'Waukesha Diamonds' Was First Baseball Team Here

First Ball Park in Waukesha Was ‘Horrifying’ Carroll Football ‘Waukesha Diamonds’Was North of Where Labor Temple Is Scrimmage Cost College $5,000 Just north of the Lab6r temple which is at 324 N. West av., was the site of the firs) baseball park In 18)98 Carroll college was in a rut—a financial in Waukesha. The park opened in the 1880s and rut.con Financial grants were given the college only oc First Baseball Team Heretinued until 1905 when lack of interest on the part of casionally. Less often did the college receive grants of the fans caused the park to close down. a couple thousand dollars. Baseball got its start in Teams f't»m all over the county came to WaukeshaMiss Anna M. Sackett, Waukesha, was just that gen theWaukesha area in 1868 to take on the Waukesha team, Arthur Gaspar, Waukeerous soul—generous, that is, until she saw a Carroll sha businessman, recalled recently. Although notfootball the game. or 18Q9. (In 1867, according best team in the area, the Waukesha ball club always to a sports encyclopedia, had a pretty fair season, Gaspar says. Miss Sackett was a strong believer in the best pos Wisconsin had only 25 sible education for the young. She lived in Waukesha Billy Meagher was the pitcher while still in manyhis years, watched the work of Carroll college and teams.) teens, as were the rest of the players. Meagher leftbelieved it was good. The elderly lady decided to assist Teams in this area had the team while in his early 20s and worked for the'that work to the best of her ability, in her will she left Colorfulnames. For exam Soo line as an engineer. the college $5,000, ple: Waukesha Diamonds, Harry Cahill was on the other side of the platq Caldwell Prairie Clippers, catching many of Meagher’s fast balls. After quittingDecided to Investigate Mukwonago Red Foots, the club, Cahill worked in Milwaukee for the Hudson Motor co. Under these circumstances she naturally beearn* Dodges Corners Rustics, interested in whatever concerned the college. She read Big Bend Rangers, Water Another Cahill — Marty — was the team’s short stop. Marty helped out in his father’s blacksmith ashop lot about a sport called “football.” Not knowing just ford Eckfords, Rochester after playing with the team. what the sport was, she decided to investigate. North Stars, Vernon Cen Dr. John Wigginton, a local-uentist, was the firstEarly in the autumn of 1899, after the season start ter Hickorys, Elkhorn Cen baseman. Fred McCoy, who went east to seek his fored, she drove to the football field to see one of Carroll’s trals . tune in the early part of the century, was at secondfootball games. She was horrified. She decided immedi Probably the two teams base, and Charley Morse, who worked with his fatherately she had no sympathy for the authorities of th® with the most colorful at the Morse House, a local hotel, was often seencollege at who encouraged such brutality under the name third. sport. k names were from East Troy. One was the “Shoo Wally and Bud Hartshorn played the outfield. BothShe went home that day and sent for her lawyer. boys went into the real estate business. Foster PhelpsUnder her direction, he drew up a new will which con — Flys” and the other the tained no legacy for the college. She signed it and de “Resolutes.” was the other outfielder. He later owned and operated the Park hotel. stroyed the earlier one which had bequeathed$5,000. the Used ‘Live’ Ball It was a different kind of game in those days, al though the fundamentals were about the same. Carroll Football Game in 1906 For one thing, a “live” ball with much more rub ber was used. Result: the kind of scores run up in'DIAMONDS' — Here's an I 874 picture base; Frank Blair, second base; L, Helped Revolutionize the Sport an Aug. 17,1870, game be of the baseball team that represented Spence, pitcher; W. Blair, catcher. Left tween the Diamonds and Waukesha in an early league in this to right standing are Street, shortstop; There were probably many significant happeningsthough the football of 1905 was not particularly suited Clippers at Waukesha, The Holbrook, left field; G. Whicher, right- Waukesha Diamonds won, area. Players are (left to right front in Waukesha on the afternoon of Sept. 5, 1906. forThere passing. It was not the oblong oval of today. It was 61 to 28. row) Durfee, center field; Culver, third f ie Id; and W. Orvis, first base. was one in particular, however, that createda stir, built to be kicked. Cochems, however, experimented and Also, an Oct. 26, 1911, faded from the scene and then, several years later,learned that by gripping th® ball at Hi® laces and Waukesha Freeman story gained recognition as not onlya significant but alsoan twisting the wrist, th® ball could b® thrown forward* recalled that the players Players Named Members of the MukwonL. Powers, Robert and had “none of the contriv-Early members of the ago Red Foots in the earlyAaron Platner. historic event. It revolutionized football and producedCarroll was the first team to fall victim to th® ances for protecting playWaukesha Diamonds were days: T. W. Haight, Wil- Caldwell Prairie Clip what has become the most feared weapon in the modnew piece of strategy. With the score tied in the ers from injuries.” TheEdward Rankin, G. F. Bar Ham Stickles, E. S. Kel pers included Capt. Johnern game. second half, St. Louis quarterback Brad Robinson saw ber, F. M. Slawson, W. L. logg, H. M. Youmans, W. Porter, Warren H. Smith, writer said, “For some On that afternoon the great equalizer, the forwardCochems pacing th® sidelines. years, players accepted Rankin, A. J. Frame, A. C. H. Stockman, M. B. Clif William A. Gault, A. Van- Nickel!, Charles Gaspar, ton, Edward Blood, George Valin, Arthur Peacock, pass, was publicly shown to the football world. TheHe called the play on the next down and threw the broken fingers and oth premier showing was held in Waukesha where Carroll Milton Olin and Frank C. Stockman, Duane Free Frank Gault, E. Utter, A. one downfield, only to see it fall incomplete. Carroll er minor injuries as a mat college was playing St. Louis university. ter of course.” Blair. man, Clement Andrews, C. H. Craig, Julius Gault. took over, but minutes later Robinson found end Jack The play was the “baby” of Eddie Cochems, for mer Wisconsin star who coached St. Louis that year.Schneider He alone 20 yards downfield. He wobbled a shot introduced it after the football rules committee decidedto Schneider, who pulled it in for th® touchdown. St. in 1905 to allow the ball to be thrown forward. Louis went on to win, 22-0. WHS Entered Suburb Conference Th® Billikins kept on winning forth® rest of th® It was a result of mounting public opinion against the increasing roughness of the game. President Theoseason, running up ll straight wins without a loss. dore Roosevelt had even spoken out against football and spurred a group of college officials to suggest For some reason the pass did not immediately In ’25, but Had Teams Before Thenmethods of opening up the game. catch the fancy of th® coaches of that era, and foi* many years th® invention of the pass was credited Before the debut of the pass, football was power.to Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais, who worked th® play Waukesha High school had a football and basket“It is hard to say whether the teams years agoThe man-crushing flying wedge—later outlawed fromfor Notre Dame against Army1913. in were better than they are today. Not many people ball team before the turn of the century but not until the game—and similar formations were the stock in But both admitted Cochems was the man to whom 1925 did the school take part in any conference play.could agree on something like this,” said Saubert. trade of football coaches. the credit belonged and th® Football Hall of Fame of Cochems believed th® pass had possibilities,al ficially lists him as th® inventor of the forward pass. Lee Saubert, athletic director, and Edward Seifert, “Years ago there was more of a desire to play than then superintendent of schools in Cudahy, were thethere two is today.* If a team scores BO or 70 points in a main cogs in building the conference. basketball game today they think they are good. Years Six teams entered the suburban conference in agoits the scores were in the vicinity of 25-24, If you first year. West Allis Central, Cudahy, Shorewood,were able to make two or three free throwsa ingame South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Waukesha were youin were pretty lucky.” the conference in 1925 with West Allis Hale, Whitefish Saubert said that nowadays the kids are taughtto Bay and Greendale entering at later intervals. shoot—just run down the floor and shoot, whereas “I was coaching everything here 1920from up until years ago it was a matter of ballhandling. 1938 when I dropped football. I kept on coaching basket ball until four or five years ago,”said Saubert. “The game today is more interesting because It is a faster game. The kids today have a better chance “We had a good team back in the ’20’s,” he conof scoring than thetype of ball that was played tinued. “In ll years we won seven football championyears ago. Now, if a team isn’ttall it most likely ships and went to the state championships five isn’ttimes any good.

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