Three Hands Lost, and a Whitewash to Boot!
Carroll Park, Bay City, MI – It was a clear, blue sky that greeted the visiting Grangers of Rochester Hills as they entered our humble town, and a bubbling crowd of spectators who anxiously awaited the match between two very fine ball clubs. The Grangers entered the contest having already defeated Bay City in Rochester Hills by a score of 22-12, and held a record of 6 wins to 2 losses. Bay City had just come off a tight scratch in Midland and held a record of 7 wins to 3 losses. Bay City had hoped that perhaps this day would see them on the winning side against the Grangers, and help speed them on their way to the upcoming World’s Tournament in Detroit.
The coin toss before the match saw Bay City come out on top, but in this instance they decided to allow the Grangers to strike first in the contest. The results appeared near disastrous, as the first Granger striker, “Barnraiser” McKay, placed a clean safety between the third sacker and the short stop for the Bay Citys. The next striker, “Moonlight” Otlewski would also make his first and now there were runners at first and second. “Anvil” Wynne would step to the plate for the Grangers and lace a fine single to left. Due to respect of the Bay City left fielder, Branden “The Rope” Revette, the Granger gentlemen chose not to try for their ace just yet, and left the bases packed. Mr. Johnson, the next striker, would lose his hand, and would then bring “Goodfella” Prasetek to the stripe. “Goodfella” drove a hard liner to center field and it scooted past the Bay City defense, as a result three runs would score and Mr. Prasetek would make his third with ease. The next two strikers would lose their hands and “Goodfella” would be held out of the scoring.
The Bay City nine would start their first innings down 3-0 to the gentlemen from Rochester, and they appeared to have their work cut out for them. The Independent strikers did not shrink from their duty as “Tanner” LeRoux would make his first on a drive to the short stop. LeRoux would then make his second by theft. The next striker “Big Wood” David would then move him onto the third sack by losing his hand to the right side of the infield. Bay Citys third striker was none other than “Kid” Garcia who promptly drove a howitzer to the long field that scored Mr. LeRoux and allowed Kid to reach his second. The string of scoring strikers would not stop there as Mister McInerney struck a ball that allowed Kid to tally, and then Misters Dinauer and Revette each reached base safely and would later score along with the aforementioned Mr. McInerney. By the time the Bay Citys had lost all three hands for the innings they had scored 5 aces and sent nine men to the plate. Bay City now led the contest at 5-3.
Perhaps two weeks of travel, as the Grangers had traversed to Macinac Island just last weekend, and a vicious Bay City defense was too much for the Granger strikers as they would be whitewashed for the rest of the contest. The Independents would treat the home crowd to diving catches and brilliant throws throughout the concluding 8 innings. If Henry Chadwick himself had been in attendance of the match he would have marveled at the home town nine’s “scientific” base ball play.
Although the Grangers would not add to their tally total for the day, the Bay Citys would add 4 more runs in the third innings when Misters O’Laughlin, David, Garcia and McInerney would all tally. Mr. O’Laughlin would be the subject of much admiration during the fifth innings when he would drive a howitzer to the long field and allow Misters Banister and Brissette to each score an ace and the strike would allow Mr. O’Laughlin to safely reach his second. Unfortunately Mr. O would be left standing on second and would not tally. Previously in the innings though, Mr. Johnson would “High Step” it home on an infield daisy cutter by Mr. Brissette. That would bring the total of Bay City runs to 12, and that would be more than enough on the day.
In all, the spectators were allowed to see ball playing at its finest, as whitewashing was the color of the day. The Bay Citys would be whitewashed in six of their innings, while the Grangers were skunked in eight of theirs. Hearts and bats were both broken by fine plays by the champion caliber clubs, and many bully plays were abounded. It was grand play by all, and most left the ball grounds hungry for the next match in the town by the bay.
Ballists H.L. Runs
LeRoux ss 2 1
David 3rd 3 1
Garcia 1 2
McInerney 1 2
Dinauer D. 2nd 2 1
Revette lf 2 1
Koch 1st 3 0
Dinauer J. 2 0
Freehling c 3 0
Johnson c 2 1
Decuf cf 2 0
Banister rf 1 1
Brissette p 2 1
O’Laughlin p 1 1
Total 27 12
Bay City 12, Rochester Hills 22
Van
Hoosen Farm, Rochester Hills – The Independents took
their carriages into the wilderness again, and
visited the comely, burgh of Rochester Hills to once
more enter into the championship fray of Michigan.
The Rochester Grangers are well known to be one of
the best clubs in not only Michigan, but also the
western part of these United States. The Bay City
nine has been fortunate enough to defeat the Grangers
in the past, but never in Rochester Hills. This would
be their third effort at Van Hoosen Farm, and they
were hopeful that they would put on a better showing
on this day.
The temperatures were sweltering on this day, and
there was no hope for shade on the ball grounds as
the two clubs assembled for the coin toss. The Bay
City nine won the toss, and elected to strike first.
The Bay City gentlemen were able to tally one ace in
their at bats in the first innings behind the fine
striking of Branden “The Rope”
Revette and
Trevor “Big Wood” David. The Grangers were able to
answer that run with one of their own when Mr.
McKay would tally for the Rochester Hill nine
after securing second base on his opening strike.
At the end of the first innings the match would be
tied at 1-1.
The Bay Citys would open the second innings by
tallying two more runs when Misters Johnson and
Brissette would ring the bell after successfully
reaching first sack, and then taking their third and
second on a muffed ball by the Granger Catcher. A
clean safety by “Hooks” Freehling brought the runs
home safely. These runs would put the Independents
ahead in the contest again at 3-1. The Grangers
though, would not easily be put down in their second
innings. After Mr. Wynn lost the first hand for the
Grangers, the Rochester strikers would pound the pill
with impunity pushing 9 runs in before losing
another. The Granger uprising would only be put down
through a bully effort by the Bay City second sacker,
Dean “Sawmill” Koch. There were runners at second and
third sack with only one hand down when “Kaz”, the
Granger striker, stepped to the line and drove a
howitzer towards the aforementioned Mr. Koch. With
all of the sand of a charging Billy Yank, Mr. Koch
flung his body in front of the sphere and bottled it
in style. The catch caught the runner on second,
Lefty Wynne, napping and Mr. Koch was able to flip it
to second sack and get two hands on one play. After
two innings the Grangers had taken the lead for the
first time at 10-3.
The Bay City nine, short handed and being pounded by
both the blistering heat and the Granger strikers
strode to the stripe with defiance in their hearts
and power in their bats. The fine striking of “Doc”
Garcia, “Sawmill” Koch, “Shoeless Jeff” Dinauer, and
“High-Steppin” Johnson would put three more runs in
the Independent’s ledger for the day and bring the
hometown nine a little closer to the leading
Grangers. Ray “The Banker” Banister would step
between the lines for the Bay Citys and pitched some
whitewashing against the Grangers in the third. At
the close of the third innings the score stood at
10-6 in favor of the Rochesters.
In their fourth innings the Bay Citys would even the
match with 4 more runs with Misters Banister,
Revette, David, and Decuf adding their names to the
scoring list. The most powerful drives in the innings
belonged to Mr. Revette and Mr. Dinauer who were each
able to reach their second on long drives to the out
field. The Granger strikers would tally in their
fourth innings as well, but Mr. Banister and the Bay
City defense would hold them to only two aces. At the
end of the fourth innings the contest was still a
tight scratch at 12-10 in favor of Rochester Hills.
The fifth innings would start in fine fashion when
“Twinkle-toes” Brissette and “Hooks” Freehling would
each reach base with no hands lost. They would take
their third and second on another muff by the Granger
catcher. The Bay City hopes at tying the match would
fade as the next three strikers would find their
hands lost to sky balls, and foul tics to the
catcher. After having failed to tally for the first
time in the contest the Independents took to the
field, and found themselves scrambling in the heat
when Granger striker after Granger striker reached
base safely. At the conclusion of the fifth innings
the score now stood at 17-10 in favor of the
gentlemen from Rochester Hills.
Being down, but not yet defeated, the Bay City nine
tried to muster their strength once more behind the
muscle of “Doc” Garcia and “Sawmill” Koch. Each of
these two gentlemen were able to reach their second
with mighty blasts to the long field. Mr. Koch would
be driven to the home plate by yet another safety
from Mr. Dinauer to bring the score to 17-12. The Bay
City rally would crumble again due to some fine
fielding of the Grangers, and the home town boys
would once again leave strikers on the bags. The
Granger batsmen would answer again for 4 more runs to
make it 21-12.
By now both clubs had been beaten into submission by
the blazing sun, and their efforts had worn them
thin. Whitewashing would be the color of the
concluding innings with only the Grangers finding one
more ace in the seventh innings. The Bay Citys would
find their Waterloo in Rochester Hills again this
season, and would depart with a loss of 22-12.
However, the Independents could take solace in the
fact that they stood in and took the Granger shots
with grace and resilience and were defeated, but not
disgraced.
The sky along the Saginaw River was shrouded by dark, ominous clouds. The Bay City nine feared that it might be an omen of things to come in their match against the State Champion Grangers of Rochester Hills. The Grangers' play this season had thus far been flawless, as their 24-0 record did attest, and the laurels that had been placed upon them in championship play in New York, Ohio, and Michigan had been well earned. It was this Goliath of an opponent that the Bay Citys had hoped to play David against.
After the lumber had been unloaded the ball was put into play when "Honest" John Gravlin called the first Granger striker to the line. The defense of the hometown boys would put a whitewashing on the Granger strikers for 5 straight innnings. The pitching of Fred "Twinkle-Toes" Brissette caused many a Granger striker to grind his teeth and stalk off the field with muttered curses on their breath.
The Independents would find their striking form in the second innings when Al "Kid" Garcia led off the innings with a clean safety and pulled up at first sack. He was followed on base immediately by Branden "The Rope" Revette. The Bay City hopes were nearly dashed as the next two strikers found their hits swallowed up by Granger defenders, but with two hands down "Shoeless Jeff" Dinauer stepped to the plate and drove the runners home. "Little Train" Johnson would add another ace in the fourth innings to add to the Bay City lead. In the fifth innings the Bay Citys put the game to bed, when Ray "The Banker" Banister cleared the once crowded bases with a two hands down strike that gained him two bases. The Bay City lead then stood at 7-0.
With their perfect record on the line, the Granger strikers strode down from their Olympus with their clubs of maple in their hands, and grim determination in their hearts. Fierce striking by "Moonlight" Otlewski, "Cueball" Johnson, and "Chooch" Westgate loaded the bases for the Grangers, and their fine pitcher "Colonel" Worden drove them all home. The score now stood 7-3 in favor of the home nine.
The Granger fieldsman then laid down some whitewashing of their own, and the Independents' strikers were forced to lay down their lumber with due haste in the bottom of the 6th innings. In the seventh innings the hometown boys tallied another ace when Brian "Hooks" Freehling thundered home to ring the tally bell. The score was now 8-3.
The score would remain that way until the Grangers took their final at bat in the ninth innings. "Mink" Kazmer led off with a ground ball that was quickly put away by the Bay City fieldsmen. Patrick "Barnraiser" McKay then followed with a cannon shot to the Independents third sacker, Trevor "Big Wood" David. David exhibited the type of sand it takes to man the third sack, when he took McKay's shot off his chest and turned and fired a shot that violently came to rest in the hands of "Doc" Garcia at first sack. The throw was just in time to cause McKay's hand to be lost. It was then that "Moonlight" Otlewski began another rally that would see him ring the tally bell for the Granger's fourth ace, but the rally was for naught as "Chooch" Westgate struck a ball that was swallowed up by the sure hands of "Kid" Garcia in left field.
The Independents would add 4 more runs in the bottom of the ninth to bring the ledger to it's finality. Thus the Granger's perfect season came to a close, and the Independents brought home some redemption for the city by the Bay.