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Early Baseball Games Aroused Lively Interest
By Lewis Ulrich
    With the opening of the baseball season in Medford by the Nuggets, I am reminded of a team by the same name who represented Jacksonville in the Southern Oregon League of about 50 years ago. The league consisted of Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass and Jacksonville, and the rivalry was intense, especially between Medford and Jacksonville.
    At that time the Barnum railroad [i.e., the Rogue River Valley Railroad] was operating, and the management at Jacksonville and the railroad company secured permission from the S.P. to operate on the main line as far south as Ashland and north to Grants Pass. The Barnum company owned only one coach, so benches were placed on a flatcar and a large banner on which was printed in large letters "Jacksonville Nuggets" draped on each side of the coach, and with the entire population of Jacksonville on board we would travel in our own "special" deluxe to Grants Pass and Ashland. All went well until on one of our trips to Grants Pass engine trouble developed and we were stuck on the main line near Tolo. An S.P. freight came along and pushed us into Medford, and that was the end of our using the main line.
    Each of the towns named had enclosed parks with a high board fence, covered grandstand, etc., and the games which were played on Sundays and holidays were well patronized, as interest in the sport was very keen at that time.
    Medford's park was located in the vicinity of [McLoughlin] junior high school, [in a neighborhood] known then as "pothole addition." Ashland's was located near Helman Baths. Grants Pass field was in the southeast part of town close in, and Jacksonville's diamond was located near the old [B. F.] Dowell house right in the town on the Medford-Jacksonville Highway.
    During the above period the Portland franchise was held in the old Northeast League, and their entry was known as Casey's Colts, under the management of Pearl Casey, who was a star second baseman in his time with Oakland of the Coast League. This team used Medford as their spring training grounds, playing games with all the local teams. Casey later was an umpire in the Coast League for several years.
    Those were the days of Bill Hulen, an ex-big leaguer, the Jacob brothers and Fred Engle of Ashland, Shorty Miles, John Wilkinson, Mose Barkdull, [Frank] Pug Isaacs and Bob Low of Medford, Merrit Brown and Joe Moomaw of Eagle Point, Sandy Sanderson of Central Point, Martin Earle and Henry Pernoll of Grants Pass and the Donegan brothers, Curly Wilson and "Cap" Kubli of Jacksonville. The Donegan brothers played three of the four infield positions. Pat played second base and also did some pitching. Henry Pernoll was a southpaw with a wicked curve and eventually landed with Detroit via Oakland. In the last game he pitched against Jacksonville before he went to Oakland he struck out 21 men in nine innings, so you can see that he was quite a pitcher. His brother John caught him and they made a fine combination. Ashland also had a combination brother battery, Gordon and Tod Jacobs. Gordon is now county commissioner in Siskiyou County, but Tod is deceased.
    Charles Strub, now owner of Santa Anita racetrack near Los Angeles, played one summer with Jacksonville. The New York Giants on a barnstorming tour played in Medford, and a crack colored team, the Colored Giants, played in Grants Pass.
    So you can see that baseball was a very popular sport in Southern Oregon at that time. Court Hall was the manager in Medford and "Bum" Neuber at Jacksonville, and the betting was heavy when these two teams met. The league was getting along fine, and before one of the games between the towns named the betting seemed to be extra heavy. Jacksonville had a pitcher by the name of Lester about 6 ft. 3 inches tall who had won several games easily. The Jacksonville fans thought he was invincible, and they covered all the Medford money in sight. At the start of the game before a large crowd in Jacksonville, Medford ran out a pitcher whom no one had ever seen or heard of, and he proved to be some pitcher, the Jacksonville team being helpless before him. He mowed them down in 1-2-3 order and the fans were cleaned.
    The pitcher turned out to be "Cack" Henley, a ringer from north California, who eventually pitched for San Francisco and I think joined some big league club. There was gloom in Jacksonville that night, and that was the end of the league for that year, and it was several years before interest was again aroused.
    Baseball is a fine healthy sport, and the businessmen in Medford who are lending their moral and financial support to the game are deserving of a lot of credit. From newspaper reports we will have a better team than we had last year, and with increased population and interest aroused, the team should be near the top.
    Good luck, Nuggets.
Medford News, May 6, 1949, page 7


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    Medford Tribune: R. L. Wimer of this city has a photograph of the Ashland Greys, a baseball team that flourished 31 years ago. The picture was taken in 1884. Mose Alford, president of the First National Bank, Tom Hurlburt, Gwin Butler of Ashland, Marsh Wagner of Soda Springs, John Norris, George McConnell, Hank Giddings, a veteran stage driver, Al Sears, now dead, and R. L. Wimer. Mr. Wimer found the picture among old possessions. The Ashland Greys was famous as a ball team, and one of the best in the state in its time.
Ashland Tidings, July 12, 1915, page 9


Base Ball Game at Grants Pass.
    The match game of baseball played last Friday at Grants Pass between the club of that place and nine Jacksonville and Medford players proved as bitter [as] it was unsatisfactory. Both sides claim the victory, although the umpire decided in favor of the players from abroad, because the home club refused to go to bat after the 8th inning. For the biggest part of the game the Grants Pass boys had a comfortable lead and all went well, but when their opponents tied the score--17 to 17--on the 8th inning, the umpire and everything else was all wrong. From an unprejudiced standpoint, it seems as if the Grants Pass players did wrong in not finishing the game, for they had accepted the decisions of the umpire too long to admit of a protest at the 11th hour. It is conceded by many that the Jacksonville-Medford club would have no trouble in defeating the representatives of Josephine County with practice, for the most of them are more than average players. The Times hopes that those clubs will meet soon again and decide who are the champions of southern Oregon.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 29, 1892, page 3


    The Central Point base ball club met the Eagle Point base ball club last Sunday (yesterday) and had a very pleasant and interesting game on the grounds of the latter. The game was won by the Central Point boys by three tallies, but the Eagle Point boys are said to have played remarkably well for new beginners, as some of them were novices at the business. One of them informed your correspondent that he never struck at a ball before in his life.

"Eagle Point Items," Valley Record, Ashland, August 11, 1892, page 2


Wilkinson to the Bat--Brown on Deck.
Written for The Medford Mail.
   
On last Friday afternoon the Big Sticky baseball nine, under the management of their able captain, Mr. Chas. Wilkinson, went over to Eagle Point to wipe that nine off the face of the earth--and for eleven ball tickets, valued at $2 each. If the Big Stickys lost they were to give to Eagle Point the equal in coin of the realm of eleven ball tickets. But when Wilkinson goes out with his boys they are favorites from the start and play ball with a professional-like air. They were picked for winners by all visitors as well as the Eagle Point girls, and win they did.
    Having thoroughly enjoyed the ball game, we stayed to partake of the hospitalities of the evening tendered by Mr. Frank Brown, the manager of the Eagle Point nine. The merry throng gathered from far and near. The boys in all their glory of success and the belles in all their beauty of adornment. When the sweet strains of music started up, it was "on with the dance, let joy be unconfined," and there never was a jollier time than we spent at the Eagle Point entertainment, and one that will long be remembered by your worthy scribe.
JONES.                   
Medford Mail, April 7, 1893, page 3


The Broomcorn Waves High.
    The Medford baseball broom has swept clean and a broad wide. The small hamlet to the north of us has a reputation, but it doesn't run in the baseball channel. Last Tuesday occurred in Medford a red-hot game of ball between Medford and Grants Pass teams. Literally speaking it could hardly be anything else as the thermometer climbed to the top board of the backstop and the torridity that lingered about the grounds was boiled down to a degree quite warm, but it was several degrees hotter in the Grants Pass camp than around where our home boys were basking in delight at their visitors' discomfiture.
    The game was opened at one-thirty, and from the very first it was evident that the visiting team wasn't to be counted high on the scoreboard, while our boys had figured they would wipe up the dust with the blue pants of their combatants and sprinkle the grounds with their tears of remorse and misplaced confidence. The Medford boys had seven innings and scored twenty-four counts, while the Grants Pass team had eight innings and by dexterous efforts rolled up nine points on the tally sheet.
    The visiting club was made up of the following gentlemen: G. H. Irving, c; Fred. Welch, p; Fred Mensch, 1st b; Bert Warren, 2nd b; Robt. Deweree, 3rd b; Roy Bartlett, r f; Tod Wilson, c f; D. E. Dotson, l f; Harry Peterson, s; Geo Slover, scorer.
    The Medford boys were: Fred Weeks, c; Charlie Boardman, p; Alf. Weeks, 1st b; Geo. Davis, 2nd b; John Angle, 3rd b; Ed. Redden, s; U. M. Damon, r f; A. Galloway, s f; John Stewart, l f; Will Fredenburg, scorer. E. H. Fawcett, umpire.
    The game was interesting throughout, our boys playing a good, steady game, while the visitors "lost their heads" and were badly rattled. Two particularly good plays were made. One by Fred Weeks when his bat caught the second ball given him and sent her a long ways outside of the fielders, making a home run with ease. Another one was when three men were on bases and Damon took the bat. He sent the ball over into the tall timber, near Jacksonville, let in three men and slid over the home plate himself.
    Grants Pass papers scorched our team right hard, so the boys say, on the game they played in that village on the Fourth, but The Mail is not going to pay them back in kind. The Grants Pass boys are gentlemen, every one of them, but they can't play ball. Of course, this is not their fault. They have practiced long enough for a league team--but they couldn't twirl the sphere with an aptness equal to Medford.
Medford Mail, July 21, 1893, page 2


    The Jacksonville "kid" baseball nine defeated the Medford nine at the grove between the two towns on Saturday last in a hotly contested game, by a score of 38 to 30. The boys are preparing a challenge to any team in the county of their size.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, April 21, 1898, page 3


    The baseball game last Saturday, between Medford and Ashland nines, at this city, resulted in a victory for the granite city boys by a score of 30 to 15.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, April 28, 1898, page 3


    Our baseball club walloped the Ashland nine in the game played on the grounds of the latter last Saturday by a score of 34 to 18. It was quite interesting.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 9, 1898, page 3


    The Medford and Ashland baseball nines will play the final game at Medford on Saturday to decide the championship. Each club has won a game, and good ball will probably be put up.
"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 19, 1898, page 3


    The return game of baseball between Medford and Ashland nines was played at the grounds of the former last Saturday. It proved an easy victory for the Medford ball tossers, who were assisted by two experts from Jacksonville. The score stood 30 to 8 in their favor.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 23, 1898, page 3


    A game of baseball was played in Harbaugh's grove yesterday by small boys from Jacksonville and Medford. The former won by a score of 21 to 19.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 20, 1898, page 3


    Pat Donegan, Jr., went to Grants Pass to play ball with the Medford club. He was objected to, on the ground that he is a professional, and did not participate in the game.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 28, 1898, page 3


    The Medford boys who came down to play the Alerts were Joe Hibbard, Joe Slinger, Tom McCaullay, Emit Bargdale, Jim Howard, Albert Elliott and Messrs. Cook, Biden and Anderson
    The game of baseball between the Medford team and the Alerts of this city on Decoration Day resulted in a victory for the former by a score of 11 to 4. The game was a well-played one and very interesting from start to finish. The Grants Pass boys were doing some excellent playing when they whitewashed the Medford nine five times, but during the later half of the sixth inning they made one or two bad moves which cost them the game. If the Alerts will continue to practice more or less, they will be hard to beat anywhere.
Rogue River Courier, Grants Pass, June 1, 1899, page 3


    The game played at Eagle Point by the local club and a nine from Medford, last Friday, was won by the former by a score of 21 to 10. The victors are now champions of southern Oregon, having beaten every club that has met them.

"Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 19, 1899, page 3


Base Ball in Medford
    There was a ball game in Medford last Sunday. We make this announcement in the first two lines because of the fact that there are probably about two people in the city who did not know of the game until they read the lines above referred to--and we want them to join the majority as quickly as possible. It was the hottest contested game ever played on the Medford grounds. There wasn't any money up on the game, but there was probably $500 or $600 bet on the side--won by Medford people--and contributed by Grants Pass sports.
    There were about 175 people who came up from Grants Pass to see the game--but be it said to the credit of a few of them they did not see it. It was too tough a layout, and instead of going to the grounds after leaving the train they put in the afternoon around town.
    Before that crowd came up here our townspeople thought we had a few average tough young men, but since Sunday they have branded every one of our boys as gentlemen--as compared with others. No sooner had the train upon which the Grants Pass crowd arrived come to a standstill than did the noise commence--by a chorus of loud, coarse and very profane yells. This was repeated several times--much to the disgust of all our people who heard it--also to some who came on the train--who felt ashamed of being caught in that low-lived charnel house of profanity and bad whisky. Nor did the ribaldry cease with the incoming of the crowd. It went to the ball grounds, and there insulted men, women and children. The hoodlums drank whisky from bottles while standing in front of the grandstand, swore almost incessantly, and the vulgar epithets they applied to Medford people were disgusting in the extreme--and the wonder is that the offenders were not arrested.
    After this game was over the streets of our town were made as unpleasant by this rowdyism as had been the ball grounds during the afternoon.
    Such hoodlumism as was displayed Sunday would have been most disgraceful upon a week day, but when it was given vent upon a day set apart for worship and rest, its grating upon the more delicate senses of even our most hardened citizens was noticeable. It was the toughest day in the history of our town--and it will not be repeated; the better class of citizens will not tolerate it; they are up in arms and do not propose to have our town again insulted. The home ball boys did not expect it, and they regretted its occurrence as much as anyone. As we said in the outset, they are gentlemen, and know the usages and customs of good society--and are respecters of ladies--and they were sorely aggrieved because it happened that way--and because that it was on Sunday.
    There is one way in which the Medford boys can further endear themselves to Medford people--don't play ball again on Sunday. It is not a day calculated for sport, and it is not pleasant to have a crowd in town on that day filling the air with blasphemy and indulging in unlawful behavior.
    The Mail knows, from having met several of them, that there are some very fine people in Grants Pass; in fact, there are a great many of them--and we are pleased to know that none of these were among the boisterous ones here Sunday.
    But to return to the game. We said it was hotly contested. Those who saw it will not doubt the truthfulness of this assertion. From commencement to finish there was no time when there was more than one tally in favor of either team, and at the commencement of the last half of the ninth inning the game stood eight to eight, but Medford made a score and the game was finished with Medford the winner.
    The Grants Pass pitcher was from San Jose, and their catcher from Cottage Grove. The Medford pitcher was G. H. Fleming, of the Torpedo team, Portland, and the catcher was H. B. Meyers, of this city.
    Since last Sunday the Grants Pass ball team has been keeping the telephone wires hot between Medford and that place in an endeavor to get another game. Our boys at first declined to have anything further to do with them, but it is now possible that a game may be made for a near date, the game to be played at Ashland.
Medford Mail, August 17, 1900, page 3


    The $500-a-side ball game at Medford caused two pitchers to be imported--Martin, of San Jose, for Grants Pass, and Fleming, of Portland, for Medford. the latter won, 9 to 8.
"Oregon Notes," Sunday Oregonian, Portland, August 19, 1900, page 4



    Most of our people are disgusted with the Mail's silly account of the late baseball game, in which the Grants Pass nine and those who accompanied them to this city were abused and maligned in an unwarranted manner. Bliton so often has written himself an ass and displayed his small, jealous nature so frequently, that we have become accustomed to it. Our neighbors should not consider him seriously, for it is not worth their while.
"Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 23, 1900, page 3


    Last Sunday the Medford base ball nine defeated the Gold Hill boys with a score of 21 to 11. The game was hotly contested until the sixth inning, when the Gold Hill boys made several bad plays which resulted in their defeat. There were several young men accompanying the Medford team who imbibed too freely of bad whiskey and acted in such a disgraceful manner both in town and on the ball grounds, by their shameful language and insults to the ladies present, that some of the gentlemen were obliged to interfere and give them a severe punishment. I hope the boys will take warning and consider themselves lucky to have escaped without being more severely dealt with. The people were thoroughly disgusted with their conduct and will not stand a second offense.

"Gold Hill Items," Medford Mail, May 17, 1901, page 3


    The Medford baseball team, accompanied by something like seventy-five enthusiastic admirers, went to Ashland Sunday morning bubbling over with enthusiasm, and returned a few hours later long on excuses and plausible explanations of why they failed to win. The game started with Medford winning the tossup. They failed to score, however. Ashland then had their inning and met the same fate. In the second inning Medford scored two points, and Ashland returned the compliment. This was Medford's first and last score. The Medford team went to pieces shortly after, and in the ninth inning Ashland had eleven points to her credit. The Ashland pitcher threw a "flowery" ball, so "flowery" that a goodly percentage of the Medford team are using arnica and other medical compounds containing soothing ingredients. Patsy Donegan, of Jacksonville, in the fifth inning was so hard hit that he was compelled to retire from the game. The Medford lineup was as follows: R. B. Dow, pitcher; Thos. Macauley, catcher; Henry Orth, s.s.; Mate Biden, 1st b.; Dr. Butler, 2nd b.; O. Fredenburg, 3rd b.; Chas. Nunan, r.f.; Ira Anderson, c.f.; Tobe Brouse, l.f.

"City Happenings," Medford Mail, June 7, 1901, page 7


    A large and substantial grand stand has been erected on the baseball grounds in Jacksonville. It will accommodate between 500 and 600 people.

"Jacksonville News," Medford Mail, June 21, 1901, page 3


    Almost simultaneously with the announcement that the Boston Bloomers baseball club would play in Medford, a number of Medford's staid, dignified men of business and affairs commenced haunting the diamond on the ball grounds, and have been practicing with avidity. On any evening they may be seen playing ball even after the shades of eventide have clothed the horizon and the stars shine but dimly. Eager suggestions and sly hints as to the advisability of strengthening the local team by substituting older and more experienced players are freely made, and the number of the selfsame who are anxious to sacrifice themselves for the honor of the team is surprisingly great.

"City Happenings," Medford Mail, June 21, 1901, page 7

July 15, 1901 San Francisco Call
July 15, 1901 San Francisco Call
    Almost simultaneously with the announcement that the Boston Bloomers baseball club would play in Medford, a number of Medford's staid, dignified men of business and affairs commenced haunting the diamond on the ball grounds, and have been practicing with avidity. On any evening they may be seen playing ball even after the shades of eventide have clothed the horizon and the stars shine but dimly. Eager suggestions and sly hints as to the advisability of strengthening the local team by substituting older and more experienced players are freely made, and the number of the selfsame who are anxious to sacrifice themselves for the honor of the team is surprisingly great.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, June 21, 1901, page 7


The Boston Bloomers.
    The Boston Bloomers, champion lady baseball players of the world, will arrive in the city Saturday, June 29th and give an exhibition at the baseball grounds at 2 p.m. The Bloomer girls do not expect to draw crowds entirely on account of the novelty of being female players, but really put up a creditable exhibition of the national game. They travel in a private palace car and carry a canvas fence for enclosing the grounds, a grandstand with a seating capacity of 2000 and everything necessary to give a first-class exhibition. They have toured all the western states, and have everywhere received good notices from the press, not only for their good baseball playing, but also for their ladylike behavior. Admission 25 and 50 cents.
Medford Mail,
June 28, 1901, page 2


    On Wednesday afternoon the Medford ball tossers met the Ashland team on the grounds of the latter in the Granite City, and for the second time within a month went down to overwhelming defeat at the hands of their doughty, up-valley antagonists. The Medford boys entered the game with several new players, or rather old players who had not practiced for a number of years, and to whom the whizzing, curving antics of the horsehide peculiar to the latter-day ball playing were somewhat of a mystery. Besides, Ashland has a very strong team, their pitcher being one of the best on the coast. H. B. Myers and Fred Weeks were both rendered hors de combat during the progress of the game, and both are nursing badly swollen fingers as the result of coming in contact with some decidedly hot balls. The score, 23 to 2, in favor of Ashland, would indicate that our boys were outclassed, but they do not appear to be chagrined, and will be ready to meet the Jacksonville team on the Fourth with full confidence in their ability to win the game--and the $100 purse.

"City Happenings,"
Medford Mail, June 28, 1901, page 7


    The Boston Bloomers base ball team have come and gone, having fulfilled their engagement here last Saturday afternoon by winning a very poorly played game from the Medford juvenile team. They carry with them canvas with which to enclose the ball ground, and also a grandstand, canvas covered. A fairly good-sized crowd witnessed the game, which, however, did not create any enthusiasm because of the indifferent playing. The score was 17 to 2--for the bloomers. The girls put up a good game--much better than when here a couple of years ago.

"City Happenings," Medford Mail, July 5, 1901, page 7


A Phenomenal Game.
    The most remarkable game of baseball ever witnessed on an Oregon diamond, or indeed ever played by amateur teams, was that at Jacksonville on Sunday last between the Grants Pass club and a mixed team from Medford, Jacksonville and Eagle Point. Ten times each side went to the bat and ten times the scorers marked a big round goose egg for each. It was a pitcher's battle, but sharp fielding and good, heady ball playing by the balance of the teams prevented a score on several occasions. A rapid double play from Kubli, who caught Entriken's fly back of first, with three men on base and one out, and threw to Rice, who threw Pool out on third, stopped a score for Grants Pass in the tenth. Brouse's long throw from left in the ninth, of Merlin's hit, headed Down off at third and stopped another. The score was made in the eleventh when Down rapped out a two-bagger and reached home on Rice's wild pitch. The home team couldn't score in their half and the game was over. It was good ball all the way through, and neither side need be ashamed of the result. Martin struck out twenty-one men and Rice, who with Williamson, of Igerna, made the home battery ten. Three errors are credited to Grant Pass and five to the locals. Three men walked to first on Martin, two on Rice. The hits were scattering and nearly always landed in a fielder's mitt. Geo. Kelley, of Medford, umpired the game and gave universal satisfaction by his rapid and accurate decisions.
Medford Mail,
August 23, 1901, page 2



Will Try for Better Ball Grounds.
    The citizens of Jacksonville have subscribed enough money to their ball team to enable them to repair their ball grounds and enclose them with a high board fence. The team has had men at work during the past week, cutting down the diamond and filling in [the] field. When the work is completed they will have a first-class ball ground, and one that will be a monument to the generosity of the Jacksonville citizens.
    Now, why cannot the Medford ball team receive the support of the citizens of Medford and have a ground of their own. Every time Medford's team plays a game they are compelled to go away from home to do so. If a suitable amount of money is subscribed the boys can secure a location for their ball grounds, and the rest will be easy. No one will doubt the generosity of the Medford citizens, and everyone will give the boys their heartfelt support. After the grounds are made and enclosed, the team will then be self-supporting and will not have to depend upon the contributions of their friends. If Medford is contemplating the celebration of the Fourth of July a game of ball will be the leading entertainment during the day, but none of the teams from the neighboring towns care to come to Medford to play unless the grounds are improved. Therefore, the boys are compelled to appeal to the citizens in this matter.
Medford Mail, May 2, 1902, page 2


    The uniforms of the Jacksonville baseball team have arrived and are gorgeous creations of blue and gold.

"Jacksonville Items," Medford Mail, May 2, 1902, page 3


ONE-SIDED GAME.
    The baseball game played here Sunday between the Grants Pass and Medford teams was not a game; it was a slaughter. The Medford team was clearly outclassed from the start, and before the game was half over they went to pieces completely. The Grants Pass boys showed their opponents no mercy, but piled up the runs in a manner that made the score a scandalous one. The Medford boys stayed bravely to the bitter end and accepted their fate with commendable fortitude. The score was 22 to 1 in favor of Grants Pass.
Rogue River Courier, Grants Pass, June 26, 1902, page 3


    It is expected that at Jacksonville on the Fourth will be played the stiffest game of baseball that has yet been witnessed this season, when the Medford and Jacksonville teams meet to decide the championship of Southern Oregon, and a second hotly contested game is also promised the lovers of America's greatest sport. This latter game is to be played at Jacksonville on July 6th, and it will be between a picked nine, composed of Medford and Jacksonville players, and the famous Hampton team of Eugene. The Eugene boys are baseball players, and so are the Jacksonville-Medford boys who will cross bats 
with them, and there will be no doubting the fact but what there will be a game worth witnessing. Special trains will be run on the Jacksonville railroad to accommodate those attending the game from this city.
    "Medford given one--as a mark of respect." So says the Grants Pass Observer in its attempt to write up the game of ball between Medford and The Alerts of that city. Medford was defeated with a score of 22 to 1 by a team of professional ball players, the Alerts having four professional players from Southern California and two from Portland, the remaining three being Grants Pass men. Medford did not go to Grants Pass to play against a team of professional players, but when these Invincibles (?) were put in the field the Medford boys made no complaint and took their defeat like men. When they play Grants Pass, proper, Medford always defeats them and always will.

    Peacock blue and yellow are the colors selected by the Medford ball team for the game today, so let Medford show their good will toward the boys and wear their colors. This will be a good, interesting game and will be witnessed by a large throng of people. The game will at least be conducted in an honest manner, as it can never be said that the Jacksonville team is lacking in honesty or hospitality to a visiting team. This game decides the championship of Southern Oregon--Josephine County included.

"City Happenings," Medford Mail, July 4, 1902, page 7


SOUTHERN OREGON LEAGUE
Rogue River Valley Towns to Organize for Baseball.
    A movement is being made to form a southern Oregon baseball league, and a meeting with that object in view was held in Medford Sunday. The proposed circuit includes Ashland, Medford, Jacksonville and Grants Pass. In the meeting that was held, all the towns were represented with the exception of Grants Pass. The feasibility of the plan was discussed, and steps will be taken toward the organization of the league. A partial canvass for stock in Medford resulted in a subscription of $1100, and it is thought $2000 can be raised there.
Rogue River Courier, Grants Pass, January 22, 1903, page 1


    The Jacksonville baseball grounds, which are among the best on the coast, were damaged considerably by the water of Jackson Creek during the January flood. They will be put in first-class order before the season opens.

"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 18, 1903, page 2


TO ORGANIZE BASEBALL.
    The fans of Southern Oregon are again agitating the matter of organizing a four-team league, embracing the principal towns of the valley--Medford, Ashland, Jacksonville, and Grants Pass, if possible. If Grants Pass is unwilling to come in--it was the refusal of that town to participate that kept the league from organization last year--Gold Hill will be taken in.
    The object will be to play four games a week, two games each in two of the towns one week and in the next two the next week. This will give one weekday game and one Sunday game in each town every alternate week.
    It will be necessary for Medford to build grounds, etc., which will entail an expenditure of about $300 or $400, and an effort will be made to interest the business men in the scheme, so that the necessary funds may be forthcoming.
    The Medford team made a good record last year in spite of the fact that the boys had no grounds upon which to practice. Most of the players are still here, and there are a number of other baseballists who have become residents of the city since last season, so that there will be little difficulty in getting up a pretty strong aggregation.
Medford Mail, February 5, 1904, page 1


A Valley Baseball League.
    Wm. Hulen, G. E. Neuber and J. Court Hall were down the valley the first of the week to arrange for the organization of a valley league, which is to include Gold Hill, Medford, Jacksonville and Ashland. These there are the leading promoters of the game in this section. They visited Grants Pass, but on account of certain local impediments there it was decided to fix upon Gold Hill as the proper point for ball grounds, which would accommodate Grants Pass, as well as the Gold Hill people, who are disposed to lend every kind of encouragement to promote the sport. It will be a short ride from the Pass to Gold Hill, and the Grants Pass people who like a game of ball will not run up against any sentiment hostile to games on Sunday in Gold Hill, much as, it is said, prevails in their own town.
    The league for the valley is practically arranged for. Each team will put up a bond of $400 binding it to play the games of the schedule. At Ashland the lease of the present ground at the Helman Springs expires the first of August of next year. The fence is in bad condition and other repairs are required; besides the grounds are not entirely satisfactory. For these reasons the Ashland baseball players have desired to secure other grounds and have planned to secure the help of the Board of Trade in fitting up a suitable field. A tract on the Boulevard belonging to C. C. Chappelle is regarded well adapted for a ball ground, but it is learned that no arrangement can now be made to secure it, and the team will likely continue to use the Helman field. Gold Hill will fit up suitable grounds and Medford is already fixing up a first-class one. Jacksonville has already a commodious and well-furnished ball field, says the Tribune.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, May 4, 1904, page 2


    The old "has-been" ball players of Medford are organizing a team for the purpose of giving the regular team a game. No player will be eligible unless he can remember when they "played ball without mask or gloves and when a foul or third strike was out on the first bound." The "Has-beens" will begin practicing as soon as the team is organized and will challenge the winner of the Jacksonville--
all-the-county game--when it comes off. Those so far who have proved themselves eligible to the team are: C. D. Hazelrigg, George F. Merriman, Fred Weeks, G. L. Davis, J. D. Fay, Thos. Beckett, C. A. Boardman, Alf. Weeks, Chas. Prim, L. L. Jacobs, Will Muller, Mose Alford, Mose Barkdull, Court Hall, George Coffenbury. Two more are needed, as the managers figure that it will be necessary to have two shifts in order to give the old-time athletes time to get their breath and tell about the games they have played.
"City Happenings," Medford Mail, May 25, 1906, page 5


It Was "Alleged."
    There was an alleged game of baseball, alleged to have been played at the Medford grounds Sunday between a team alleged to consist of barbers and one alleged to be made up of liverymen. The allegation was all there was to it. There wasn't anything in the nature of baseball played--except by allegation--and the tonsorial artists were represented by two members of the craft, while the knights of the curry comb could only muster one representative. However, there were enough section hands, sawmill men, sewing machine agents and people to make up the number, and the "alleged" game went merrily on until the 7th, when with the "alleged" score of 7 to 11 in favor of the tonsorial gentlemen, Purdy, pitcher for the livery gentlemen, got mad at an "alleged" decision of the umpire and threw the ball away and threatened to take his "ball bats and go home." In the ninth he is alleged to have batted out of his turn so that the four runs alleged to have been accumulated in that canto were alleged not to have been made, and the game is alleged to have been won by the alleged livery gentlemen.
    Three "alleged" umpires were used in the game. Cooper officiated for two innings, and was chased off the field and Fay was carried on. He lasted three innings and called the game under an "alleged" agreement that the first fly caught in the field was to end the game. He was banished to the lonesome grandstand and Paddy Malloy stood it for two more spasms when he was chased to the bench and Cooper recalled from the under the grandstand where he had been hiding and managed to finish the game without being mobbed.
    Under the rules the "alleged" barbers won.
Medford Mail, August 2, 1907, page 1



Medford Plays Ball.
    That a number of Medford's leading citizens missed their calling some 400 miles when they decided to enter their present avocations instead of tackling professional baseball was demonstrated last Thursday afternoon beyond all peradventure when the business and professional men of that city lined up in a titanic struggle to settle, once and for all, which is the handiest lot of sports in the national game--baseball. The weather was perfect, the grandstand crowded to suffocation and the players all in the pink of condition when Judge Prim, acting as umpire, or referee, called the game and introduced the players in a neat speech, in which he dwelt at some length on the deeds of prowess the different gladiators had been guilty of in the past. When the judge had finished he delivered an upshot curve bow to the grandstand as a prearranged signal that applause was next in order, but to his consternation and alarm there was nothing doing in that line. His audience had not heard a word he said, because everybody had been struck deaf and mute by the sudden flitting of Judge Colvig's Merry Widow, balloon-shaped pantalettes or trouserines, as the case may be. Fearfully and wonderfully made were these chaste coverings for the nether limbs of the stately and refined judge, who had only entered the lists as a speedy means of securing the strenuous training he felt he would need in the prohi charter fight which commenced the following day. Saffrony in hue were they and breezy of build, and in combination with the flesh-pink hose, the azure blue waist [blouse] and the dark blue headpiece, the effect was one never to be forgotten.
    "Time," yelled the umpire, and the game was on. Colvig went in the box, with Judge Kelly behind the bat. Shorty Garnett, warehouseman and prohibition leader, wielded the bat and called for a high ball. Colvig delivered the goods, which struck Kelly square between the ears and splashed all over the backstop. The next high ball, however, made better connection. Shorty met it squarely under the nose with a brandy smash effect, dropped his bat and started for third base instead of first. This mistake was no doubt due to the fact that he had his panties on backward, probably having been dreaming of high balls while in the dressing room. But Shorty got there just the same, as did Kentner, drygoodsman, who also is not built on the greyhound plan. "Toggery Bill" added to the éclat of the occasion in a gorgeous Nash hat with frazzle-edged trimmings, and W. I. Vawter made a decided sensation on the field attired in a brilliant red necktie of decided anarchistical tendencies. Weeks [the undertaker] "undertook" to catch, and he succeeded in stopping every dead one that came his way, and Jess Enyart tried to break the ball as he does at a shooting match. Molony, the shoe man, wore a neat pair of canvas shoes. He also wore trousers, shirt and a determined look, which no doubt helped to win the game. There were something like 100 men engaged in the contest, first and last, and the game was finished in six innings--as were the players to a frazzle. The score was 10-15 in favor of the business men, and the gate receipts were enormous.
Central Point Herald, June 18, 1908, page 1


CHICAGO LADIES vs. MEDFORD.
    The Chicago Ladies and Medford baseball teams played what could be called an interesting game yesterday afternoon on the local diamond, which resulted in a victory for the ladies by a score of 14 to 13. The boys claim that they let the fair ones win out, but if they did they certainly hid their intentions to perfection.
    "The ladies had handsome figures and beautiful faces, and the men present were simply lost in admiration as they gracefully glided out on the field. In the grandstand the men were busy rubbering, while the lady spectators almost turned green with envy and jealousy."
    Well, that was the picture in the mind's eye of most of the men who wended their way out to see the game, but they were soon disillusioned when they came face to face with the reality. That consisted of a team composed of four ladies, one or two men dressed in bloomers and wearing wigs and four men in the ordinary baseball suits.
    Of course, all the principal work both in the batting line and on the field was done by the men, and pretty well done at that. Those who went to scoff remained to cheer and applaud, and toward the last the good behavior of the girls and the splendid work of the male members of the team captured the crowd, and the outcome appeared to meet the approval of all who were present.
    The battery for Medford was McIntyre and Sanderson and for the visitors Myers and Reagen, both of whom put up a splendid game in their positions and at the bat. The Medford pitcher, and most of the team too, for that matter, played a good game and only three during the whole game walked to first, which was covered by one of the ladies and who was also the captain of the team. Bob Dow acted as umpire and perhaps was not to blame for becoming somewhat blinded by the bewitching smiles given him by some of the fair ones, and consequently favoring them more or less in his decisions.
    Yesterday's game makes the fifth one won during the last week by the visitors. They defeated Roseburg by a score of 5 to 4, Grants Pass by 10 to 9, Oakland 9 to 8 in a 12-inning game, and Drain got whipped by a score of 14 to 4. The team leaves this morning for Red Bluff, Cal.
Medford Mail, August 14, 1908, page 5


NEW DIAMOND FOR THE COLTS
    Court Hall is making extensive preparations for receiving Pearl Casey's bunch of Northwestern leaguers, who will arrive here the 23[rd]. He has had shower baths and training quarters built. A new diamond will be made, and it is going to be one of the best diamonds in the West. The big steam roller will be run over it and the ground smoothed and packed down, so that the Portland boys will have no kick coming.
Excerpt, Medford Mail, March 5, 1909, page 8



BASEBALL GAME TURNS OUT BIG FREE-FOR-ALL
Phil Cooney Loses His Head and Calls Fans Some Hard Names--
B. Klum Took Exception and Cleaned Cooney.
SHORTSTOP STOPPED SHORT IN CENTRAL POINT; RETURNED
Recorder Takes Hand in Game and Annexes 15 Bucks for City Treasury--Game Tomorrow.
    The ball game on Friday afternoon, for which all of the business houses of the city closed up so that all could attend, turned out to be a cross between a prize fight and the great American game. Hard names, fists, autos, policemen, recorders and a few other parties took a hand in the melee, and when it was all over the city of Medford won by a score of 15 bucks to 0. Phil Cooney, shortstop, was the fall guy.
    The applying of epithets started in the first spasms. The Medford fans were out in force and decided that if rooting would annex the game that there would be nothing to it. Cooney came in for the heaviest brunt of the hard ones, and in the eighth he walked up and down in front of the bleachers and proceeded to say some very nasty things. B. Klum, the local artist, took some of the remarks to heart and when invited to "come out" by Cooney he didn't stop to see, but he conquered. Klum was unmercifully getting the best of Cooney when the scrap became a free-for-all. Garibaldi, a Portland boy, measured with one and came off on top. The rest of the crowd interfered, and the fight was over.
    Then manager MacRae of the Colts took a hand in the matter and thought that it would be better for Cooney to get out of town, as popular feeling was very much against him. He obtained an auto and started the boy to Central Point. Here the police were brought into the affair, and Chief Shearer started after Cooney and brought him back. He was taken before Recorder Collins, and there was fined 15 bucks and costs. Feeling ran high against him during the afternoon, and had it not been for some of the larger men of the crowd holding the fans in check things would have gone hard with Cooney. The boy escaped from them, however, and this morning left for Portland. Thus ended the affair.
    Oh yes, the score was in favor of Portland--7-4.
    The boys will play another game on Sunday afternoon. No more fights are on tap.
Medford Daily Tribune, April 10, 1909, page 1


ROGUE BALL LEAGUE FORMED
Southern Oregon Towns Arrange Schedule of Sunday Games.
    CENTRAL POINT, Or., May 11.--(Special.)--The Rogue River Valley League, comprising the clubs of Central Point, Jacksonville, Grants Pass and Medford, has been formed and a game schedule drawn for a series of games up to July 3.
    Each team is to be composed of resident players of the town represented, and a penalty of $25 will be incurred for every violation of the agreement. Each of the four cities must provide suitable grounds. A game will be played in each of the four towns on alternate Sundays. The schedule for this Sunday is Central Point at Jacksonville and Medford at Grants Pass.
Morning Oregonian, Portland, May 12, 1909, page 7



Medford Finally Wins.
    There were things doing at the Medford ball park Sunday afternoon, when the Medford team, reinforced by Jacksonville and some other towns, cleaned up both Hilt and Central Point in a double header engagement. Hilt took the first turn at the game, and for nine long innings there was an aggregation of errors on both sides that would be difficult to duplicate in any state in the Union. Neither side had any edge over the other, however, in the way of fuss and fumbles until the eighth, when the score was switched from the California boys' favor to Medford's column. The game was interesting, all right, even though the players were all frozen stiff as graven images. And it really was the weather that was to blame for the entire trouble, for the way the cold wind howled over the diamond was a caution. During the four hours that the Hilt game lasted the Central Point team sat around and shivered, and when their game was called the boys were humped up like a bunch of maverick steers in a Wyoming blizzard.
    The first game was just good practice for Medford, and they went into the second game in good feather. The first two innings settled the cathop for Central Point to the tune of four to nothing, but after that the Pointers got warmed up and played the game. For six innings everybody played ball, with not the shadow of a tally on either side, and in the ninth Medford scratched in another one and won the game by a big margin. The game showed, however, that the two teams are pretty evenly matched under equal conditions, and lovers of the game may expect some good entertainment during the remainder of the season.
    After the game the team managers from Grants Pass, Central Point, Jacksonville and Medford got together and formed a league and arranged a schedule of games. Central Point will play Jacksonville next Sunday at the latter place, and Medford will play at Grants Pass.
    [Central Point] Manager Grieve will make an effort to secure funds with which to erect a grandstand on the local grounds in order to better accommodate the fans, as well as to secure necessary funds with which to keep up his team's share of the expense money.
Central Point Herald, May 13, 1909, page 1


Sunday's Ball Game.
    Central Point won over Medford Sunday on the latter's grounds in a good game and in which both teams did some good work. Medford wanted the game, and they played to get it, but it was a case of being slightly outplayed by the Pointers at every mark in the road.
    The Herald feels that the Medford team deserved a better fate than the following, which was handed them by the Tribune Monday evening, but the Tribune "had orter" known what the game was. It is too much, however, to accuse the Medfords of being beaten by the Cubs. The Cubs are our second team, and such an insinuation is really cruel, doncherknow. The Tribune says:
    "Just as long as Medford continues to play boneheaded baseball, just so long will she continue to lower her standing in the league race. The exhibition Sunday was more like the bizarre bantering, button-breaking, comical convocation of clownish celebrities in a circus than like baseball. There was no teamwork, and each player tried to distinguish himself to the great detriment of the team. Central Point won the game through the selfish spirit of the players on the Medford team, who were out for personal glory.
    "The most flagrant exhibition of boneheaded baseball was in the ninth inning, when one run was needed to tie the score. Cady, first up, walked, Isaacs was hit by pitcher, and then came Miles. No one was out and by all of the sacred rules of infield baseball he was due to sacrifice. But no, he must wallop that horsehide for a three-bagger at the least and win the game. Oh, yes--win the game. After a few foul wallops he succeeded in going out on a fly to the infield. Had he sacrificed, as he should, the boys would in all probability squeezed one and tied the score. Then, if the Central Point boys had chased one across in the tenth, the game would have been lost without leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Johnnie Wilkinson gave another exhibition of boneheaded baseball when he had a safe two-bagger and tried to take third. No ball playing--just a pure case of foolishness.Antle also got caught through carelessness. And the worst of it all is that all of these players know better. The two instances were not all of the dense plays made by Medford, but they will suffice.
    "Central Point has a pitcher in Goodpasture. He played good ball throughout, holding Medford to five hits."
    As a matter of fact, everybody played ball from start to finish. The statement that "Central Point won the game through the selfish spirit of the Medford players who were out for personal glory" is all balderdash. The Central Point team won the game because they outplayed Medford in every inning. The Tribune dope artist prefers to roast his own players for losing rather than give their antagonists credit for playing the game and winning.
    Come down here Sunday, neighbor, and watch us skin Grants Pass. You should be able to give us credit for what we do in that case.
Central Point Herald, June 17, 1909, page 1


BASEBALL BRAWL LAST SUNDAY

Cubs Wallop Medford but the Pointers Lost to Grants Pass.

    That baseball game last Sunday here,
Wound up with scrapping, or very near,
And the Cubs took Windy Medford town
To a skinning that was good and brown.
Those big, lubber Medford pikes
Used big cuss words, and their spikes,
But when it comes to ball and bat,
They couldn't play at "two-old-cat."

    Great big Clydesdales sort of team,
Must have sometimes had a dream
That they could play, but on the square,
Those fans can only fan the air.
Stubborn, just like Siskiyou mules,
Never read the baseball rules,
Stood like dummies at the bag
Spiked the Cubs and "chewed the rag."

    Little Cubs, game to the core,
Piled up many and many a score.
In truth the game was just a bunn,
Almost a shame to take the "mon,"
The way our boys ran in and slid
Was "taking candy from a kid."
Finally one big Medford "geek"
Thought he'd take a funny streak.

    He couldn't base run, couldn't bat;
Fielding, was no good at that,
Couldn't pitch and couldn't catch,
Found him nowhere on the scratch;
'Cept he could blow, that's Medford like,
And spear a fellow with his spike.
This he did with lubber's grace
And spike a baseman at the base.

    Big row started in right then,
Cubs they spruced up just like men,
And could have cleaned the platter right
But marshal wouldn't let them fight.
Boys went up the railroad track
To try the scrapping game a whack,
But this here justice man of ours
He threatened them with all the powers.

    Took the constable along
To make the law arm good and strong,
Pulled the boys for talking fight,
But let them all go home at night,
Score it stood fourteen to two,
Medford bunch were in the stew,
No use for them there baseball dubs
To cross their bats with these here Cubs.

    What about the big home team
Our pride, of which we ever dream?
They went for glory at Grants Pass,
But didn't bring it back, alas.
Boys have got the hoodoo still,
Looks as though they always will
Strike the diamond out of joint;
Mighty hard on Central Point.

Central Point Herald, May 12, 1910, page 1

June 12, 1910 Sunday Oregonian
June 12, 1910 Sunday Oregonian
NEW BALL PARK NEAR NATATORIUM
    Arrangements are in progress for the moving of the Medford ball park to a more central location on grounds on the east side of Bear Creek, just opposite the Natatorium.
    A footbridge will be constructed so that easy access may be had to the grounds.
    The grounds will be fitted up in first-class shape. The lease runs for two years, and can perhaps be extended.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 3, 1910, page 2   I don't think this move actually took place.


FENCE AROUND BALL PARK HIT
Petition Before the City Council Requests That Body
To Take Steps To Have Dilapidated Fence Torn Down as Is "Menace."
    That the residents in the vicinity of the baseball park, at Second and Woodstock streets, consider the fence around that enclosure "unsightly and detrimental to property values" was the substance of a communication read by City Recorder Robert W. Telfer to the city council last night.
    The petition requests that the council take steps towards having the "eyesore" removed, and the matter was referred, upon motion, to the streets and roads committee for action.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 22, 1911, page 4


NEW BASEBALL SUITS ARRIVE
Medford Team Will Sport the Apple and the Pear on Uniforms for Coming Year--
Are Gray in Color--Suits Are Natty.
    The new uniforms of the Medford baseball team have arrived and sport the apple and the pear. The uniforms are gray in color, and upon the right breast is a large red apple, while upon the left is a huge yellow pear. The suits are grey in color and are "some nifty."
    The suits are on exhibition in a local sporting goods store and are attracting much attention.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 15, 1911, page 1


HERE'S THEIR RECORDS, WHAT?
Medford Invincibles Pass Their Pedigrees Along to the Sporting Editor
Who Hands Them Along to the Public for What They're Worth.
    To the Editor: The "hot wires," a scrub aggregation with large ambitions, little baseball experience and a superabundant amount of egotism, have had the nerve to challenge the Medford Invincibles, a baseball club which has played all the big teams in the United States, and are credited with seventy-three victories and no defeats, and in order to show their utter contempt for this corner lot conglomerate, they propose to administer to the said "hot wires" a voltage that will blow out their fuses and render them hors du combat, or words to that effect, with an ease and smoothness that will sure be a revelation to the assembled thousands who witness the carnage and slaughter of the innocents.
    The "Invincibles" have with great difficulty succeeded in engaging the services of the following baseball artists:
    Pitcher--R. R. Ebel: Mr. Ebel has served three years in the United States Navy playing on Bob Evans' fighting baseball team, and when not otherwise engaged is said to have made a pastime of catching cannonballs.
    Catcher--F. A. Buffum: Mr. Buffum has been engaged at an enormous salary to act as catcher of the above undefeated amalgamation of world-famous baseball jugglers, and is said to have served four years with the New York Giants, having an average of 1000 in this position.
    First Base--Colby: Mr. Colby first burst into the limelight on the corner lots of Medford, where he acquired local fame as a heavyweight scrapper, in which capacity he is credited with an average of 999. Mr. Colby will be found right on the job all through the game.
    Second Base--Mr. Aldenhagen formerly played with great gusto on the team of Amos Rusie in Muncie, Indiana, and was later picked up by the Tolo team as he was walking the ties into that burg. He sure made a hit with the fast semi-pros of that village.
    Right Field--Mr. Ling (a distant relative of Li Hung Chang) got his start juggling beets in a sugar beet factory in Billings, Mont. Mr. Ling possesses some of the possibilities of a ball player if properly developed. He is a young man with classical hair and a Bowery walk.
    Short Shop--Mr. Martin: short stop. A likable-looking little fellow and a grandstand player of known ability. His graceful style of play generally elicits loud applause from the ladies in the grandstand.
    Third Base--Jones: Mr. Jones is a quiet, consistent player, who says he has not played ball for 27 years, but feels plenty of confidence. Keep your eye on Jones--he's there. Jones goes after everything whether he gets it or not, which is generally the case.
    Left Field--Alenderfer. Mr. Alenderfer hauled down a large salary with the San Francisco Seals as a heady player, and stops a great many balls in this manner. He is always in the game and has an average fielding record of 997, covering six years of play.
    Center Field--Mr. Adams: Mr. Adams acquired notoriety by his brilliant work while a member of the Cowboy Nine of Hotstuff, Texas. He is a plunger, and once he gets a-going never stops until he fans out. We expect he will "do things" to the Scrubs.
    Mr. A. Roy--Mr. Roy is substitute player and general manager. What Mr. Roy has forgotten about baseball would fill the congressional library. He is a quick thinker on the firing line, and his coaching vocabulary is a revelation. He is also a favorite with the ladies.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 27, 1911, page 2   There seems to be little truth in this boastful letter. I can find no record of any of the players above having played for the team claimed.


"Live Wire's" Answer

    To the Sporting Editor: Where are the "Medford Invincibles"? Are they invisible?
    A few days ago there appeared in your columns an article describing with much noise and little music the lineup of the "Medford Invincibles."
    The "Live Wires" ask where have they gone and how did they go? Have they returned to the more menial occupations of their varied pasts, or did they flee in alarm when they saw the personnel of that which they termed "a corner lot aggregation"?
    Something over a week ago the Live Wires issued and mailed a challenge to the man who walked from Muncie, Ind. by way of Tolo. We got no answer.
    From your valued columns we learn that they intend to "do" us. We would like to know when, for we are ready. We play baseball; we do not talk. We handle the bat and not the pencil. We call ourselves the "Live Wires," and we are true to our name.
    We are always to be found under the sign of our calling--"Danger, 20,000 Volts," at 115 South Riverside Avenue [location of the Rogue River Electric Co.].
Medford Mail Tribune, March 31, 1911, page 4    The sign quoted probably refers to the electric substation on South Riverside.


FIVE BALL GAMES DAILY IN MEDFORD
    Baseball games in Medford, now that the season is under way, are becoming more numerous as the hours go by. In the spacious lobby of the Hotel Nash two games are played every afternoon and three every evening, the latter by electric light. The line-ups vary, but there are some who have taken part in nearly every one of the games. Among them are Shorty Miles, Pug Isaacs, Judge Kelly, Owney Patton and Ty Cobb Doyle. The games are so fast and furious that George Carstens is kept busy keeping score and can hardly put down the figures fast enough. Several times the operators at the central telephone exchange have had to call down the hotel because the racket was so great that subscribers whose wires pass over the hotel could not makes themselves heard in 'phone conversations. At the present writing Ty Cobb and Shorty Miles are ahead, and it looks like they were going to win the pennant.
Medford Sun, April 28, 1911, page 5


FAST BASEBALL GAME IN HOTEL LOBBY
    With the practice games that are being played almost daily and the Sunday games at Medford, Grants Pass, Jacksonville and elsewhere, together with the evening baseball that is pulled off without fail by electric light every night in the Nash Hotel lobby, Medford is having one of the liveliest seasons of any city in the world. The game last night at the Nash was a corker. Nobody ever saw such swift baseball in any city. It was fast and furious from the start, and it looked for a time like it would require fifteen innings for either side to score and win the game, for up to the latter half of the thirteenth both sides had goose eggs. It was a battle of pitchers, the contest being between Ty Cobb Doyle on one side and Shorty Miles on the other. Things got going so fast that George Carstens was not able to keep the score, and he missed two or three goose eggs at least on account of the swiftness of the plays. Had not Walter McCallum arrived and acted as substitute for Shorty the chances are that the game never would have ended. It is impossible to give the line-up as it actually was, the players being so numerous and so shifty about their positions. Among the following were noticed, however: Ty Cobb Doyle, Shorty Miles, Owney Patton, Pug Isaacs, Johnny Wilkinson, C. I. Farrar, an importation from the forestry department from Skagit County, Washington, Walter McCallum, substitute for Shorty Miles, W. F. Biddle, Bob Brevard, Vance Colvig, Rogue River Canal Wilson, the man who didn't like the girl from Rector's, Kid Rader, Frazer, the diamond sport, Joe Wilson, Court Hall's mascot, and Jack McGlynn, scout for the San Francisco team who failed to attend. A return game will be played tomorrow evening at the same diamond, rain or shine.
Medford Sun, May 6, 1911, page 6



MUTTONHEAD IS OUR LATEST CLUB
Mighty Heaver Is Imported from Portland, and Oh,
Such an Empty Void in Local Trousers--
Hence the Creation of the New Organization.
    The Muttonhead Club is the latest organization to grace Medford social circles and enjoy a run of popularity, and for charter members it has taken in the members and followers of the Medford baseball team--the Invincibles. The vote was unanimous following the baseball game in Grants Pass Sunday and came as an aftermath when many bright, gleaming, chinkling pieces of Medford's coin of the realm found resting places in Grants Pass jeans. O such a headache! Some 500 simoleons were parted with.
    It happened thusly: The time had come for revenge with a capital R. So a mighty heaver was imported from Portland. He of the wonderful arm was to slip over a victory that would live long in the annals of the great American pastime. The team and fans were confident. So they backed that confidence with their coin.
    The score: Grants Pass 8, Medford 6.
    Hence the Muttonhead Club. 'Tis said that this is the verse which will adorn the club rooms of the new organization:
Oh! Somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing and never count the cost.
But there is no joy in Medford--too much money has been lost.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 15, 1911, page 2


FOUR ROGUE VALLEY TOWNS FORM BASEBALL LEAGUE
MEDFORD, ASHLAND, CENTRAL POINT AND GRANTS PASS
Patten and McGlinn Will Manage the Medford Team--
Games Will Begin in Two Weeks
    Medford, Grants Pass, Ashland and Central Point will be in the new baseball league that will commence a series of contests in a couple of weeks. Owney Patten and Jack McGlinn will manage the Medford team and will do their best to win the pennant. Roper of Grants Pass has insisted that his champs be given two weeks to recruit, and the other clubs have consented to this. M. J. Harrison, manager of the Postal Telegraph at Ashland, will manage the Ashland team, and W. H. Hopkins will guide the Central Point wallopers through the season.
    A new ball park and grandstand will not be constructed this year, but Medford will use the "old faithful" at the foot of Oakdale. Central Point and Ashland have both begun work on their new diamonds and will put in the two weeks preparing to give the other cities a lemon. The new clubs will bring fresh interest and life into the game as played in the Rogue River Valley, and the entire country will be in the game, instead of two cities. Harrison of Ashland has a lot of material from which to pick a winning nine and, although he knows what he is going up against with Medford and Grants Pass to buck, will back his players. Hopkins of Central Point expects to scrape together a team that will surprise Medford fans and get a good standing in the pennant race.
    No very definite plans have been made yet, but it is certain that baseball in the latter part of July will be a swift game in the Old Rogue.
Medford Sun, July 6, 1911, page 5

BASEBALL OUTLOOK IS POOR
Medford Promoter Declares Team Is Losing Proposition.
    MEDFORD, Or., Aug. 21--(Special.)--"No more baseball for me," declares Court Hall, Medford baseball promoter, who nearly went "broke" financing the Medford "Invincibles" this season. "It you put on good baseball it costs so much that there is always a loss, and if you employ cheap players no one will come to the games."
    Jack McGlynn, who purchased the "Invincibles" from Hall, has gone to Salem to take a job in the commissary department, and. with the refusal of the former owner to have anything more to do with the sport, the outlook for baseball in Medford is poor.

Morning Oregonian, Portland, August 22, 1911, page 10


    The tour was now almost completed, so far as the United States was concerned. As a matter of fact, but two more games were played in the United States. One was at Medford, Oregon, November 17, when New York defeated Chicago, 3-0, in a driving rain. The game only lasted six innings, and as it was coming to a finish the outfielders carried umbrellas over their heads as they ran for the ball. Immediately the game was over the players were given a banquet by the Commercial Club.
"Another World's Tour of Base Ball Players Successfully Completed," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1913, page 46


    R. E. Ewing will undoubtedly act as the manager of the Medford baseball team for this coming season, and a meeting will be held tomorrow afternoon at the ball park for the purpose of perfecting the organization. Several of the old players will be out this year, among whom are Claude Miles, Curley Wilson and Walt Antle.

"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, April 10, 1915, page 6



    Medford papers last week stated that a picked team of Medford players were coming to this city Saturday and would show our local boys how to play the game, etc. Well, they came all right, and a husky bunch they were too, full-grown men most of them, while a number of our players are quite small boys. At the close of the game the visitors decided that the local boys did not have to "be shown" or words to that effect. The score was 9 to 7, in favor of Jacksonville. Come again, boys, we are always willing to be shown.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, April 24, 1915, page 3


    The ball park is certainly coming along in fine shape. Piles of sand are being put around the grounds, preparatory to being spread over the entire surface. Two teams are at work on the park leveling it.

"Local and Personal," Medford Sun, May 2, 1915, page 6



    Because boys returning from a ball game played with a neighboring team do some cheering when entering their home town is no reason to charge them with being drunk, and persons who, blinded by prejudice against ball games and other innocent amusements on Sunday, who make such charges without a shadow of foundation therefor instead of injuring others will soon loose what little influence for good they may have possessed. Slander, like chickens and curses, often comes home to roost.

"Local News," Jacksonville Post, July 3, 1915, page 3


WILL TEAR DOWN LOCAL BALL PARK AND SELL LAND
    Medford’s baseball park at Second and North Holly streets will soon be but a memory, as Court Hall announced today that Young & Hall, who own the property, would at once begin to tear down the park grandstand and fence and remove the lumber to their orchard, there to be reconstructed into a packing house.
    The passing of this amusement park where many hard-fought local baseball games have been played during Medford's history, as well as football games, and where most of the circuses have exhibited for years will be generally regretted. It was not only the largest enclosed plot of ground in the city but one of the largest pieces of unused ground.
    The owners are still hesitating whether to cut the tract up into building lots or to sell it intact, but one thing is sure and that is that just as soon as they find a contractor the fence and grandstand will be razed and removed to the Young-Hall orchard.
    The location is an advantageous and central one, and efforts will probably be made to sell the land to the board of education for use as the site of a new high school building, which it is generally known must be erected within the next few years.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 6, 1919, page 4  The site is now the location of McLoughlin Junior High School.


SCHOOL BOARD BUYS MEDFORD BASEBALL PARK
    Announcement has just been made that the Medford school board, through its special committee, John C. Mann and Joseph O. Grey, has contracted for the purchase of the former Medford baseball park from Court Hall and Mrs. Chas. Young at a price of $3700, on which a payment has been made, the balance to be paid for in two years' time.
    In making this purchase for use as a public school athletic field and eventually to be the site of a new high school building when conditions become imperative for such a building the board killed two birds with one stone. The grounds, three or four acres in extent, are located on Second Street off North Holly St., and constituted the last available space of land close in which was suitable for an athletic park.
    It is planned to use the funds contributed last spring to build bleachers at the Jackson School athletic ground, together with other contributions, which will be sought from the public, to fence in the grounds just purchased and erect a grandstand or bleachers before next fall, in time for the opening of the high school football season.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 22, 1921, page 8


FORM BASEBALL TEAM IN CITY
    Interest taken in the baseball meeting last evening at the American Legion club rooms indicated a well-defined demand for a team here this summer. Both players and fans expressed themselves as willing to cooperate in an effort to put out a team which could schedule games with teams in this vicinity with a prospect of some high-class baseball.
    The matter of securing the backing of several Medford organizations was gone into and if this cooperation is received, Medford will have a team this year to be proud of. There is considerable fine talent here, among them being some newcomers who are rated as among the best in semi-professional ball, and with these additions to several well-known local players who have formed the nucleus at the teams heretofore, Medford should have a snappy organization.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 16, 1922, page 3


SUPPORT LACKING, BASEBALL TEAM IDEA ABANDONED
    After investigating the feasibility of financing a city baseball team for Medford this season, the matter has been dropped by the American Legion committee and representatives of other organizations working with them. While there was found considerable baseball talk and enthusiasm, the matter of equipping the team and providing a guarantee for a visiting nine took money, and very few were willing to help to an extent which would make it possible to put the sport on its feet.
    There will be considerable "sandlot" baseball played here this year, as most of the churches will have teams as they did last season, the California-Oregon Power Company has two teams, the Medford Printing Company will have a team and one or two more teams will probably compete for "twilight league" honors.
    Considerable disappointment was felt among the men who had hoped to see Medford compete this year with Weed, Hornbrook, Yreka, Grants Pass and other teams in this vicinity which have good city teams, but it was felt that if there was not sufficient backing to start a team, there would not be sufficient interest taken in the games to warrant any few individuals shouldering the expense of equipping the players.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 5, 1922, page 3


TO MAKE ANOTHER EFFORT TO HAVE LOCAL BALL TEAM
    The boys of Medford who desire a winning ball club gathered last night at the Yankee Do-Nut Shop and unanimously voted to continue their efforts to win the support of the local ball fans.
    A vote of thanks was tendered to the American Legion for their efforts in the recent campaign and to the committee on finance. The boys all feel that the matter hasn't been put up to the majority of the local ball fans and have decided to start a campaign through the business district this afternoon for the purpose of raising enough money to provide them with uniforms. "Let your conscience be your guide" is their slogan and no small change will be refused. If Medford fans had been present at the local ball park last Sunday afternoon and had seen the snappy workout of the players there would be no question of whether or not the city had the material for a winning team.
    Come to the front, you local fans, and let's put this matter "over the top" for the boys and incidentally put Medford back on the map. Another workout will be held Sunday afternoon at the local ball park for the benefit of those who doubt the ability of the local players.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 6, 1922, page 8


KOP KO KILOWATTS TO CROSS BATS WITH RUFNEX SATURDAY
    The home office baseball team of the California-Oregon Power Company, known as the "Kop Ko Kilowatts" will cross bats with the "Rogue River Rufnex" of the Rogue River division Saturday afternoon. April 15, on the high school field at 3 p.m.
    The rivalry between the teams originated by a challenge from the home office team to the Rogue River team, which was answered in kind by a hot acceptance edited by the manager of the Rufnex.
    Some of the San Francisco officials of the power company will be present at the game and a complete staff of rooters from each side. As the two teams have already tangled and divided honors, in two practice games, it is anticipated that a hot game will be witnessed. A. P. Hagan and S. M. Scott will umpire the game.
    In the evening of the same day, a meeting of the Copco Forum will be held in the Copco building, which will be attended by members of both the division and the home office staff.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 13, 1922, page 3


BALL PLAYERS MAD, GROUNDS RENTED TO BARNES SHOW
    Much grumbling was heard about the city last night and today because the school board had rented the school's athletic park to the Al G. Barnes circus to park on today, especially among the baseball lovers, who fear that the diamond and field will be greatly damaged by the circus showing there. It is understood that the school board did not originally rent the park to the circus advance representative, but the plot of ground beyond the athletic park, which is also owned by the board, for $60, and that later a resident nearby who did not want the circus so near his house plowed up the lot.
    This automatically barred the circus from showing on this plot and the school board, on the promise of the circus representative not to plow up the diamond, or damage the park in any way, agreed to let the attraction appear there today. At that, the ball park is too small to accommodate such a large amusement aggregation comfortably and some of the circus belongings had to be stored outside.
    There was no other lot in the city available for the circus as the usual show grounds at the foot of South Grape and South Holly streets is planted in grain, and a large amount of old lumber is piled on the Palm lot, which might be used for that purpose.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 3, 1922, page 3


    Work was completed last week by John Beeson on the Medford baseball club diamond in preparing it for the opening of the Southern Oregon League one week from today. The diamond has been treated with a clay surface, and all rocks have been removed, putting it into the best condition since it was first made last year.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, April 24, 1927, page 2


COURT HALL WILL PAY BEND $400 TO PLAY MERCHANTS
    All that the Bend baseball team, claimants to the state bush league championship, wants for playing a game in this city with the Merchants is $750. As this is only $250 more than the guarantee paid the New York Giants and White Sox for playing an exhibition game here in 1916, manager J. Court Hall was astounded when he read the telegram making the modest request.
    "I have a feeling," said Mr. Hall vigorously this morning, "that the Bend team is afraid of us, and making this outlandish demand as a means of evading the issue. They must think I am made of diamonds and gold.
    "I will give Bend $400 for a game here, which is as much money as the team has drawn into a game this season, or we will go over there, and play them for the same sum. It is really too much."
    The bitterest contender of the Bend team is the Salem team, which was defeated by the Merchants 10 days ago, 9 to 1. The Bend team is composed of veteran ball players.
    Manager Hall said that he would wait a couple of days and reopen negotiations, and hopes that Bend will be back to earth when finances are mentioned.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 13, 1928, page 6


NO MORE BASEBALL TILL PICKING ENDS
    A moratorium has been called for local baseball games until after the peak of the fruit season has been passed. Many of the players are busy with the pears and some Sunday work will be required, so manager J. Court Hall decided to suspend all further games until early in September. The attendance at the games has fallen off, owing to many fans being busy, or on their vacations.
    It is hoped that by the time baseball is resumed the Bend team, claimants of the state bush league championship, will be in a mood to accept a reasonable financial guarantee.
    The final games of the season will be with fast upstate teams, if they can be secured.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 15, 1928, page 5


BASEBALL SEASON FOR MEDFORD TO BE DECIDED SOON
    Bend and Eugene have wired Court Hall asking the Medford baseball team to join with them in forming a league consisting of cities of Eugene, Bend, Klamath Falls and Medford. Such a league, it is believed, would ensure the fans good semi-professional ball, and also increase the attendance. Expenses would be greater on account of the long jump of two hundred miles between both Eugene and Bend, or about six hours each way by auto. As to distance Medford is geographically better situated than any of the other towns.
    Medford was never better fortified than this year to put a first-class ball team in the field, according to Mr. Hall. With Cliff Best to do the pitching and plenty of good material for an outfield Medford would only need a good shortstop and second baseman to have a ball team second to none. Of course such a team could not exist without some aid, something on the same order as given last season. Medford got considerable advertising from the team last season in even the large San Francisco papers.
    The Medford team was a ball club that all other teams wanted to beat, even the House of David.
    Court Hall says on account of business he will not be able to manage the ball team this season, but is willing to help all he can for a couple of months to get the team organized and started.
    In order to enter the league something will have to be done in the next week or ten days. Mr. Hall suggests that Cliff Best be made field captain, and a manager be selected to work with him, and also a business manager be selected to handle the correspondence, money and details.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 8, 1929, page 6


LOCAL BASEBALL TEAM READY FOR SUNDAY OPENING
    Court Hall, directing supervisor of the Merchants baseball team, has completed arrangements for the game next Sunday at the fairgrounds with the Ashland team of the Southern Oregon League. It will be the official opening for the Medford team. The game last Sunday was postponed on account of wet grounds and rain.
    The Elks band, under the direction of Wilson Waite, will furnish the sweet notes for the occasion, and the objective--outside of winning the game--is to outdo Klamath Falls in attendance.
    Cliff Best will do the pitching and looks better than he did two years ago, and the team as a whole looks faster than that season. Ivan Harrington, catcher, and Jack Caldwell, pitcher, have been annexed from the high school for development.
    The team has been practicing all week, with Chester at third, the Dunn brother at short and second and Valencia on first.
    The game will start at 2:30 o'clock.
    Medford fans can reach the fairgrounds by traveling Stewart Avenue from the end of Holly and Oakdale to the S.O.S. plant. Fans from the south end of the valley follow the same route after leaving Kings Highway on the Pacific Highway detour.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 1, 1930, page 6


HALL PROPOSES FLOOD LIGHTS LOCAL DIAMOND
Will Put Scheme Before Fair Directors--Would Increase Receipts--Pelicans Play Medford Sun.
    J. Court Hall, business manager of the Medford Merchants of the Southern Oregon Baseball League, will proposition the directors of the Jackson County fair, asking them to install electric lights for night ball games and other events. Hall has investigated the cost and finds the installation, he says, can be made for $3500. He holds the price to be reasonable and would pay for itself in a short time by increased public interest and attendance. The fair directors will consider the plan.
    Next Sunday Medford plays Klamath Falls at the fairgrounds in the biggest game of the year, and an attendance of 1000 is expected. Many local fans have expressed their intention of forgoing their regular Sunday trip to attend the game.
    Court Hall says the present team is the best from every angle that he has ever managed, and urges that the "boys" be given a good crowd Sunday. "In spite of the small crowds, the team has never lost its cheerfulness, and there has been no friction," said Hall today. "I hope there will be a good turnout. It gives the team encouragement. The fans need not worry about seeing a good game. They will get their money's worth."
    Cliff Best will pitch for Medford, and Hilton or Beck for Klamath Falls. Best, an employee of the Shell Oil Company, has received many offers this summer to play on other coast teams, but has turned a deaf ear to all offers.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 11, 1930, page B6


Story Resented.
To the Editor:
    In reply to the statement in the Medford Daily News of Sunday, April 19, 1931, that Jacksonville would protest the use of any outside ball players in the game Sunday between Jacksonville and Medford, we, the undersigned manager and secretary of the Jacksonville baseball club, wish to state here that it was false and that furthermore we told Mr. Conlin and others that Medford could use any players they wanted to, regardless of how, when and where they got them, as we would win our ball games on the ball field and not around a conference table.
    We think that an apology is due the Jacksonville ball club and the people of Jacksonville who are backing us 100 percent by whoever is responsible for such a story as to say that Jacksonville is afraid of a bunch of wood-chopping ball players.
L. D. OSBORN, Manager.
L. S. PUHL, Secy.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, April 20, 1931, page 4



Last revised February 5, 2024