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In the United States base
ball deserves its title of the national game, not only because it has more
devotees than any other amusement and not alone because this country
perfected the sport and brought it to its present form, but because it is
essentially a game of no one race or creed. In looking over the rosters of
the big teams, while the Irish, German, French and English names
predominate, still the patrynomica of the Indian, the Pole, the Italian, the
Swede, and the Cuban may be found there. This has been so almost since
the time that leagues were formed and base ball came into prominence, which
has increased with every playing season. In the early eighties,
Vincent Nava, a Cuban* was one of the first string catchers on the
Providence team. Another Cuban will train with a big league team this
spring. In the nineties Soxkalexis flashed like a comet across the
major league horizon... The original Americans are represented in the
major leagues today, Charles A Bender, a Carlisle School man, led the
American League pitchers last year... Zach David Wheat, whose mother was the
daughter of a Cherokee chieftain, was one of the finds of 1909... John T.
Meyers, a full-blooded Indian from Riverside, Cal., won many a contest in
1910 by his work with the war club...The Polish cheer for Harry Coveleskie,
the Italians for Edward Abbaticchio...In the stress of a contest...all
nationalities merge and race prejudice are forgotten, as every fan remembers
only that he is an American watching his favorite play the game of games.
*Nava was actually of Mexican heritage, born in California
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