Page:America's National Game (1911).djvu/407

 , and if the Kanakas persist in their pursuit of the game, we may soon expect to see a team of Hawaiian players traveling through the United States, somewhat after the fashion of the Australian Cricketers in Great Britain. Indeed, why may we not look forward to a succession of visits from 'colonial' players, from Cuba and Porto Rico, from Hawaii and the Philippines? Someone has said that in the British military expeditions to the four corners of the earth, the Cricket bat goes with the cannon, and while the United States has no lands or tribes to conquer, it is only to be expected that Base Ball, along with Boston beans and beefsteaks, will invade our new possessions.

"That Base Ball is popular in Hawaii is evident from the amount of space devoted to the accounts of the game in Honolulu and elsewhere. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser of Honolulu contains, in its issue of July 24, an interesting account of a match game for the '99 Base Ball pennant. Three teams were contending for the mastery—the Stars, a name which recalls our famous teams of two decades ago, the Artillery team and the Kamehamehas, a, fine, resounding title, abbreviated for convenience's sake to Kams. The Artillery team dropped out of the contest early, discouraged by fairly lost games and no victories. On July 23 the Stars and the Kams met. If the Stars had won, the pennant of '99 and the acclaim of the populace would have been theirs, but the Kams played brilliantly, won the game and tied the series. All Honolulu was looking forward to the following Saturday, when the deciding game would be played.

"That the players in Hawaii have a good knowledge of the game is clear from the Advertiser's account. 'The Stars were first up,' says the Base Ball reporter, 'and before three men were out two had crossed the rubber. But the Kams more than evened things up when they came in. An error was made. Jackson lost control of the ball for a moment, the collegians slugged it, and the small boy at the scoreboard hung out the figure 4. The Stars came back with 2 in the fourth, the Kams were put out and the score was again even. In the fifth the Stars flew out in one, two, three order, and the Kams made 2. In the seventh both pulled in two runs, leaving the Kams two ahead. In the final inning the Stars tried for one of their old-time finishes. With but one man out and two on bases their chances seemed bright. A double play by Mahuka, however, did the trick and the game was over.' A very creditable game, creditably reported, with just enough of the familiar Base Ball slang to give verisimilitude and to show that the Hawaiians have 'caught on.'

"The make-up of the Hawaiian teams is suggestive of the Hawaiian-American alliance. Among the players on both sides we find distinctively native names, Mahuka, Makanani, Kaanoi, Kekuewa; and names of the Anglo-Saxon type, Crowell, Wise, Leslie, Moore,