Richmond Texas
September 1 2007
Boerne White Sox Team
Back row: "Stormin'" Norman Hurt, Todd "Sparty" Watson, John "Doc" Anderson, Rey "The Rat" Treviño
Front Row: Mike "Fireball" Haas, Kristy "Horseshoe" Watson, Dennis "Indian" Fite, Jay "Beans" Avers, Dave "High Pants/Lemonade" Kovac.
The rains stopped and the sun streamed through the clouds as a select crew of nine from The Ag Museum's Boerne White Sox Vintage Base Ball Team having played together for only three weeks, traveled in their horseless carriages to play in the President's Cup Festival on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond Texas. Several other vintage base ball clubs from around Texas made their way to Richmond to participate in the matches including the following: The Montgomery College Saw Dogs, The Richmond Giants, The Farmers Branch Mustangs, and The newly formed Revolvers Team. Bringing history to life, the teams all wore historically accurate uniforms and played on a pasture field surrounded by old houses, barns, antique tractors, and a blacksmith shop. The threat of alligators lingering in the nearby pond under the mossy oaks were on the minds of the ballists. The bases were fashioned from burlap and saw dust and flags were positioned behind first and third bases to mark the out-of-bounds territory. A chicken wire back stop held the chalk scoring board and a cowbell hung on the wire for announcing the tallies (runs).
The games began at ten o'clock in the morning as the first two teams, the Richmond Giants and the Montgomery College Saw Dogs marched onto the field to the sounds of an 1860's style drummer and a bag pipe player. Umpire "Blind Tom" Wendell Dickason threw a coin for the first game to see which team would be up to bat first.
On the second field, "Blind Tom" Michael Hickey asked both of the team captains from the Boerne White Sox and the Farmers Branch Mustangs to grab a bat, fist over fist, to determine which team would be first at bat. "Beans" Avers from the Boerne White Sox was out of commission with a pulled muscle, but traveled over three hours to the game anyway to support the team and to fill in as the coach. Coach "Beans" smartly led the team in fair play and strategic field position direction while encouraging gentlemanly behavior of his ballists to avoid fines of 25 cents to $1.
The Farmers Branch Mustangs had a secret weapon due to the amazing catching ability of "Bubba" – a tall, lanky string bean of a kid of only 17 years. "Bubba" kept the Boerne White Sox big hitters from getting onto first base with leaping catches off the first bounce that would amaze the cranks with rounds of "Huzzah!" "Fireball" Haas made an offer to trade a Studebaker wagon load of corn for the youngin'. Barbara Judkins, the mother of "Bubba", who was also the Farmers Branch captain, discouraged "Fireball" from buying her son, since "Bubba" would be attending college in the next year and would overwhelm his wallet significantly.
"Stormin" Norman Hurt tended first base with lightning fast catches and aggressive (slightly boodler) reactions to make his outs. The Blind Tom resorted to the advice of the cranks after much chafe knowing that gentlemen and ladies answer honestly. The Boerne White Sox lost their first game to the Farmer's Branch Mustangs 6 to 1 tallies.
After the first game, the ballists and cranks (spectators) were treated to a hunkey dorey bar-b-que lunch of brisket, beans, and potato salad. Several of the ballists on the Boerne White Sox team participated in the afternoon contests. "Sparty" Watson hopped in a burlap sack for second place and nearly bounced his lunch back to the George Ranch. "Fireball" Haas took part in the shoe race for a first place victory. "Stormin" Norman Hurt and "Sparty" Watson struggled to win the egg toss contest but only took second place as egg yolk and white went all over "Sparty's" jersey and pants on the last long throw.
An afternoon scrimmage took place between a combination of the Boerne White Sox and the Farmer's Branch club ballists against the newly formed Revolvers. "High Pants" was granted a second nick name during the scrimmage when he was not found during his turn to bat. It turned out that "High Pants" Kovac was behind the bleachers drinking lemonade. Hence the new nickname, "Lemonade". "Lemonade" Kovac scouted left field catching many sky balls with ease. We would later find out his trick - it was the sticky fingers from the lemonade that made all the difference in his catching and batting ability.
"Strikers to the Line" was called for the second match at three thirty between the Richmond Giants and the Boerne White Sox. With muscles beginning to sore, twelve year old Hunter "The Target" Hurt was tossed a jersey in a feat of need. "The Target" helped the White Sox team by hitting a daisy cutter to give his dad, "Stormin" Norman Hurt, who was then on third, a chance to stir his stumps and tally an ace for Boerne. Rover "Fireball" Haas amazed the cranks and fellow ballists with an impossible cap-spinning, one-handed catch which made a dead ball for the Giants. Asked later how he managed that amazing catch, "Fireball" gave credit to old-fashioned luck. Hurler, "The Rat" Treviño bravely caught hard hitting stinger apples bare-handed with great skill and courage. "The Rat", showing his 30 years experience as a ballist also made the only cow bell in the first game for the White Sox. Dennis "Indian" Fite was an artist of a hurler with many dew drops for the White Sox. He kept the Giants struggling for a tally in a whitewash by fielding nicely bowled onions. "Indian" also showed great skill at bat and legged it to the bases.
"Doc" Anderson had to use his physician trained skills when a ballist for the Farmers Branch Mustangs, who also happened to be their bus driver, was hit in the chin by a flying willow thrown from his own player charging to first. "Doc" calmed his patient, sat him in a chair, iced down his injury, then wrapped gauze around the cut. Ten minutes later "Doc" was back in the next game as a midfielder straddling a drainage ditch. "Doc" caught the balls while leaping the gully with the graceful hand-eye coordination of a surgeon and the footwork of an athlete years younger than his actual age of 64.
"Sparty" Watson showed some ginger in catching a dead ball at third as he rolled to the ground in a somersault all-the-while holding up the ball. He would later have to prove to the "Blind Tom" that it was not a slide, but a stumbling role. Later, "Sparty" caught a stinger at third and threw the onion to his wife "Horseshoe" Watson who was tending second for a forced out. "Horseshoe" Watson came to the game with lame racehorse legs from pulled thigh muscles in last weeks scrimmage against the Kerrville Niners. Luckily, even with the muffin, The Boerne White Sox came back to take victory over the Richmond Giants home team scoring 6 to 4 cow bells.
The Ag Museum's Boerne White Sox vintage base ball team is sincerely grateful for the hospitality of the Montgomery College Saw Dogs and the Richmond Giants in hosting the president's Cup in Richmond and we look forward to future matches together. The next game for the Agricultural Heritage museum's Boerne White Sox vintage base ball team is in Farmers Branch on October 13th & 14th.