A small collection of newspaper articles from the Lykens Standard, Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, announcing and describing Donkey Ball events in the greater Lykens Valley area. For all other blog posts on this topic, see: Donkey Ball.
From the Lykens Standard, 19 July 1935:
DONKEY BASEBALL TO OPEN AMERICAN LEGION – LIBERTY HOSE COMPANY JUBILEE ON JULY 31st, AUGUST 1st, 2nd & 3rd
DONKEY BASEBALL, THE FUNNIEST, SIDE SPLITTING GAME EVER PLAYED, WILL BE THE FEATURE TO OPEN THE LEGION AND HOSE COMPANY FESTIVAL, OF JULY 31, AUGUST 1, 2, AND 3. BURROS WILL BE BROUGHT FROM ISLAND PARK, HARRISBURG. THE GAME WILL BE PLAYED AT THE WEST BORO PARK. THE HIGH SCHOOL BANDS ARE ASKED TO ATTEND.
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From the Lykens Standard, 26 July 1935:
DONKEY BALL GAME DRAWS BIG CROWD TUESDAY
On Tuesday evening the Lykens Firemen took the American Legion for a ride in the F. A. A. Park in a game of Burro-Ball. The exhibition was a scream from start to finish.
Although the firemen were fortunate enough to circuit the bases more times than the Legion, it does not necessarily mean they are better mule skinners.
Ed Gratz, who captained the Hose Company team, selected as his battery; Roy Schaffstall and Beers, while Ray Good, who piloted the Legionaires started Wellington O’Gorek in the box with Ibberson behind the plate. Neither pitcher was able to secure a strikeout. The boys played fast and had the donkeys done as well, the game would have been the fastest combat yet seen on the local diamond.
Gentile, the stellar first baseman for the fire fighters was the only man to get a home run while his teammate Bod Schaffstall, was credited with a two-base hit. O’Gorek pounded out a three-bagger and then stoke home for the Legionaires’ initial run. Rust and Coyle also scored for the service men while Michaels and Kosier tallied other runs for the Hose Company.
The boys found it difficult, at times, to stick to the Burro’s. Jim Hoffman, Bill Williams and Philip Klinger sat on the ground more than on their mounts. It took much persuasion and perseverance to encourage some of the borros to move in the direction or at the time desired. By twisting their tails, pulling their ears, or kicking their ribs the little mountain climbers would sometimes move.
The American Legion and Liberty Hose Company No. 2 wish to thank the public for the splendid patronage given this event and invite you to the Jubilee Block Party and Carnival on Market Street, Lykens, next week July 31st and August 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
[Followed by Box Score, names only included here]
FIREMEN: R. Schaffstall; C. Beers; Gentile; A. Bateman; P. Klinger; B. Schaffstall; G. Michaels; R. Thomas; George Kosier.
LEGION: O’Gorek; Ibberson; A. Helt; Evans; William Hart; Jim Hoffman; C. Coyle; W. William; Jim Rust.
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From the Lykens Standard, Fearnot News, 10 July 1936:
On Sunday more than 300 cars passed through town in a few hours time enroute to the Donkey Ball game at Klingerstown.
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From the Lykens Standard, 6 August 1948:
WILLIAMSTOWN VFW SPONSOR DONKEY BASEBALL GAME
A donkey ball game, which is being sponsored by the V.F.W. and which will play one night only, Saturday, August 7th, at Williamstown High School athletic field, is billed as the sensation of the nation.
It promised to be an evening packed with plenty of laughs. All of the players except the pitcher and catcher are mounted on donkeys and must ride from base to base. The donkeys are Santa Fe bred burros which have been specially trained at the famous Green Valley Farms. Each donkey has a mind of its own and all of them have different traits and characteristics, so they have been named after famous personalities.
You can distinguish the donkey named Dick Tracy by his putting jaw; Mae West is the gal with a mind of her own; Superman is little but mighty; Gypsy Rose Lee is the gal who won’t keep anything on, not even good ballplayers; Frank Sinatra is the name given the biggest hee-hawer in the lot; Mr. Milquetoast is not as gentle as his name would indicate; Miss America is the one with the million dollar legs and tapering ears; Betty Grable is the one who is fat in the best places; Gravel Gertie and Baby Sparle have B. O. pkenty. All the donkeys are worth seeing and plenty of excitement is promised those who attend the game.
The game will be played as a hometown world series. The announcer, Mr. Earl Wennrich, will use a public address system to give a play by play description of the event so that it can be hears in all parts of the park.
Players on the V.F.W. team will be: Marlin Ramsey; William Lewis; David Williams; Jack Sweigert; John Talheim; Robert Talheim; Fraklin Graham; Clarence Shutt; Elwood Rowe; Jack McNeal; Art McNeal; Gurney McNeal; Happy Lewis.
Players on the Home Association Team will be: Harrison Baddorf; George Lutz; Mike Brennan; Ben Machamer; Mike Lutz; Nevin Clouser; William Radel; Clarence Weist; Andy Barkos; Alex Mates; Bill Finley; Hall Lupold. Umpire, Arthur Grubb.
High point of comedy for the evening promises to be the Lady Godiva Relay Race between two men on each team. This will be a feature of the evening’s entertainment, which is run between the fourth and fifth chuckers of the game. The object of the race will be to see which team can take a suitcase filled with women’t clothes, ride from home plate out to second base; unpack the suitcase and put on thge clothes and ride to home plate, take off the clothes and put them in the suitcase, hand this suitcase to their teammate who repeats the performance. The first man who gets back to home plate wins. The contestants for this race are Marlin Ramsey and William Lewis vs. Clarence Weist and Hall Lupold.
Advance tickets will be on sale at Adam’s Cut-Rate until late Saturday afternoon. The fun starts at 8:29 when the announcer says “play ball.”
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From the Lykens Standard, 25 Jul 1958:
PORTER-TOWER LIONS CLUB WILL SPONSOR DONKEY BALL GAME, JULY 28
It will be an evening of fun at the football field of the Porter–Tower Joint School System, Reinerton, on July 28th when the Porter–Tower Lions Club will sponsor something entirely different in the world of sport, a donkey ball game. This game, that is sweeping the nation, packs thrills and spills. It is fun to the ‘nth degree. It will amuse the adults as well as the kiddies. If you have ever ridden a donkey you know what the players expect. You will want to be among those present when the whistle blows at 8:30 p.m. July 28th.
The Lions will oppose the Rotarians in the Donkey Ball game for the purpose of raising funds for the youngsters participating in the Midget Baseball League in this area. As this promises to be an evening of fun — don’t miss it.
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Articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.