Grim Reaper played baseball

For The Madera Tribune

This 1915 photo was taken in the same baseball park where a Madera baseball player was killed at 2nd base in 1901.

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Nobody could ever accuse Maderans at the turn of the 20th century of being “all work and no play.” Even though they did tend to business and took pride in their economic accomplishments, the town folks found plenty of time to engage in fun and games.

Madera’s semi-pro baseball team, nicknamed the Coyotes (long before Madera High School adopted that animal as its mascot), was almost as old as the town itself, and by 1900, hardly anyone missed a game. That’s what made the events of April so tragic.

The Madera Mercury had said it well that day. “The baseball fever has struck the town and hard.” Madera was wild about the national past time, and J.G. Roberts, the Coyote manager was totally absorbed in his attempt to build a baseball team that would put Fresno in its place. If only the home team could just one time defeat their archrivals to the south, he would be satisfied.