The Sporting TimesApril 23, 1916Manhattan, New York Richmond, Virginia—Baseball, America’s favorite pastime, has become an unexpected battlefield for rising nationalist fervor in the River City. With the Richmond Rifles’ recent homestand against the Philadelphia Brewers from April 21–23, tensions brewed over the Philly club’s ownership by the German-born Boeslager brothers. As anti-German sentiment surges across…
By Harlan Pritchard, Brooklyn Eagle Staff BROOKLYN, April 18 — There’s a peculiar tune echoing through Bromwich Park these days, and it has nothing to do with the umpire’s calls or the crack of a bat. During the opener of the home series against the Philadelphia Brewers, an impromptu amateur band stationed in the right-field…
The Sporting TimesApril 11, 1916Manhattan, New York Richmond, VA – History was made yesterday as WLBL, the first-ever sports broadcasting station, successfully aired a live play-by-play account of the Richmond Rifles’ 7-1 victory over the Brooklyn Whales. This monumental event was made possible by the vision of Michael Monroe, owner of the Rifles and a…
Philadelphia, April 1916—It became a tradition for the Philadelphia Brewers Front Office to meet and discuss the immediate start of the season at the German Corner Pub. The infamous backroom where the Boeselager brothers and their general manager would spend hours drinking beer and playing cards was the starting point for every season. Only in…
By Harlan Pritchard, Brooklyn Eagle Staff BROOKLYN, April 6 — The grand pastime resumes this afternoon as the champion Whales, the pride of Brooklyn and the Legacy Baseball League’s top club, take the field at Bromwich Park to open their campaign for a second straight Legacy Cup. Under the expert guidance of their legendary skipper,…
Michael Monroe, owner of the Richmond Rifles, called his luxurious train car the “Big Sorrel.” Preston found that distasteful, even if he never liked Stonewall Jackson or his ugly god damned horse. He only saw Jackson once, riding around like a fool in the middle of some swamp while his soldiers trudged barefoot across Massaponax…
Karl and Walther Boeselager walked through North Philadelphia along Jefferson Street. It was noisy as the three-story buildings surrounding the road trapped the sounds of horse-drawn carts on cobblestone and the chatter of hundreds of people who had just finished their shifts or came from school. The Boeselagers arrived at Jefferson Street Grounds and bought…