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In this illustration of an 1873 baseball game, taken from 'The Story of Baseball,' by John M. Rosenburg, note the umpire's top hat and the first baseman playing in foul ground.
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Picture from the Past
Old poem provides lesson for young baseball hitters
By John S. Baggerly
In a few days Los Gatos Little League and Los Gatos Pony League will play in separate tournaments and it behooves patrons of these games to brush up on their facts about baseball. Those who know the answers to trivia baseball questions can make a buck or two in a quiz game designed to cover tournament expenses, such as paying umpires and rechalking the field. Snack shacks, too, raise a few bucks.
For example: Where did Babe Ruth play before coming to the New York Yankees? And: What was Ruth's record for the most home runs, and who broke that record? Answer to the first question: Ruth came to the New York Yankees from Boston in, perhaps, the dumbest trade in the history of the game. Readers can research the answer to the second.
Another question might be: What was the score when the Mighty Casey came to bat? For the answer to that question, read on:
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day/The score stood four to two with but one inning to play./And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,/A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest/Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;/They thought if only Casey could get a whack at that--/We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,/And the former was a lulu, and the latter was a cake;/So upon the stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,/For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,/And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;--/And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,/There was Johnnie safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;/It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;/It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,/For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;/There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face./And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,/No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.
In the next few verses, Casey takes two strikes, claiming that they weren't his "style." Although the Casey-supporting spectators begin to scream threats of "kill the umpire" and "fraud," mighty Casey silences them all with just one scornful look into their multitude. As the poem asserts, they all knew that Casey would not--and indeed could not--let the ball go by again.
To close the sorry tale:
The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clinched in hate;/He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate./And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,/And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;/The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,/And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;/But there is no joy in Mudville--mighty Casey has struck out.
Next week's theme: The national anthem of baseball: Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Many may not know that the author of those words had never even seen a baseball game.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
