Times-Republican · Marshalltown, Iowa · 1907

Women Play Base Ball

In August 1907 the married women of Baxter, Iowa took on the Basket Ball team at the Athletic park and lost a 19 to 18 heartbreaker. The batteries were Klemme and Braidie against Simanton and Cool, the crowd was very large and the gate went to the Junior band.

“WOMEN PLAY BASE BALL,” announced the Marshalltown Times-Republican in August 1907, over a dispatch from Baxter that deserves its own plaque. “A game of base ball was played at the Baxter Athletic park yesterday, between the married women of Baxter and the Baxter Basket Ball team, resulting in a defeat for the former by a score of 19 to 18.”

A one-run game at 19 to 18 is a game somebody should have filmed. The paper treats it exactly like any other contest, batteries and all: “Married womens, Klemme and Braidie; Basket Ball team, Simanton and Cool.” And the town treated it like the event of the season. “The game was attended by a very large crowd, who thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of the participants. The gate receipts will be given to the Junior band of Baxter, who furnished the music for the game.”

Live music, a packed park, a one-run finish and the proceeds to the band that played it. The dispatch closes with the rest of Baxter’s week, a chicken pie supper on the Dr. C. C. Graham lawn, which after a 19 to 18 loss is exactly what everybody needed.