The story begins this way:
BARTON, Vt. — The wood is ash, from trees cut on nearby mountains. The name branded on the tight-grained, deeply oiled wood reads: “Champion Bats, Barton Vermont.”
But to locals — the ones who remember, anyway — it’s a “Bjorkman” bat, the handiwork of the late Henry B. Bjorkman, a successful Manhattan stockbroker, World War II intelligence officer, son of Swedish immigrants to Massachusetts, captain of Dartmouth’s baseball team in the 1920s, and one-time coach of Georgia Tech’s football team.
More from the story:
Starting in 1948, using that good local ash, he made bats — thousands of baseball bats — partly as hobby, partly as philanthropy. Many of the bats were distributed to needy children in reform schools, orphanages, “corrective” farms, and tough city streets of the mid-20th century, according to Bjorkman’s 1974 obituary in The New York Times.
Included with every bat — you’d almost say mandatory — was a 24-page tract written by Bjorkman titled “Inside Baseball.” It barely mentioned actual rules and regulations. It was about attitude and sportsmanship, with a peppery dash of playing strategy.
Bjorkman earned three letters in football at Dartmouth, captaining the team as a senior. He also captained the Big Green baseball team. He has a short bio on Wikipedia HERE.
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Headline out of Providence: Brown Athletics Receives University Approval to Move into Ivy Phase IV. From the story (LINK):
Brown spring teams (were) permitted to compete against local institutions beginning on Saturday, April 3.
Spectators are not permitted to attend home events at Brown University, and attendance at away events and competitions will be dictated by the host institution.
Penn, of course, has been back on the fields and track for a week.
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No news about when or if Dartmouth will be able to start limited spring action. The Dartmouth COVID-19 Dashboard shows 34 active cases among students and two among faculty and staff. (LINK)
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The Indianapolis Star has a story about a 23-year-old Alabama "super fan" who died (reportedly of complications from COVID) days after attending the NCAA Tournament in Indy. (LINK)
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The rise of the long-struggling Davidson football program continued yesterday with the Wildcats denying San Diego a piece of FCS history by ending the Toreros' lengthy conference winning streak.
From an AP story after Davidson's 31-25 road win (LINK):
San Diego (3-1, 2-1 Pioneer Football League) would have broken the Football Championship Subdivision record with a win against Davidson (4-1, 3-0).
The Toreros tied Duquesne's mark of 39 consecutive league victories two weeks ago with a 27-13 triumph over Butler. Duquesne set its mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference from 1999-2006. San Diego's last PFL loss was a 13-12 setback at Dayton on Oct. 10, 2015.
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Fellow Pioneer Football League member Valparaiso, which is scheduled to host Dartmouth on Sept. 18 in the Big Green's season opener, defeated Drake, 10-7, to improve to 3-1. The win avenges a 17-6 loss to Drake two weeks ago. Valpo has played four games so far this spring – but just two opponents (Drake and Butler).
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EXTRA POINT
