The Okie Legacy

Vol. 2, No. 44 5 February 2000, Saturday

Alva Pioneers & Baseball (Continued)

Good morning -- The sun is out again, the snow has dissipated something fierce. I look out across the grass and "wonder where the white went". Then I look to the edges of the driveways where it got scooped. I see dirty remnants barely left as a reminder of the "1st Snow of 2000". The temps have reached the mid-fifties for the last few days and dipped to a cool crispness towards end of the week.

While scouring through old photos looking for baseball pics of grandpa, I found a photocopy of the "Souvenir Alva Pioneer Newspaper" dated 1904. You can expect a few stories of NW Oklahoma, Alva, and Woods County popping up on "OkieLegacy". Look for "Alva Pioneer 1904" when you get tired of reading about "Grandpa's Baseball".

If it gets to "Hot" for you over there, take a dip in the memories of "McGills' Swimming Pool". While there "HELP! I need your expertise!" Does anyone recognize the Year that this photo was taken?

It shows the "McGills' Swimming Pool" that was located west, behind the "McGill Bros. Furniture Store" in the 1920s. In the background you can see an add for "Central National Bank", "St. Nicholas Hotel (block west)", "McGill Bros. Furniture", "W. W. Starr".

The young boys standing in the pool with the grownups standing in background may be hard to see who is who -- BUT... The white haired, tall fellow towards the back looks like my grandfather (Wm. J. "Will" McGill). If you know of anyone else or thing about this picture, please Email Linda.

While scouring the web for info on Major Baseball Leagues (St. Louis Browns, in particular) this is what I have surmised -- "The Browns were owned by Chris Von der Ahe (flamboyant German immigrant) who ran a beer garden in St. Louis. He had gotten into baseball so he could sell his beer at the ball park. The club was run by the manager and first baseman Charles Commiskey who had revolutionized the way first base was played, by playing off the bag."

"The American League version of the St. Louis Browns started out as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. After finishing in the A.L. basement, the franchise was moved to St. Louis for the 1902 season and renamed the Browns." -- Mr. Baseball - St. Louis Brown Stockings

My Grandpa McGill didn't play for the Brown's until September, 1907 when they were trying him out has their pitcher. The Austin Senators (Minor League team) ended it's season in 1906, winning the Pennant. Afterwards, Grandpa went back home to Oklahoma for a visit before he played out the rest of the season with a team in Des Moines, Iowa.

While Grandpa was still in this Minor Leagues with the South Texas League in late May, 1906 (between May 25th & 29th game), the following was written about McGill. I believe these articles came from Lake Charles, Austin, or the Houston Post in 1906.

Headline -- "Austin Takes The First Game - Long Legged Pitcher McGill Puzzles The Hard Hitting Creoles." --- "Failure on the part of the home team effectively to connect with the puzzling delivery of McGill, the elongated twirler of the Austin team, who was in rare form, despite his tiresome railroad trip, was responsible for the defeat of the Creoles (Lake Charles) in yesterday's game... One of McGill's favorite stunts is to stagger backward as he delivers the ball. It looks like the beginning of a wild pitch but is generally a strike."

Grandpa's Baseball Legacy continues from where we left off last week to June, 1906 this week. You can read about the Austin Senators, Grandpa, etc. during the 1906 years on Page 12 | Page 13 | Page 14 | Page 15... On "Grandpa's Baseball Legacies".

This next photo is an Oklahoma Baseball Team photo of the 1909. The team sports a big "G" on it's uniform. It was found on a postcard postmarked Guthrie, Okla, Aug 21, 8:30pm, 1909. It was sent to my grandmother (Constance Warwick) who was staying in Colorado Springs & Denver, CO. and getting her mail via General Delivery. It also has some other postmarks on it -- (Aug 30, 1909, Denver; Sep. 2, 10am, 1909, Colorado Springs, CO.; Aug. 24, 1909, Denver, Co., General Delivery; etc.)

Grandmother's beau (Will McGill) sent her this message, "Have won both games since my return. Feeling fine. Hope you are 'thusly'. -- Mc."

Grandfather is the "tall, lean, long-legged player" standing on the backrow, third from the left. Click on the PIC to view the backside of the postcard.

I would like to know what does the "G" stand for on their uniforms (Guthrie?)! I know from other postcards that he was playing baseball in Oklahoma during this time (1909) around Guthrie. Did Guthrie have a baseball league in the early 1900s and especially around 1909?

OAKIE'S LINKS & MAILBAG:

Anyone out there looking for the book "The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma (1886-1986)"? I was browsing over at Barnes & Noble. I found the following info -- "bn.com Price: $42.00, Retail Price: $60.00, You Save: $18.00 (30%) In-Stock: Ships within 24 hours, Format: Hardcover, 567pp., ISBN: 0881070750, Publisher: Curtis Media, Inc., Pub. Date: January 1987."

A Friend wrote, "May 15, 1904 -- 'Friends Win From Strong Normal Club, Dr. Outland umpired the game.' I wonder if this is the Outland for whom the Outland trophy is named. The answer has to be yes. Dr. John H. Outland left his mark, not only on Kansas University, but on the entire state of Kansas and college football and track throughout America. The Outland Trophy is given annually to the outstanding college football lineman."

Does anyone know if this is the same Dr. Outland? This is where I write, "May 15, 1904 -- Friends Win From Strong Normal Club Baseball Game Results in Score of 8 to 3. Locals Batted Well Emporia Loses Its Second Game of Season."

Oklahoma City and Tulsa were longtime members of the Texas League, and Ardmore fielded a team on two occasions. "The Handbook of Texas Online" | History of Minor League Baseball | St. Louis Browns History | St. Louis Browns Players

"Baltimore Orioles ----- World Championships: 3; 1966, 1970, 1983; AL Pennants: 7; 1944, 1966, 1969-71, 1979, 1983; Division Titles: 8; 1969-71, 1973-74, 1979, 1983, 1997; Wild Cards: 1; 1996. Team Names: Milwaukee Brewers 1901; St. Louis Browns 1902-53; Baltimore Orioles 1954-. Stadiums: Milwaukee Park 1901; Sportsman's Park 1902-53; Memorial Stadium 1954-91; Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992-."

"Mr. Baseball - St. Louis Brown Stockings were owned by Chris Von der Ahe who ran a beer garden in St. Louis. The club was run by manager and first baseman Charles Commiskey who had revolutionized the way first base was played, by playing off the bag. The American League version of the St. Louis Browns started out as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. After finishing in the A.L. basement, the franchise was moved to St. Louis for the 1902 season and renamed the Browns."

"My granddad is buried in Calvin, Ok. I was just looking to see if I could find anything else about him. I know he a peace officer in Oklahoma City, OK around 1900. So if perhaps you come across anything on him I would appreciate it. His name was Isaac Riddle Humphries. Born in McKinney,Tx in 1867. Died Nov. 8, 1929 in Calvin, Ok. Thanks. Email -- Michael"

"Would anyone happen to have cemetery records for Woods Co or Alva? Am looking for info on Cyrus E and Henrietta Chance who were residing in Alva in 1922. Had at least one known child, Helen Grace Chance, and probably other children in the family. -- mailto:dianebat@midusa.net"

From the pages of the "Daily Oklahoman" Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000,...... "In response to a request for an opinion from Sen. Penny Williams (D-Tulsa), Oklahoma Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, concluded that the textbook committee has neither statutory nor constitutional authority to require that an evolution disclaimer be placed in textbooks. He also found that the committee had violated the Open Meeting Act when it failed to post the disclaimer consideration on its agenda. The AG's formal opinion has the force of law unless it is overturned in court."

http://www.com -- Another OnAir Radio player where you can tune into your favorite music and listen on your computer.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge." -- Plato

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