About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2008)
PACE 2B THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008 Outdoors With Skipper Lewis Whitlock an expert at squirrel hunting I t was some 30 years ago when Lewis Whitlock of Gillsville got interested in hunting squirrels with Mountain Cur dogs. Seems a fellow had come up hunting from Louisiana and brought a Cur dog with him. Lewis got a female pup from him and has been hooked since. Mountain Cur dogs will go after hogs, coons and even squirrels. They also make good guard dogs. Weighing in at around 35 to 45 lbs and mainly brindle in color, they can be excellent dogs for finding and treeing on squirrels. There are a lot of competitive hunts with the headquarters of the Mt. Cur Association being in Jamestown, Tenn. Lewis’ oldest dog at present is “Katie” and from her he now has “Gal” which he says is a better hunting dog that her mom. With a two-acre pen, and several skipper smith squirrel feed ers, Lewis is able to train his pups. I asked him about a funny story involv ing the dogs, he said they were in a competition, when one of the partici pant’s dogs started barking. The owner called out that his dog was on a squirrel. When they got to the spot they found the dog was on a bunch of wild hogs, not squirrels. Lewis’ two grandsons, Sterling Rider, age 13, and Kolton Williamson, age 11, love to go hunting with Grandpa. Using scoped 22s, Grandpa says they are very good shots. I am sure they are excited about this com ing Friday when squirrel season opens. The squirrels they take are given to some elderly friends who make squirrel and dumplings. Sometimes, Lewis’ wife, Marcilla, will make up some squirrel and dumplings. Lewis says he was raised on them as a kid growing up in the area. In October, he will be retir ing, so I imagine he will really give the squirrels a hard time. I’m looking forward to a trip in the woods with Lewis to watch his dogs find us some squirrels. If you have an outdoors story , do give me a call. Skipper Smith is an outdoors columnist for The Banks County News. His column appears weekly. Let him know about your hunting or fishing adventure at 706-677-1520. ONE OF THE BEST Gillsville's Lewis Whitlock, shown with Mountain Cur Association President Carl Smith, is an avid squirrel hunter. PRIZE DOGS Lewis Whitlock and Billy Whitfield are shown with two of their prize Mountain Cur hunting dogs. Banks Archery Club to host 3-D tournament Aug. 30 The Banks County Archery Club will host a 3D Archery Tournament Saturday, Aug. 23, at 180 Harden Bridge Road, Commerce. Shooters will draw down on 20 McKenzie targets. There will be two money classes (Open Money and BHR) and eight trophy classes (Open Trophy, Senior Class, Hunter Class, True Novice, Women’s Class, Youth Class, Traditional Class and Cubs). Registration is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Entry in the trophy classes is $10, but kids 12-under shoot for free; entry for the money classes is $20. Concessions and a practice range will be available, and club T-shirts will be given to the first 25 people to register. Diamond Talk Studying the Evolution of Baseball —Part II I n Part One, we looked at the growth (literally) of the players since 1908, and found that ballplayers have gotten taller and heavier. Some may rea son that taller (arm extension) and heavier (resistance to on oncom ing object) players will drive the ball farther. It is important now to look at the size of ballparks. Specifically, this article looks at the evolution of fence distances over 100 years. My methodology was to select all teams which have a history of at least 100 years and then to select four of those franchises to study the size of their ballparks through time. My goal here is to form an opin ion as to whether fences have got ten closer or farther from home plate. One could write a book on this topic and compile enough data to fill an 18-wheeler. For brevity, I selected the Dodgers, the Phillies, the Red Sox and, for the interest of home-town fans, the Braves. Only one of these teams, the Red Sox, still plays in the same stadium - Fenway Park. Of the other three, the Braves have played in four different parks since 1908, the Phillies in four, and the Dodgers in three. Know that, like other venues, the fences and walls at Fenway Park have been moved numerous times throughout the years. My data include the distance, in feet down the left foul line, then straight-away center, followed by the right field foul line. The data should be read from the left, to center, to right. The Dodgers began their major league life in Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Opened in 1913, Ebbets measured 419’ (L) - 450’ (C) - 301’ (R) respectively. Upon Ebbets closing on Sept. 24, 1957, the fence had shrunk to 348’-393’-297.’ The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 into The Coliseum. The fences were set at 250’-425’-301’. Upon the Dodgers move away from the Coliseum, its fences measured 252’-420’-300’. The fence measurements at their third and present park, Chavez Ravine, are 330’-395’-330’. Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is the major’s oldest venue. Opened in 1912, the original dimensions read 324’-488’-313.’ Fenway has seen its fences moved numerous times, certainly many more times than listed here. In the 1930s, the park shrunk considerably to 318’-388’-325’. Today the park has contracted to 310’-390’-302.’ The Braves began their fran chise history in Boston. Braves Field, opened in 1915, measured 402’-440’-402.’ Like Fenway, the park under went numerous changes in fence distance, much too numerous to mention here. When Braves Field closed in 1952, the measurements were 337’-370’-319.’ Upon their move to Milwaukee and into Milwaukee County Stadium, the fences were 320’-404’-320’. When the last game was played at MCS, the fences were nearly the same dis tances; 315’-402’-315’. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium measured 325’-402’-325’ on opening night, Aug. 12, 1966. By its closing in 1996, and like MCS, the fences expanded by five feet on the lines to 330’-402’-330’. The Braves current playing field, Turner Stadium, measures 335’-401’-330’ - nearly the same as FCS. The Phillies have also played in four ballparks in the last 100 years. The first, the Baker Bowl, opened in 1887 and was used by the Phils until 1908. Throughout the years, the Baker Bowl fence distances were constant: 341’-408’-279.’ The Phillies left the Baker Bowl for Shibe Park in 1909. In that opening year, the fences were at 360’-515’ 360.’ Upon its closing in 1970, Shibe had contract ed to 334’-410’-329.’ The Phil’s next venue was Veterans Stadium mea suring 330’-408’-330’ throughout its 32-year life. The present home of the Phillies is Citizen’s Bank Park which mea sures 329’-401’-330.’ If these four parks are representative of all major league parks and their respective history, one can conclude that the parks have indeed shrunk throughout the years. It appears that the first major contraction swept through the major leagues in the 1930s and 1940s. Another round of shrinkage appeared with the new bowl-shaped stadiums (like Fulton County Stadium) in the 1970s. Just how much have they shrunk from 100 years ago? The data presented here sug gest that the center field fence has been, on the average, taken in the most. Early ballparks had tremen dously long center field fences. Shibe Park measured an outstand ing 515 feet when constructed. It would be difficult to find a park now that boasts a straight away center of more then 412 feet. Even the shorter center field fences in these examples were in the neighborhood of 440-450 feet a century ago. Both left and right foul line fences have also contracted, but in a few cases, have actually expanded a few feet. The average left field foul lines in these four examples presently average 326 feet, while right field foul lines average 323 feet Next time, I’ll look at other fac ets of baseball that have signifi cantly changed, and factors that have had an effect of how players perform. Banks County resident John Rieken is an avid baseball fan. His column appears each month. E-mail comments about this col umn to jrieken@windstrearn.net. www.banksnewsTODAY.com Up to the minute news about Banks County NEED HOME REPAIRS? Subscribe today... 706-677-3491 BUILD: Decks, Garages, Barns & Shops REMODEL: Bathrooms, Kitchens & Homes FINISH BASEMENTS REPAIR: Water, Fire & Termite Damage 706-207-3080 Call T. N. Slate for a free estimate. FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH, YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS! Let your members know when your group is meeting! Call (706) 367-5233 to advertise your meeting time, place and date in... • The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News • The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal JEFFERSON IIP AMERICAN LEGION Albert Gordon Post 56 Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Harvie Lance, Commander Phone (706) 654-1274 310 White Plains Baptist Church Faith Bible Class meets every Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. It is a place where strangers become friends and friends become family. 706-367-5650 White Plains Baptist Church 3650 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson, GA 30549 The Jackson Co. Republican Party Would like you to meet us for breakfast the second Sat. of each month, 8:00 at The Jefferson House. For more information, call 706-652-2967 or email fishyglass@yahoo.com Pd.n/os BANKS COUNTY ®|I AMERICAN LEGION Post 215 Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m. In Homer, GA at the American Legion Building on Historic Highway 441 pd.06/09 fpfe VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr. Each 4th Monday, 7:00 p.m. Mike Buffington, Commander Phone 706-335-6532 263 JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB Meets 2nd & 4th Monday Jefferson City Clubhouse 6:30 p.m. *(706) 387-1156 Mack Cates, President 542 Jh UNITY LODGE F& A.M. No. 36, Jefferson, GA 1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m. Dwight Wier • 706-367-5882 Borders St. behind Tabo’s 260 JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB Meets Tuesdays Jefferson City Clubhouse 12:30 p.m. • (706) 367-7696 Gina Mitsdarffer, President 547 BANKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. meets first Monday each month 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441 North in Homer pd.-2/2008 Citizens Organized for Pipeline Safety investigating the health risks to citizens from underground pipelines and booster stations in Madison Co. Meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Colbert Grove Baptist Church the 2nd Thurs. of each month. 706-783-4702. Pd.04/09 Jacob loves our new & improved Women & Children Services (at least that's what we think this face means) For mother and child, Athens Regional offers so much. From Pediatric Services and Great Expectations classes to our technologically advanced Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and beautiful, new 32-room Mother-Baby Unit, we've anticipated your every need. We also have the area's newest Labor & Delivery department with a luxurious thirteen-bed Labor, Delivery and Recovery Unit managed by the most experienced nurses around. Call for a tour, we think you'll like it as much as Jacob. v Im6aM^- CAM- www.armc.org
