He is a wonder and you may see him
The Nashville Globe, 1917. View the original
In August 1917 the Nashville Globe ran an ad four words deep: the B. H. Swifts against the Nationals, Sunday at Greenwood Park, take the Greenwood car. The Swifts Notes next to the standings did the selling: their man Hall faces the Nationals Sunday and they will not like him, for he is a wonder.
The Nashville Globe of August 31, 1917 sold a ball game the way you sell anything worth seeing: name, place, directions. “BASEBALL. Sunday, Greenwood Park. B. H. Swifts vs Nationals. Take Greenwood Car.”
The sales pitch lived a few inches down the page, in the Sporting News column under “The Swifts Notes.” The Swifts had “played the champion Black Sox to a stand still Monday,” a game called on account of darkness that “will have to go back to the fifth inning where the score was tied.” And then the scouting report on a pitcher named Hall, which deserves to be read at the pace it was written: “Hall is some hillman and it does not yet appear what he shall be, but we know when he faces the Nationals Sunday they will not like him for he is a wonder. He is a wonder and you may see him if you will come out to Greenwood.”
He is a wonder, twice, in case you skimmed it the first time. The Globe sees no reason to say more, and neither do we.
| Team | B. H. Swifts |
|---|---|
| Place | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Year | 1917 |
| Newspaper | The Nashville Globe |
| Posted | |
| Tags |