It's Spring and Time for Baseball at Morgan

Spring, 1909 and The Morgan School baseball season is about to begin.  The school newspaper at that time was entitled "The Morgan Record" with Spencer Merwin, 1909, as its chairman and W. Joraleon Wilcox, 1909, as its Business Manager.

The editorial from the March 1909 edition read in part:  Spring, gentle Spring, is upon us. Nature is waking from its long sleep and balmy breezes call us out into the open air. With the advent of spring, we begin our baseball practice.  Now as baseball is the most important of our sports here at Morgan, let us enter our season with a determination that we will try as we never have before, to win glory, not for ourselves, but for the school we represent.  This applies not only to the fellows who are almost sure to make the team but also to the others who do not feel quite so certain. It would be surprising to some of the skeptical ones, to find out how many people, who did not have very much faith in themselves, have tried and, in the end, made good.  Then let every fellow get out and hustle, and if you don’t make the position for which you have been trying, don’t be sulky and stay away from the games, but rejoice that there is someone better than you to fill your place. And to show your loyalty to the school and the team, come down to the field and try to outdo your opponents in cheering if not by actually playing on the diamond. 

Some of the teams on the schedule that year were Essex, Westerly, Bulkely, Norwich Free Academy, Hopkins, Windham, Deep River, Portland and the Yale class team.

Further on in the same edition of "The Morgan Record" in the Athletics section it was written: "Principal Eliot, the head coach, spoke a few words to the boys, encouraging them to work with all the strength that is in them.  He told them that he could see no reason why Morgan should not come to the front at the finish if everybody did his work. Said he: “The quality is in you, boys, all that is necessary is to bring it out”. 

The article continues: “To sum up the qualities of a good baseball player we find that the requirements are these: a steady nerve, a cool head, quick thought and a tractable disposition. It is not possible for us all to make the team, but it is possible for us to support it. Everyone should show that school spirit which is so dear to every Morganite. This applies not only to the boys but to the girls as well, for waht is more encouraging to that squad of athletes, running down to the field, than the songs of the gentler but no less enthusiastic sex. Let us resolve, therefore, that Morgan shall produce a pennant winning nine, that she shall stick to it to the end, and that it shall be we who have won those games for her; not only the players who actually participate in them, but also those who were fairly beaten out by more competitive men, and who showed their school spirit by cheering them on to victory."

As of May 1909 the team had won all of its home games. 

Here’s hoping that this year’s baseball teams have a similar determination to win but will also display the sportsmanship, the determination and the school spirit that is so rooted in the rich history and traditions of Morgan.