USA > New York > Niagara County > History of the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels : Niagara University, Niagara County, N.Y., 1856-1906 > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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The Athletic Society, as it exists to-day, has been brought to a high state of efficiency mainly through the efforts of Father Maher. Its several departments, baseball, football, hockey, made most grati- fying records during the scholastic year just finished. The erection of our gymnasium, so near completion that its doors will be thrown open next September, when our autumn term begins, acted as a stimulus to those athletically engaged, as if they wished to show that they appreciated the efforts of the Faculty to provide our students with the best building of its kind in the State of New York.
Twenty-three games were played by our Representative Baseball Club, more than half of them away from home, during a two-weeks'
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trip through extensive territory. Fourteen victories were won by the players whose names and averages are here recorded. One of the clubs defeated was that of Rochester, Eastern League:
Players
Games Played
Batting Ave.
Donnelly,
93
311
Keenan, R.,
93
356
McCarthy,
355
Dwyer,
23
961
O'Rourke,
17
196
Moran,
18
269
Farrell,
89
281
Keenan. T.,
7
315
Yates,
10
147
Doyle,
23
176
Shea,
14
193
Walsh,
3
185
PITCHERS' RECORD
Won
Lost
Moran,
7
4
Yates,
6
3
Farrell,
1
2
Yet, proficient as our athletes of 1905-'06 have proved them- selves to be, they are far from underrating their student predecessors on the college campus. The files of long ago have been kept ; cham- pion records on track, or gridiron, or diamond, have been handed ·down from one year to another, so that it would be folly for the present members to persuade themselves that athletic sports of a championship character began and ended with this scholastic year. The reverend censors having charge of our athletic association are too conversant with Niagara history not to realize and teach the members of each succeeding year that wholesome lesson in modesty contained in the well-known words: "Virerunt fortes ante Agamem- non."
And as we have touched upon this point, which may be con- strued by some of our readers as a plea for the "glorious past," may we not likewise deprecate the practice, sometimes in vogue, of insinuating that nothing good " can come out of Nazareth " (since we left it). The alumnus who is always appealing to what conditions were in his time as an infallible rule for deciding what they ought to be at every other time, unconsciously, perhaps, but truly " throws cold water " on every attempt at improvement. As a rule, Niag- ara's alumni are too broad minded to believe that our conquests in the domain of athletics, or any other domain, began and ended with their comparatively brief experience at our institution. Now and again, however, disparagement of the present, for the useless purpose of exalting the past, is indulged in by some laudator tem-
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poris acti, who unwittingly joins the ranks of Brere Jasper's clients in their denial of the heliocentric theory.
That the world of sport has moved, and moved most rapidly here, as elsewhere, even within the past ten years, is evident from our ath- letic records in the domain, for instance, of football, baseball, basket ball, and hockey. These games, with the exception of the third, and a change of name for the fourth from hockey to " shinny," were played at Niagara quite from the day that our institution was founded. And although baseball of forty years ago was crude in its points compared to the development of the game as it is played to-day by our repre- sentatives, athletic development was as pronounced then as it is now, if not more so. One of the earliest accounts that we can now secure, that of a game between the " Mohawks " and the " Excelsiors," thirty-five years ago, shows what interest was then taken by our students in the national sport :
BASEBALL MATCH BETWEEN THE MOHAWKS AND EXCELSIORS
" The members of the above named organizations entered into a agreement to play a series of match games of baseball to decide the question of superiority. The agreement states that the club which shall win three out of five match games shall be awarded the palm of excellence. On Wednesday, the 26th inst. (April, 1871), the first game in the series was played, and resulted in a handsome victory for the Mohawk B. B. C. They outplayed their opponents at all points and deserved the success which they achieved. Of the members of the Excelsior nine Messrs. Burns, Lynch, McAuliffe, and O'Mahoney were particularly remarkable for careful playing, Burns especially making some brilliant displays. Of the Mohawk players, Messrs. Durkin, Mooney, Mallen, Antill, Devine, and Donnelly dis- tinguished themselves by their efficiency ; Mallen by securing four difficult fly balls, and Mooney by leading his side in the score. Mr. James J. Ryan of the Niagara B. B. C. filled the position of umpire to the satisfaction of both parties. Messrs. Long and Bampfield acted as scorers. The following is the score:
MOHAWKS
OR
EXCELSIORS
OR
Durkin, c .
4
3 Burns, 8 b
1
4
Mooney, c f
Carroll, p .
4
8
Mallen, 1 f
3
3
Gleason, 1 b .
5
1
J. Reilly, rf .
4
8 Hart, If .
3
3
Devine, 3 b
8
4 O'Mahoney, 3 b
8
1
Haffen, s s
8
Hagerty, c f .
4
1
Antill, p .
3
3
Lynch, s s
8
Hanlon, 1 b .
3
8
Growney, r f
1
Donnelly, 8 b
9
1
McAuliffe, c .
3
1
27 27
27 16
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The phraseology is simple and dignified compared to the baseball lingo of the present, when even a "well-read Englishman " needs an interpreter to decipher his own language. The man who made the most runs is lauded, while the one who made the most hits goes by without mention. Philosophers on baseball tell us that it is the hits which count, yet posterity has a way of remembering only the runs. The " sacrifice hit " does not appear in the diagram of those days; neither do "bases on balls," or some other technical points now indispensable to a tabulated score. The "Mohawk " who made five runs had no idea of sacrificing anything except, perhaps, the ball itself as he pounded it for four bases, or as many of them as he could encompass while the greater part of the opposing nine went " leather hunting " for the sphere somewhere near Lewiston.
THE SACRIFICE HIT
I've heard of libations from golden cups offer'd, Of bullocks and lambkins all hung on the spit, That some stony god might inhale the sweet odor, But where did I read of a sacrifice hit?
The lines of poor Virgil are fragrant with incense, Each book has its altars, its victims, all fit For gods of the first class - but tell me, ye sages, What poet has served up a sacrifice hit?
It's ruby red wine for the rosy-faced Bacchus, It's nectar and honey for gods great and small, With laurel leaves, garlands, and all the et ceteras, But never a sacrifice hit I recall.
Poor Tacitus even, with all his conundrums, Had fancy enough to insert a rare bit Of poesy in his many dry chapters, One thing he forgot -'twas the sacrifice hit.
I've read of Apollo and Venus, Minerva, Of Saturn and Jupiter, Juno, and Mars, Each sipping sweet nectar, while far, far below them, Poor mortals sent sacrifice smoke to the stars.
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But never till now have I read how our "Danny," With " Roger " on third, would " fan wind." a bit, Then "bang out the sphere " to the " short-center garden," And bring Roger " home " on a sacrifice hit.
Of course, our "old-timers " will admit that the science of base- ball has advanced far beyond what it was in their day, but they will not admit that we of the present have more "fun " at a game than they used to have, nor would it be right for us to decide against them. That there was abundant spirit between rival teams, and that something very close to bad blood appeared at times, or would have appeared except for the prefects, can be gleaned from various accounts of games as given in the Index Niagarensis.
The champion club, as late as June, 1871, was the "Niagaras," of which the paper just mentioned says:
" The Niagara B. B. C. is in splendid order for the season. Captain Ryan has a nine who recognize no superiors outside of the professionals. When the games between the Excelsiors and Mo- hawks shall have been played the decision of the question of 1871's championship will be reached by a contest between either of the above mentioned clubs and the present champions."
"As a matter of interest," says the Index Niagarensis for June 1, 1871, "we present the height and weight of each of the cham- pion nine." Believing that what was of interest in this respect to our students in 1871 will prove of interest to our students of the pres- ent, we copy the table as given :
.
Jas. J. Ryan, captain and pitcher, 5 5
ft.
in. lbs.
11 153
James Collins, catcher, .
9 166
James Flaherty, 1b,
Thomas Hart, 9b,
5
8 140
Phil. J. Kenny, 3b,
John Long, 86,
5
6 187
Thomas Cullen, If,
5
7 136
Matt. Taylor, cf, .
5
9 169
Denny Sherlock, rf, 5
7 193
7
158
9 145
" Jim Ryan is the tallest man in the club, Denny Sherlock is the heaviest. Denny is the only person now in the organization who was one of the charter members. His present flourishing condition gives promise of his ability to outlive any of his confreres." This hopeful prophecy was not fulfilled, for Denny Sherlock was about the first to die, from an illness brought on, it was said, through having been struck in the side by a batted ball.
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We admit that we have suddenly caught the baseball fever, and must see how the series ended between the Mohawks and the Excel- siors. The second game was played on June 3d, Father Rice's birth- day, when Niagara used to give itself up to festivity in honor of its Superior. The band was out to serenade Father Rice, and then kept out the greater part of the day, with no small share of the evening, enlivening the locality with music of a most choice and well rendered kind. The second game resulted in victory for the Excelsiors by a score of 38 to 34. The third game, played a few days later, was won likewise by the Excelsiors, the score being 32 to 29. A fourth game was played, possibly because the Mohawk " fans," as we would call them now, felt that the narrow margin of four runs in the second encounter and three runs in the third would be gloriously overcome if their favorites had only one more show. The desired opportunity was granted, and proved most disastrous to the Mohawks, for they were beaten this time by twenty-four runs, the score standing 56 to 32 !
It became the bounden duty of the champion Niagaras to curb the proud spirit of the Excelsiors, who stood in relation to the former as our Reserves stand to our Representatives. The Niagaras en- deavored to administer the proper castigation, but somehow the Excelsiors were so insubordinate that when the final game of the series was over the " champions " lay cold and stiff upon the field.
To be sure, the Niagaras trounced the Excelsiors in the opening game by the fat score of 54 to 39, but, having lost the rest of the series, they hauled down their pennant after it had floated on our breezes since the autumn of 1869. It was in this year that the lordly Mont Eagles were humbled in the dust of defeat by the plucky Niagaras, after having been the "only real thing" on the baseball diamond for several years. It is related that the Mont Eagles, when challenged by the Niagaras, said to the latter: "Go forth into the arena of real strife, procure a reputation for your motley gathering; present your credentials of victories to our committee, and then, if we have no other engagements on hand, we may condescend to toy with you awhile on our baseball preserves." The Niagaras went forth to the President's rooms on the first cor- ridor, and insisted as respectfully as possible, considering the slight which had been put on them by the "big fellows," that the Mont Eagles should be forced to accept the Niagaras' challenge under penalty of forfeiting the title of champions. Father Rice agreed with the new pennant hunters, and so it happened that the great
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Mont Eagles were so badly plucked by their opponents that when the series was over the "Eagles " looked like a flock of Job's tur- keys, with all their fine feathers in the head-dress of the young Niagara Braves.
The officers of the Mont Eagle organization in the spring of 1870 (we have not been able to get an earlier list) were:
J. F. Quinn, president ; J. P. Dullard, vice-president; P. F. Keating, recording and corresponding secretary; T. Preston, treas- urer ; J. F. Lee, captain.
Our boys used to go out to play games in those days, as they go now, though, perhaps, not so far as our clubs have been accus- tomed to travel in the past few years. Once when they played the Niagaras of Buffalo, in that city, they were so badly trounced by the forerunners of the Bisons that no mention of the score was made until long after the baseball season had merged into that of gridiron sport. Not a few times, however, our players gave some of the Eastern League clubs plenty to do to win, while once before this year our Reps. defeated the Rochesters on our college grounds.
Football has always been a favorite sport at Niagara. Before the present method was introduced of having a string of numbers, half-backs, quarter-backs, and broken-backs as parts of the game, our lads used to refresh themselves most heartily by matching themselves, for instance, against the Tuscarora braves from the Reservation. It was the event of the football season to get the dusky kickers on our campus, lined up against our collegians, and watch them speeding around our ten acre lot, "chasing a bag of wind." Their agility was often rewarded with victory under the old style of playing, but they could do little or nothing with our lads when the present mode was introduced, and so it happened that a picturesque element in our field sports gradually disappeared, until now it is one of the rarest sights to find a Tuscarora buck presenting himself to compete with our college athletes.
Niagara boys of twenty-five years ago will recall the splendid lacrosse teams that were not afraid to invade Canada and bring back victory in their nets. If our athletes of the present will revive that game they may be certain of restoring a most exhilarating sport, which calls for all the requirements now exacted by the most popular college pastime.
The Rosebud Croquet Club, popular about the time that Oscar Wilde was preaching his gospel of aestheticism, afforded an aroma of exercise without the expense of exertion to its half dozen members.
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They wore rosebuds in their lapels, probably because they had no roses on their cheeks, but after our athletic Prefect of those days had coaxed these perfumed darlings, in a persuasive manner all his own, to take up the invigorating game of lacrosse, we hear no more of the other alleged game with its effeminate poses and affecta- tions. Half of the sextette, to show that they had muscle in reserve, adopted the exhilarating game of bean-bag, until the aforementioned Prefect sowed the beans, bag and all, in a plot of ground back of "Paddy's " shanty. The other half joined the Geoponics, but were soon discharged, because they insisted in carrying water in tea cups, instead of sprinkling pots, to the thirsty flowers in charge of that healthful organization. Historical justice, however, requires the statement that one of the "Rosebuds," won over by the Prefect after much vigorous persuasion, tried his alabaster fists at catching a baseball, found out that he could do it without an apron, grew fond of the exercise, and eventually developed into one of the best catchers seen on our diamond in those days.
At last the printer has cried halt to our supply of copy for this Golden Jubilee volume. The Appendix, which we had been prepared to insert with its account of our local attractions, is superfluous, and must be omitted. We give thanks to God and to Our Lady of Angels that our task of recording the history of "Old Niagara " for the past fifty years has been brought to a successful issue.
THE END.
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NEW YORK
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SEMINARY, THEOLOG ..! 'AL
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1.
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NORTH VIEW OF NIAGARA RIVER Taken from Cupola
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NIAGARA UNIVERSITY
"OLD NIAGARA" .. This is our home, our college home Though hard and strict she be, The home of many a noble soul, The shrine of purity. We love her rocks and river Where'er we chance to be. Then hurrah for "Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery ; Hurrah for "Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery.
They tell us of her freezing clime, Her hard and rugged soil, Which hardly half repays the care Of springtime's weary toil. Yet happy are Niagara's boys, Where'er they chance to be. Then hurrah for " Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery ; Hurrah for "Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery.
Others may boast of a fairer clime, Which may be passing fair, With southern warmth and sunny clime And fresh and balmy air. But happy are Niagara's boys Their college home to see: Shout hurrah for "Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery ; Hurrah for "Old Niagara " And her lovely scenery.
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INC DURAC LIBRARY 5 0354 033
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NORTH VIEW OF NIAGARA RIVER
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