The Kekiongas proved to be the lesser squad for the fifth consecutive contest, as the Red Stockings of Boston, Massachussetts prevailed on Wednesday afternoon, scoring 30 runs to only 9 for the Fort Wayne lads. Kekionga manager William Lennon of Calhoun St. spoke to this reporter after the game, expressing disappointment in his players lack of focus if not their effort. "Our boys played their hardest out there, but I think some of our interior fielders need to improve their focus while on the defensive side," said Lennon. Though he did not direct his critiques at an individual player, this reporter believes his verbal lashing was directed at shortstop Lil' Jimmy Hallinan whose 11 errors contributed to 19 unearned runs scored by the visiting squad.
Lennon stated his disapproval of the younger generation of players, whose inattention he believes is endemic and a sign of the times: "These young fellows really get in my graw on occasion," said Lennon. "In my day we did not have professional baseball matches or players. These men are being paid as well as tanners or smithies, and still we have defensive lapses every inning it seems. Focus? These boys don't know the meaning of the word. Do you think I lost focus at Second Bull Run? Hrrrmph!"
If focus was the order of the day out at Hamilton Field, then the competitor of the day was certainly Boston catcher Cal McVey. The young Iowan made only three errors behind the home base and led the Red Stockings' offensive attack with 9 hits (reaching base 13 times when considering four errors made on balls struck by McVey), along with 10 runs scored and 7 men driven home. Asked about his dandy of a match McVey's humble responses belied his farmboy roots. "Shucks," said Cal, "I was just seeing the ball real good today and trying to put it into play. It's easy to hit well when the other squad has nothing to stop the ball besides their bare hands."
First baseman Jim Foran repersented one the lone bright spots for the Kekionga, slugging a triple in six appearances at bat, and bringing home three men. However, Foran expressed disappointment in losing to the Stockings by 21 runs for the second time this season. "It's disappointing for certain. I really wanted to beat those gentlemen considering the rough treatment I received from their audience in Boston." Foran of course refers to the racial epithets shouted at him in Boston, where he was said to have heard names such as Black Dago, Cat-Eater, Dirty Mediterranean Immigrant Bastard and Grape-Smasher. The notoriously tough Boston fans had apparently learned prior to the contest that Foran had an Italian grandmother.
The focus (that word again) now turns to Lennon, whose apparent disgust with his squad raises the question of whether he is the right man to help develop a team full of young baseballers. Outer field player Harry Deane has expressed interest in the job and a team meeting is expected in the next week to determine the fate of their wizened leader.
The more important question for Fort Wayne's baseballers, though, may be the fate of the club itself. National Association baseball has undoubtedly gained a foothold in larger eastern metropoles such as New York, where the Mutuals have seen crowds as large as 6,000 spectators. The Kekiongas, on the other hand, have seen their attendance decline steadily from the start of the season. One spectator, a Mr. Wilford Hennings of the Hennings farm near Dunn Mill, put it thusly: "When a modest yeoman cannot bring his family on an evening pic-a-nic without these stick and ball men hurtling rawhide spheres at them, we live in dark times indeed. Sure I played some townball back in the 50s, but then I turned 9 and started helping with the harvest. I am perturbed by these paid townballies to say the least. We preserved the Union for this?"
A difficult question, but just one of several that must be answered by the Kekiongas in the coming weeks.
--Dee Trowe, Columnist, Fort Wayne Sentinel-Courier
Notes: Game time-2 hours, 20 minutes, called on account of darkness at 8:40 PM.
Attendance--135 or so.
Injuries--Jim Hallinan suffered two broken fingers in the first inning while fielding a sharply struck ball, which may have contributed to his later errors. Bobby Matthews complained of "dead arm" after the game, but says he will continue to pitch every inning of every game.
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