1915-05-01ww

“Local fandom is happy ”

Hamilton Spectator.    May 03, 1915

The news from Western Europe in May, 1915 was extremely grim.

 Every day the Hamilton daily newspapers carried many photographs of Hamilton and area men who had volunteered and who had received serious wounds, or who had died in recent battles.

The return of spring weather, and the opening of the local 1915 baseball offered fans of the game a chance to put all the horror aside, if only for a few hours.

On Saturday afternoon, May 1, 1915, Victoria Park was the destination of choice for an estimated 3,000 baseball fanatics who by auto, street car, bicycle or foot power headed towards the west end to catch a doubleheader at the baseball diamond.

As pointed out in the Spectator, “while it was not the professional brand one reads so much about, it was amateur ball of the best brand, and the people who visited Victoria park were well repaid for ignoring the unseasonable baseball weather and watching two well-fought contests, which offered some real good baseball and plenty of excitement.”¹

¹ “Woodlands and Century Club Won Opening Games.”

Hamilton Spectator. May 3, 1915.

It was the annual opening of the Senior City League, and league president Frank Harvey went to great lengths to make it a special occasion:

“For the first time in the history of a city baseball league in Hamilton, a parade was held, and automobiles containing the Mayor and other dignitaries, and also the players of each team, left Dixon’s sporting goods store, King street east, and headed by the Twentieth Century pipe band, paraded up King street to the park, arriving there shortly after 2 o’clock.”²

² “Three Thousand Saw City League Opening on Saturday Afternoon”

Hamilton Times.   May 3, 1915.

Upon arrival, the dignitaries gathered around the pitcher’s mound for the traditional opening ceremony.

After the league president made a few remarks welcoming the fans and outlining the plans for the Senior City League season, a honorary battery was put in place. Mayor Chester Walters was to be the pitcher, George Wild, Chairman of the Parks board consented to be catcher, while George Southam too place in the batter’s box, to “swing the willow” :

“One thing the opening showed was that Mayor Walters will never become a Christy Mathewson. To him was assigned the honor of pitching the first ball, but the first one was so high that a pair of field glasses had to be used in an effort for the batter, G. H. Southam, honorary president of the league, to see it.

“His worship’s second attempt to hurl one over the pan resulted in it being low enough to be seen, and rather than delay matters, it was decided to get a step-ladder for the batter. George Wild, in the meantime, was standing behind the plate fully prepared to grab the ball if it came within reach.

“The mayor finally got his wing working right, and put one in the right place, only to have his pitching reputation shattered by Mr. Southam who knocked the ball into the wilds of Victoria park for what would have been a sure home run clout if he had desired to run.”²

With the opening ceremony concluded, the fans either took their seats in the grandstand, or secured a standing place somewhere around the diamond, to watch the first game between the Erskine and the Woodlands.

It was a tidy, well-played game, taking just an hour and forty minutes to complete, with the Woodlands winning 4-3.

Between games, a draw was made to determine a winner of an expensive bicycle. The draw had been advertised as a way to increase attendance. Each ticket cost 5 cents.

The second game took longer than the first but was equally as well-played. The result being a 8-5 victory for the Twentieth Century Club over the Beavers.

The May 1, 1915 opening day double-header was a much-welcomed opportunity for Hamilton baseball fans to the worry of war events if only for a while.