Victory at McCoy Stadium

The Grays chose the right day to play their finest ball of the season, winning a 9-2 match over the Providence Game Hens in front of hundreds of enthusiatic cranks at Pawtucket's McCoy Stadium. The highlight was a fine fielding play by infielders Mike Duggan and Brian Travers. Jeff Temple made something resembling a home-run with a long hit to right field, although the official scorer may have another description for it. Captain Dryer almost made a home-run of his own with a long foul ball. Arnie Lucas was the winning pitcher, throwing a speedy ball estimated by stopwatch to be upwards of 65 miles per hour. McClellan, Giammarco, Grist, Faria, Hoffman, E. Olson, Bogosian, Stattler and both the Bratts all made contributions in a true team effort. Hoffman, in conjunction with the artisans at the D.W.R.I. Letterpress Company, created handsome and tasteful scorecards which were distributed to the spectators. Many rival ballists were in attendance from rival clubs such as Essex, Coventry, Bristol, Mudville, and New Hampshire.

The game was curtailed after four innings, and thus was not an official game. This was done to accomodate a special exhibition of gloved base ball which President Norton arranged as an unusual spectacle for the regular patrons. The two teams were the Knight Base Ball Club of Charlotte, and the Pawtucket Red Stockings, who style themselves the "Pawsox." These teams count only four balls for a base on balls, are not permitted to select their own strike zones, and most importantly wear enormous leather baskets upon their hands with with to catch flies. These baskets did allow for some pretty infield plays, but seemed to hinder the out-fielders; the Pawtucket right fielder dropped one easy fly any of the Grays or Game Hens could have caught. He was said to be a superior player, much courted by the big clubs, and may not have been accustomed to the device. Despite the difficulty of use, these gloves may serve to reduce injuries, and some wide-awake sporting goods manufacturer such as Spalding or Martin may find a market for selling them to ladies' boarding schools who have started ball clubs, so as to protect their delicate hands. As for the Red Stockings and Knights, they appeared to be a lively and athletic bunch, and would readily find a place on any 1884 base ball club should they some day decide to set their baskets aside.