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Opinion: Random Musings April 2

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One thing for sure is sports and competition will always be a part of our lives whether we know it or not.

If nothing else, the coronavirus should leave little doubt as to how much time people spend on sports. One often hears people talk about their busy schedule when it comes to their sports lives and how they juggle everything. It is usually so ingrained in our normal schedules not much thought is given. Probably never thought of it as a budget of time element or financial with a pen put to the actual numbers. With the hiatus we are going through it can become clearer how big the hole is in our day and how much new planning has to go into our day to fill that void. Lots of good things can come out of this time. The time and financial gain can surely be used for things that one has sacrificed to make room for sports.

One thing for sure is sports and competition will always be a part of our lives whether we know it or not. There might be diversions along the way but somewhere along the line competitions will win out in some form or fashion. They always have. Someone wanting to prove their skills are better than someone else's and people wanting to see the competition. Just the myriad of events around the world proves that and the new ones that are being invented regularly. We have had quite a few bitter sports strikes over the years and people swearing they would never step foot inside the arena again. Lo and behold, they come back. Even the UIL, formed in 1915, continued to grow following WWI and the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918.

The history of Dripping Springs, a small rural community, mirrors most of the communities that sprang up in Texas when it comes to life and sports. Because of the travel problem of the day, communities would pop up every couple of miles. Some have survived to this day while others are left to memory. With our orders to practice social distancing today, we could envision being back in the early days of Dripping Springs when settlers practiced this out of necessity due to the distance between families and travel methods. People always looked forward to excuses for get-togethers, even though on a different level, like we do today.

Dripping Springs got its start in late 1853 and early 1854 when the three families made their trek to the area and settled on acreage that would become Dripping Springs. They were the John Wallace, John Moss and Joseph Pound families. It would not be until 1857 when there was enough population in the area to establish a post office and therefore have an official name. An application was filled out by Mrs. Indiana (Nannie) Moss, naming the post office Dripping Springs and the first postmaster would be John Moss.

It would not be until August 1881 when the construction of Dripping Springs Academy, also prompted the surveying of the plat for the official town of Dripping Springs by local realtor, W.T. Chapman. Spurred by the new school, growth took place almost immediately and in some ways probably rivaled the growth we are having at this time.

The most popular town sport was baseball, first introduced in USA in 1839. Most communities would field a team or two and it seemed that any type of community event would include a game. It was so important that in most cases, when the game was scheduled to begin, all other activities would cease. Community teams was a main staple of baseball until the 1970's when other sports such as slow-pitch softball took over the popularity. The late Syd Hall, a lifelong resident of Driftwood, often related his Sunday afternoons would include walking to Dripping Springs so he could play in a baseball game. I have fond memories of jumping in the family car or ranch truck with Dad and family to go watch him play on Sundays. Later on I got to enjoy playing in those games as well until the phase died out.

One of the better known teams from Dripping Springs was the one sponsored by realtor, A.L. Davis, who was also the pitcher. For sure, it stayed in place from 1884-96 but most likely a few years longer. An 1889 game lineup included: 1B; Charlie Malott; SS: Cooke; P: Davis; C: F. Graham; CF: Garrett; 3B: W. Graham; 2B: Marshall; LF: Roberts; RF: Stone.

In 1896, most of the lineup had changed. The members included Rufus Smith, Ed Lindeman, Will Richie, Cal Brown, Jim Eckols, Albert Sprouse, A.L. Davis, Jim Richie, Sam Trautwein, Chester Harrison and Arthur Bagley. In 1926 another team showed the trend for families to make up large portions of a team. 2B: J. Shelton; 1B: Robert Shelton; 3B: Shahan; LF: Ratliff; SS: E. Shelton; C: Searight; RF: Ralph Shelton; Roy Shelton; CF: Crenshaw; P: R. Smith.

School sports in Dripping Springs really did not start being a factor until 1911 when DS was re-established as a high school. For the next few weeks will try to convey the history of the sports and the athletes that were prominent in the success of the sports. In the meantime, one can get more complete information about DS sports by checking into the DSISD website and clicking on sports and then click on the school athletic records and peruse to your heart's content. If you were a varsity athlete then you will most likely find yourself there as well.

Dripping Springs Century-News

P.O. Box 732
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

Phone: (512) 858-4163
Fax: (512) 847-9054