Baseball's Johnny Appleseed

COLUMBUS, OHIO. Cartwright must have come this way in mid-March 1849, but left no mention of the place. Today, May 31, 1968, the Ohio high school baseball tournament (Class A) enters its semifinals at the Ohio State University field north of the university poultry sheds. Bumper-stickered partisans froth and ferment in the grandstand as Old Fort vies with Seaman, and Anna versuses Hannibal River Local. Maybe it is true that Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is up there in the Blue Sky League making up names for baseball teams.

Taciturn young Ron Rau, a lanky blond righthander—soon to be typecast as The Rookie in some major league camp—beats Seaman with a six-hitter. After one day's rest he beats Anna in the finals 6-0, allowing one hit, striking out seven and walking none.

More remarkable is the Class AA feat of a reedy southpaw from Shaw High in East Cleveland, Buddy Schultz. In the semifinal Schultz beats Columbus' Marion-Franklin 6-0, striking out 13 without a walk. Twenty minutes later Schultz is cranking up again. This time he beats Rogers of Toledo 1-0 on a two-hitter and strikes out 14.

The big dramatic moment occurs in the top of the final inning of the championship game. With nobody out, a one-run lead and two strikes on the Toledo leadoff man, Schultz clutches his pitching arm in great pain. His coach rushes out to massage the arm. Schultz resumes pitching and throws six straight balls. Then, with the tying run on second and the lead run on first, he throws six straight strikes. A grounder off his last pitch ends the game with a double play.

LONDON, OHIO. The town is 20 miles beyond Columbus, a distance it must have taken Cartwright at least a day to walk. He probably stopped at the colonial Red Brick Tavern, built in 1836, which is still operating. The scene recalls baseball's early years. In the waning light of early afternoon Babe Ruth Leaguers are working out on one of the country's most picturesquely located diamonds—directly in the middle of a county fairgrounds racetrack. The 1850 atmosphere spills right down out of the cavernous grandstands onto the field. The outfielder is standing in both an outfield and an infield, and he plays with his back to an ornate white judge's stand.

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. At Wittenberg College pretty girls, flourishing fraternities and an uncommonly idyllic elm-shaded campus update Cartwright's game—to the 1920s. Some major league teams put the names of players on their uniforms; the fraternities at Wittenberg College have pioneered nicknames. When Pi Kappa Alpha plays Phi Mu Alpha, the Pikes' shirts' neatly sewn lettering carries such names as Boobie, New York or Hunch.

INDIANAPOLIS. Indiana's capital had a team in the National League for four seasons—1878, 1887, 1888, and 1889. As winner of the First Federal League pennant and as an original member of the minor league American Association, Indianapolis had a respectable record. The present Indians, Class AAA, are respectable, too, although they do have something of an antic tradition. For one thing, they have an infuriating Indian mascot who dances around a wigwam in center field whenever the Indians score. One game this season, Tulsa players took out after the mascot. They caught him about halfway to center field, tied him to the flagpole and did not untie him until the half-inning was over.

In 1967 when Tacoma came to town for a four-game series, fire swept the visitors' hotel on the last night. Players had to evacuate down ropes made of knotted blankets. "Helluva thing," a Tacoma pitcher, Tom Mandile, said. "We lose four straight, and then they burn down our hotel."

And finally, Indianapolis' ball park is named Bush Stadium.

BRAZIL, IND. On June 1 sectional and regional tournament ball is still top-of-page sports news. Unfortunately, the Brazil sectional semifinal between the Brazil Red Devils and the Rosedale Hot Shots is doused by the spring monsoons. "I hope you didn't come all this way just to watch a baseball game," a garageman says. "I've played on that field myself, man and boy, and I can tell you it'll be fit to catch catfish in."