Look Back: Baseball comes to Parkersburg
Trending
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a reproduction of historical newspaper excerpts, and contains language that is understood to be inappropriate and would not be used in print today.)
***
Homestead Grays and Detroit Colored Teams Open Baseball Season at South Side Today; Large Crowd Expected to See Famous Negro Teams in Action
One of the finest brands of baseball witnessed in this section for some time is expected this afternoon at the South Side park when the Homestead Grays tackle the Detroit team of the East-West Colored league in an exhibition game which is called for 2:45 o'clock.
The Grays have just finished a week of training at the local park, while the Michigan club has been training in Clarksburg for the coming season. As the Homestead aggregation has held its annual training session in Parkersburg for a number of years and gathered quite a following a large crowd is expected to attend today's battle.
The Detroit squad is composed of many players who starred on the St. Louis team, which won its league title last year in addition to the national Negro championship in 1930.
The Grays are well supplied with twillers and Britt, Broun or Matlock will probably go on mound duty in today's contest, with a possibility of W. Bell seeing some action before the game is over. Homestead also boasts the oldest pitcher in fast baseball in "Smoky Joe" Williams, but the veteran will probably not be called on until later in the season.
While manager Dismulas of the Detroit team has not definitely decided who will open the fracas for the Michigan lads, he is well supplied with mound material in Trent, Hunter and "Lefty" Williams, who was a member of the Grays last year and may be called on to shove them past his old teammates. "Vic" Harris, another former member of the Homestead club, will also see action for Detroit in the outfield.
Probable starting lineups are as follows -- Homestead Grays: Stevens, ss; Page, rf; Giles, 1b; Wilson, 3b; Allen, 2b; Taylor, lf; Evans, rf; Palm, c; Britt, p; Broun, p; Matlock, p; Williams, p. For Detroit: Harris, lf; Wells, ss; Suttles, 1b.; Troup, rf; Bell, cf; Russell, 2b; Creasey, 3b; Young, c; L. Williams, p; Trent, p; Hunter, p.
Two of Parkersburg's most outstanding baseball figures, "Buck" Starr and Dick Hoblitzell, will be on hand to take care of officiating with the former in back of the plate and the latter calling the bases.
General admission will be 50 cents with grandstand free.
The Parkersburg Sunday Morning News
April 10, 1932
***
Death Claims C.M. Hastings
Charles Morton Hastings, well-known Parkersburg man and a former major league baseball player, died Friday morning at his home, 401 Ann St., following an illness of four weeks. He was in his sixty-second year.
Mr. Hastings was born November 11, 1870, at Ironton, Ohio, and had made his residence in Parkersburg for the past forty years. During the early part of his life he played professional baseball, starting in the minor leagues and gradually advancing to the major leagues. He played with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National league during the early part of the 1900s, being a member of the Pirates pitching staff. Following the close of his active playing career, Mr. Hastings officiated as an umpire for several years in eastern minor leagues before retiring completely from baseball.
For the past six years Mr. Hastings was employed as a toll-collector on the Parkersburg-Belpre bridge. He was a member of B.P.O. Elks Lodge, No. 198, of Parkersburg.
He leaves two brothers, George A. Hastings of Wheeling, and John R. Hastings, of Parkersburg, the latter also a prominent baseball player in his younger days. Mrs. Marguerite Whettesley, of Seattle, Washington, is a niece. Another brother, Art Hastings, died several years ago in Oregon.
The Parkersburg News
Aug. 4, 1934
***
Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.