The Pensacola Journal · Pensacola, Florida · 1909

Base Ball, Magnolia Bluff To-Day: Mobile vs Pensacola

August 1909: the ad promises Mobile vs Pensacola at Magnolia Bluff, game called 4 p.m., free dancing every night, and says see line up elsewhere. Elsewhere is page eight, where the Beavers' and locals' lineups run man by man.

The advertisement wastes nothing: “BASE BALL. MAGNOLIA BLUFF TO-DAY. MOBILE vs PENSACOLA. Game called 4 p. m. See line up elsewhere. Free dancing every night. Prize dance Friday.” Note the priorities. The dancing gets two lines. The rosters get a referral.

“See line up elsewhere” is the kind of instruction a modern reader cannot follow, but the Journal’s readers could, and so can we, because elsewhere is stitched right below. “The Beavers, a fast aggregation of ball tossers of Mobile, will arrive in the city this morning and will tackle the locals for a series of games at Magnolia Bluff, where the grounds are in excellent condition. Some fast ball is expected, as the visitors have the reputation of playing a strong game.”

Then the promised lineups, position by position: “Mobile—Ery, Sutton and Evans, pitchers; Sudoff, catcher; Barker, first base; Brown, second base; Ziegman, shortstop; Pocase, third base; Walsh, left field; Nealy, center field; Betancourt, right field; Lynch and Delhonee, subs.” Pensacola answers with A. Weber catching, Armstrong pitching, and on through “H. Weber and H. Hogeboom, subs,” the roster running two Webers deep. Game at 4, dancing after, prize dance Friday. Magnolia Bluff in August 1909 had the whole evening figured out.