Source: News-Journal, January 25, 1934

Old Ball Player in Town

Grover Goshorn and wife of Chillicothe, Ohio, were in North Manchester yesterday on account of the burial of his sister, Mrs. George Stiles, whose death had occurred at St. Paul, Minnesota. Grover will be well remembered as a base ball pitcher when base ball was in its interesting days in North Manchester, and when home players made up a home team that had home encouragement. Now he is connected with a big paper mill at Chillicothe, and was recently in Washington interested for his company in the code that was being made for paper workers. He still likes a base ball game, and it is only in the last year or two that he has quit playing occasionally.

Note: Grover Goshorn was the son of Dr. David O. Goshorn, North Manchester.

Source: News-Journal, June 4, 1936

WHEN BASE BALL WAS AN INFANT

Who among the old timers recall the day away back yander when the red uniformed Pierceton "Operas" defeated a picked team of base ball players from Wabash by a score of big figures to little ones? Jim Taylor and Charles Felter, two of the almost pioneer base ballists of this locality, were reminiscing yesterday, but could not fix the date more than that it was before the Hayes and Tilden campaign of 1876, probably about 1874. Felter recalled that he lived in Liberty Mills at that time, and walked here to see the game. He and Taylor both occupied positions of honor on a rail fence that surrounded the ball ground, which at that time was about where the present Church of the Brethren stands on North Walnut street. The rail fence surrounding the field was opened to let in the spectators, while the top rails furnished ideal bleachers for the fans.

Cal Quinn is credited with arranging the game, the Wabash players being led to believe they could take the game and the glory away from the Pierceton Operas, then considered the leading base ball team of Indiana. But expectations went wrong. Base ball rules were different then. The pitcher really pitched the ball much as in soft ball of today, while the batter could stand and wait until a ball came along he felt like striking at. Jim remembers that they used two catchers one behind the first to chase the balls that got away, also that catching a ball on the bounce put the batter out.

And then Jim and Charley's minds reverted to later days in local base ball, when they had left off setting on the rail fence, and had gotten into the game. This was a game between another Pierceton club and the North Manchester aggregation. The Pierceton team was six or eight runs ahead. North Manchester had about five sure batters, and the rest of the team was poor at bat. Joe Cowgill was score keeper, and he kept calling the good hitters to bat, leaving out the poor ones until the balance stood about eight the other way.