes to give Bridgeport a
 treat. In the old days the horse car I fro oolr at nlC hut ton-ball tree at the corner of Clint on and Fairfield avenues. As it was some distance from the old tree out to the
 park, buses were hired to run back
 and forth and carry fans" ! Near the club house, within the en- closure, was Sherwood's bar where good, oldfashioned beverages, un- known nowadays, were served. The , T. B.'s had no fifty-fifty arrange
 ment on the drinks; Dick was too shrewd for that!
 , Next to the club house was the grand stand. and on the north end of ) the ball field was a parking place for fcarriages. One team present at every
 game was that of William E. Burn
 ham. There were many other, but
 none more finely appointed than his
 It was during these years that
 James O'Rourke began his famous ! baseball career. He played center field. and played it we'll. It must be
 remembered that in those days the l game was played with a lively" ball . neither so hard nor so solid as the | sphere used today. Consequently
 when a visitor got a good whack al
 it, the ball would sail over towards , the Turpentine Works in Black Rock ? But O'RoUrke was as fleet as the wint and would race away and run under ? the ball until it finished the arc O : its flight then catch it. turn. and sent . it back to second base before tn: runner arrived there.
 S Jim also played short stop and frs :: base at times. always without al !, | error. As everybody knows, he be r came famous through his work witt ]. the T. B.s and finally landed in tn
 ranks of the New York Giants.
 An Old-Time Babe"
 His brother John was the heavies
 member of the nine, and an equal o I Babe Ruth of tcacy, although John l runs were perha ps more frequent thai
 Babes" Fred Nichols was pitche n and Charlie Smith. catcher-a f1erc . battery. Nichols smile. which neve It came off, disconcerted the visitin s teams, and Smith was a sure catch e Many visitor went to the bench o: n strikes.
 e Joe Darragan was short stop. an e nothing got by that came his way. in d side of fifty feet to the right or lef' l. He was quick as lightning. Buck
 minister played right field, and als tt had an errorless record. When nc e playing ball he was running to fire n as a member of the old No. 1 Stear ss Fire Engine company. He was c