Contract with the Senators.

I was invited to see the Bisbee Bees have a match last evening up in Peoria. I made my way up there to find that the Bees Right Gardener was taken with an illness. Captain Tenney asked if i'd like to give it a go. I was a little nervous and excited all at once. As the match went on, i started to understand a bit about Base ball. There seems to be a lot of rules. I don't know if i'll ever be able to remember them all???
As my first appearance as a Striker, i didn't fare so well. It's harder to hit that round ball with round bat that it appears to be. I kept "foul ticking" the ball to the "Behinder". If he catches the ball on one bound after a tick, you are recorded as a "dead man". so i need to learn how to strike with authority. I was pretty good out in the garden. I caught everything in sight!
After the match, i was approached by Captain Singh of the Phoenix Senators. He was mighty impressed with my prowess in the garden and henceforth signed a contract with me for the term of 1 year. Under contract, i must travel with the Club Nine from Phoenix. The contract is for the amount of $150.00 this year. If I can make that kind of money every year, i could buy a bigger farm!
I am to leave my home tonight for the term of 1 year to have matches with the Senators, where ever they may roam. I have trusted the farm to my Wife and Children as i venture off with the Senators. I will be taking my oldest boy with me so we can both learn this game of Base ball and bring it back with us to Glendale.
I hope to see everyone soon, as i know i will miss my Family and my farm. Please look forward to having matches with all the towns in our territory. As i understand, Base ball is sweeping across our Country to every town from one coast to the next.

Field of Dreams

So it came to pass that i was looking for a bit of Prairie to construct a playing field. What i found was a simply PERFECT plot back behind the ol' West Valley Family Church. So i went out in search of the Parson to inquire. To my surprise i found Preacher Foley out by the tool shed. So i did inquire and he gave me his blessing with God's speed. I sized things up a bit an figured that it could be done, but i'd need a bit of help. My next stop? Why i ran straight over to Hoss Montgomery's place. He came out to the Church plot and we sized things up together. Hoss said to me " Meet me here tomorrow morning and we'll get started." Tickled pink, i went on back to the homestead to finish off my chores and get a jump on tomorrows as well. Come night fall, i went straight to bed. I was so excited that even forgot to eat my supper.
Come the Roosters crow i was up and at em. Took care of the animals and threw a saddle on ol' Pokey and ran in to town. Hoss was already there with his team of mules and a plow. With a gentle whistle and a hi-yah, Ford and Tractor (Hoss's mules) began to plow the overgrown plot. I'll tell you, what a team those two are. between them and Hoss, the plot was plowed in the inside of a single day. What a good days work the three of them had accomplished. The next morning, Hoss and the team pulled a drag around that ol plot and smoothed it right out. All i had to do was walk along and pull out the clumps of weeds and such that had been tilled from the soil.
The folks from the Church had put together a brigade and constructed a fence around the plot. the fence was plenty big and perfectly shaped to be a Base ball field. I hearded a few cattle over and Hoss left Ford and Tractor for a few days. within a short time they had the prairie grass neatly trimmed out in the "garden". all that was left was to clean up a few pies and apples left behind by the grass trimming crew.... All we need now is to learn the game of Base ball and put together a team.

Return from Phoenix

So i saddled up the ol' mare and rode in to Phoenix. I looked up the Senator for the territory and the gent had no clue what i was talking about when i asked him about Base ball. I told him that the Bisbee Bees had come to town to play a Base ball match with the Senators. He replied " Senators, why i'm the only Senator twixt here and Prescott!" Disheartened, i was on my way out of town when i came across a group of fellas throwing a ball around an empty field on the outskirts of town. As I made my way across the prairie, I realized i had stumbled across the Bees camp. I started asking questions about the game of Base ball and found out that the Senators of Phoenix were to arrive within the hour for a match. I exclaimed that i had visited the Senator and he had no knowledge of any othefr Senators in the area. One fella informrd me that there was a group of ballists who called themselves the Senators, the same how they called themselves the Bees. Aha......
I watched as a couple of men laid out sacks of sawdust in a square out in the middle of the prairie. Right in the middle of the square on gent laid down a metal disc. About this time a couple of wagons came bouncing up near the square. Within a few minutes another group came riding up on the ponies. as evryone gathered up, a representative from each "club" gathered at one point of the square. Whatever they was talkin about must have needed settled because the town judge had to come out to settle the debate. One group sat down on some baled hay as the other group ran out and positioned themselves around the sacks, with a few fellas running out further into the prairie. One fella, the "Hurler" made his way to the middle of the square and pulled a ball from his back pocket. The Judge yelled "Striker to the line!" as one of the fellas got up from the bales and grabbed a wooden "bat"(made from a wooden stick) and strode up to another point in the square. The Hurler reached back and tossed the ball towards the Striker. The striker swung that bat with enthusiasm and authority as he struck the ball deep out into the prairie. evreyone started running aroung chasing the ball and throwing at each other. The Judge yelled out " one man dead!" but i didn't see any dead fellas. now the striker headed back to the bales. The next fella hit that ball soo hard, that i think that it ended up in the capital city of prescott. He ran around and jumped on all the sacks. After touching the last sack, he strode over to a little table and told this one gent to please score his "ace". Then the Judge yelled "one ace scored!".
The teams kept going till the Judge yelled "three men dead!" and then they changed sides. They did this nine different times till the Judge proclaimed it to be a match. Then he proclaimed that the Senators had been victorious by a score of 5 aces to 4.
I have been informed that the club nine from Bisbee will be coming back through Glendale on their way back to Bisbee in the next week or so. And that if we as a town were interested that they would be happy to stay a day and teach us the game of Base ball. I look forward to the day.

Glendale Post July 12, 1860

Glendale Post July 12, 1860

Last evening the Township of Glendale held their first ever town meeting. The articles brought forth to the meeting were overshadowed by the buzz surrounding the hullabaloo created when the barnstorming Bisbee Bees base ball club came through town on the way to our neighboring Phoenix town. Appearantly Phoenix has gathered a group of fellas to play the game of Base ball. My guess is that they are from the Government. I have been told that they are the Senators of our territory.

I have been asked to search out this game of Base ball and report back to the town council with my findings. The club nine from Bisbee has all of our farmers and store owners in an uproar wanting to know more about this Base ball game. I am on my way to Phoenix today to see if i can catch our territorial Senators to find out more about this game. I will report back when I return.

Look for our next printing to find out more about this so called game of Base ball, as i will have a full page article in our one page paper

More to come....