The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-02-06

asked for directions to baseball ne
Which team do you want! ne
asked.
That sounded encouraging. This
must be some town, thought; 70
support more than one baseoan
faarT1. But ! soon discovered one
was the high school team and the
other represented the town: After
walking around another block I!
came to the old wooden hotel ana
my friend Head was standing Out
He fixed things up quickly, ana
n q few hours I had signed with
the telephone company for $50 per
month. Not knowing anything
about switchbcards and the IKE, I
was assigned to the what you mls ~
duties consisted OF pitching for the
town team every Sunday And as
i found out the very next day they
were some games! In all my years
IN American League pennant races;
including the world series. I have
never experienced such desperate
rivalry between teams.
rsl,ia wns due TO two things,
first the pride taken In the CLUBS
rerrASenfing those little country
towns. was beyond description.
A. 49, s.seondIy. there was 50 much
1.rS,Ssev yvaxered on every game
SIsnf hrsinese and all Other &C
fivifies would stop until each con-
test was settled.
Il was wild country IN those nos
DAYS. The chief industry Was l anN
.a.@.Is II, the surrounding country:
sT7i.ne, aver / go to the movies anu
80 : Ticture showing 90 cane1
ss1,e - .f,oiIed WesternerS, JUS
As-s.zl- - Idaho back in 1905, ana
..-s-k ssrae of those HOLLYWOOD "a
,-sefnra had been with me up LneIo'
me population Of Weiser 80 w.
.ros,nd 3 900. but never less lIla-i
500 came out to see the e -.
Tl,a ponula4ion OF CaloWea W.
around $500 and Payetts nao . auous
1900 people. These tnree
were deadly rivals. r,.,a,v.,1 i
nv first game was At CaloW tal.
- re r. was no more important
than other games ! had pitcneo,
1,s,f could see the others look
s,ssl,fv eerious. When we appeared
go. -, tie .fieid at Caldwell. the croW0.
,vl,srI1 fIad gathered early gave us
s !, hut q friendly greeting.
but even that did not seem unuseaa |
e(tsAS = -
" wa was shutting Caldwell out. With
49, score 4 to 0 IN the fourth
inning. Sheriff Langsdon was man.
ee-ar rf our club and his brotner
,Slave5 first base. To be perfectly
honest. Il can't recall the nrst name
Of either man, but both were Ilne
big Western types. Sudoeny lnee
was & movement In the croWo. AS
/ went 70 the pitchers box IN tne
fifth inning, several Caldwell root
80 - sfroIIed over toward the foul
line and started to abuse our first
basepan.
nv the way, he was Deputy
Sheriff. There was no btufflng
him and 1 remained in the
nifchcr's box while he talked back
= che rowdies. As several more
seined the group, the Sheriff, our
MANAGER, walked toward first base
and ordered them away. Some
one struck at the Sheriff and
general fight started. 1t was .
free for ali II there ever was one.
ssYou amt much on roughin 1t,
is your" was the remark OF
hard.iooking customer who walked
up alongside me in the box.
'sTo tell the truth. my friend"
replied, ST just joined the club yes
terday and don't know which are
our players and which are yours"
The Justice of the Peace was sit
, ting in the stands, which consisted
OF a few rough boards. thrown
across some drygoods boxes. When
the uproar quieted down, those who
participated in the quarrel were
summoned by the justice and, OF
course, this included many OF our
players. We were all ordered to
be In court that night and each
one had to post cash, in advance
Of appearance.
The game continued and we won
out by the score Of 8 to 1, but, as
I afterward learned, the fight was
. frame-up. Gamblers had wagered