The "A Story From The Early Annals Of Lancaster Sports" Story

Preface:  I realize that football is the sport on everyone's mind at this time of the year, being that the Super Bowl was played this past weekend, but my world always has room for a story about baseball.  So, forget football, especially if your team lost, and enjoy a story about America's Game.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a Facebook Page titled "Cabbage Hill of Yesteryear, PA."  I have used this site to document a few of the stories I have written in the past and find many of the posts on the site extremely interesting.  Lancaster, Pennsylvania is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States and Cabbage Hill is located in the South-West part of the city of Lancaster.  

The Cabbage Hill or SoWe (South-West) section of Lancaster City

Check the map I have posted and you can see most of the streets in the Cabbage Hill area of the city.  There is actually a Facebook Page titled 'SoWe - Lancaster Southwest Community."  But, the Facebook Page that I have mentioned already, "Cabbage Hill of Yesteryear, PA" is my source of information for today's story.  Lancaster County has produced many outstanding athletes, some making it into the professional ranks of their sport.  So, when I came upon the following story today, I not only found it interesting, but thought you too might enjoy it.  Tells the story of one particular baseball game that was played between two teams that could be classified as semi-pro teams because of the quality of players involved.  Story was of a game that took place on Saturday, August 8, 1908.  It was posted by Roseanne De who gave credit to LancasterHistory.org for article.  Read on...

Saturday August 8, 1908 probably started off like any other hot, late summer day. In the afternoon, a small crowd gathered at a ball field near Fourth and Coral Streets in Lancaster's Cabbage Hill neighborhood. What they didn't know was that this would go down as one of the city's greatest amateur baseball games, ever. The Jolly Rovers, who were the previous year's amateur champions squared off against the Athletics of the Inter-County League. Making the game even more special were the Hauck brothers - Ed and Leo - who faced each other on the pitcher's mound. Leo, already making a name for himself as a boxer, was throwing for the Jolly Rovers. Ed, Leo's older brother, pitched for the Athletics. The teams had already met once during the summer of 1908 - a Fourth of July game that went ten innings before the Jolly Rovers won by score of 1 to 0. So this game was sure to be something special. And was it ever.

     The Athletics scored in the first inning, getting off to a great start. Undeterred, the Jolly Rovers tied the game in the fourth inning. And there the scoring stopped. Tied at one run apiece, not another run crossed home plate. Not for another 12 innings. Leo and Ed turned the afternoon game into a class act pitching duel, throwing fourteen strikeouts each. After several hours and sixteen innings, the Jolly Rovers finally scored another run to win the game by a meager score of 2 to 1. I hope those specatators packed a picnic and some cold ones. The game must have been a real testament to the spirit and tenacity of Cabbage Hill.  If the Haucks played that way against family, I can only imagine how they played otherwise.

The Jolly Rovers, winner of the game.

I'm sure that many locations in the United States have a history of great teams and great games.  For those who live in this area, the story meant so much, since they may have had an old friend or distant relative on one of the two teams and may not have ever heard about this game in the past.  I wasn't born when the game was played, but as I read the story, I could picture in my mind all the players as well as the location where it was played.  Must have been an exciting day for all involved.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.