Those boys played some baseball

Bert Ellison managed the 1925 San Francisco Seals to a Pacific Coast League championship. He also played now and then, batting .325, smashing 22 home runs and driving in 160. Ellison was all of 29 that year, sent back to the minors after playing parts of five seasons for the Detroit Tigers.

Not bad for a country boy from Ola, Arkansas.

Ellison’s 1925 Seals had a won-loss record of 128-71.

Yep. That many games. As Jim Brosnan would say, “It’s a long season.”

Back in those days, some Pacific Coast League players were paid more than major league players. And, they played in smaller, cleaner cities, too.

Poem to a pig

Not just any pig, mind you, but to Maggie, mascot of the Oakland Oaks.

The Oaks represented Oakland in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 until 1955.

Now to the pig.

“To mark the Oakland Oaks 1916 home opener, J. Cal Ewing, generally known as 'The Godfather of the Pacific Coast League' presented Oakland Manager Harold 'Rowdy' Elliott with a gift: The Oakland Tribune said:

“’Ewing gave to the Oaks a mascot in the shape of a real ‘rooter,’ a yearling pig, which was kept on the players’ bench throughout the game.’”

“The Oaks cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Portland Beavers in front 15,000 enthusiastic Oakland fans, and the superstitious among the ball club and their fans attributed the win to ‘Margaret,’ the new mascot.

“The Oaks played well in April, and were in first place until the end of the month, but by mid May they were 16-21, fifth place in the six-team league—and it was noticed that no one had seen ‘Margaret’ for some time.”

The newspaper composed a poem to the absent Maggie.

O Maggie, dear, and did ye hear
The news that’s goin’ round?
The Oaks are losing day by day
And soon they won’t be found.
They’ve ingestion badly.
And they’re looking for the hook
They can’t play ball at all, at all
Since you went to the cook.

Was Maggie really victim to a hungry ball team?

Well, see here: https://baseballhistorydaily.com/tag/rowdy-elliott/