The National MonitorJune 5, 1916 Washington D.C. – This morning, President Wilson signed the National Defense Act into law, a move hailed by some as prudent preparation and decried by others as a dangerous step towards unabated militarism. The Act, which significantly expands the Army and National Guard, has ignited a national debate about the…
“I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree, And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more, But dipped its top and set me down again. That would be good both going and coming back. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.” –Robert Frost,…
The Sporting TimesManhattan, NYMay 8, 1916 Manhattan–As America’s ballparks fill with the sounds of cheering rooters and cracking bats, there’s no mistaking the whispers of change beyond the diamond. While fans debate whether Bobby Batkin and the New York Bakers have the moxie to surpass the leviathans of Brooklyn or the Banshees of Boston, newspapers…
The Sporting TimesMay 1, 1916 Manhattan, NY Manhattan–Twelve years ago, few believed the Legacy Baseball League would ever need a second Commissioner. Alexander Madigan, the league’s larger-than-life founder, loomed immortal—until a rainy August night in 1904 proved otherwise. The loss of baseball’s godfather left a power vacuum, soon filled by an unexpected candidate: Jacob Parker,…
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…
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…
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…
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1914-06-29/ed-1/seq-1 THE NEW YORK TRIBUNEMONDAY, JUNE 29, 1914 Vienna, June 28. The following details the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife re now available. At 10 a.m. the archduke, with the duchess, left the military camp in an automobile for the Town Hall. The car halted for some minutes while a number of…
Richmond Rifles 1912 Season Preview On the heels of a first-place finish followed by a disappointing sweep by Brooklyn, the Rifles head into 1912 with basically the same roster as last September. There’s no real getting around the fact that Richmond hasn’t improved in 1912, showing signs of decline in some of their aging veteran…
THE SPORTING TIMESAUGUST 14th, 1911 RICHMOND CLINCHES 1911 EL PLAYOFF BERTH For the fifth consecutive season, and to the chagrin of most of the league, Manager John “Pop” Barrows will lead his team to compete for their 5th Eastern League Cup. In a season of massively increased offensive production across the league, the bat-heavy Rifles…