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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
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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
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