I’ve written about how golf started in El Paso. Some readers ask if I can do the same for baseball. “After all,” one said,” baseball is the greatest sport ever invented.”
I won’t get into that argument, but here are three of many anecdotes I’ve collected for my upcoming book.
El Paso gets its first baseball park
By 1881 the population of El Paso had grown to 1500 and the first of five railroads arrived in El Paso. With them came gamblers, gunmen, dance hall girls and, no doubt, baseball players.
The railroads brought lumber to El Paso and supplied O.T. Bassett, who had started a lumber company, the material that El Paso needed to build houses – and a baseball park. The first baseball park was built in 1884 near the streetcar terminal on San Antonio Street. For 25 cents, patrons could sit on boards while they watched a game. There was no charge for standing.
The first local game mentioned in the El Paso newspapers pitted a local team against soldiers from Fort Bliss. The El Paso team wore red stockings and the soldiers blue ones. Therefore, the local team became referred to as the Reds. Whether they changed the color of their socks is not known, but the next year, the El Paso team was referred to as the Blues.
The 1894 and 1895 seasons set the stage for the growth of baseball in El Paso. The El Paso Herald declared in 1896 that “Baseball fever is all over town.” – Source: “Baseball: From Browns to Diablos” and local newspapers.
“Give A Dam” Jones
One of the most colorful figures in the history of sports in El Paso became manager of the baseball team in 1896. His real name was Charles J. Jones but in a petition to the city council he signed his name as “C.J. Jones, alias Give a Dam” and would forever be known as “Give A Dam” Jones (notice no “n” at the end of Dam). It was explained that he used the alias because he was known to say “I don’t give a damn” often.
The petition to the city concerned a $2 fee he had paid for a license for his dog. The city council later lowered the fee to $1 and “Give A Dam” Jones demanded a $1 refund. He got it.
In 1896 the team had changed its name to Browns because of a new uniform that included brown shirts. One day, Jones decided to change his uniform to blue so he could be distinguished from his players. He patrolled the streets with it and was arrested for impersonating an officer. He was acquitted. Jones was arrested another time when he refused to obey an anti-fireworks ordinance. At the jail, he had a fight with one of the city jailers. At his trial he claimed the ordinance was “utterly ridiculous.” The judge agreed and he was released.
Good teams, liquor, gambling and liars
“Give A Dam” Jones, who had come to El Paso by way of Kansas City and Austin, Texas, kept the role as manager through the 1890s and turned out some good teams. Needless to say, he terrorized umpires.
He was involved in city matters, too. In 1904 a group of citizens tried to clean up the town. “Give A Dam” Jones fought it, stating, “As long as there is money, there will be gambling and as long as liquor is distributed there will be drunkards.” El Paso continued to be a wide open town.
He ran for alderman one year and was defeated. He had kept track of the people who said they would support him. After the election, he snorted: “I don’t give a damn about being alderman but I’ve learned one thing. There are 200 liars in the Fourth Ward” He passed away in 1927.
Veteran sports journalist and author Ray Sanchez welcomes suggestions for his column.