by Matthew Reed

Created on: May 21, 2008

If a more turbulent and dynamic period of time existed in the United States after the Civil War, then arguably the Great Depression is a contender for the title. The breadth and depth of social and political transformations across the country, mixed in the crucible of economic despair, is remarkable. While on the one hand, industrial and agricultural workers were beginning to organize with the consent of corporate management, racism was a legal doctrine in the form of "Separate but Equal". The 1930s would see an end to child labor, but immigrants just as often were overlooked. The "Dust Bowl" created migrations of people from the Midwest that changed the culture of the United States in an extraordinary manner. In response to the turbulent times, people spent what money they could on escapist entertainment. Sporting events, both watched and played, allowed a public to forget for a few hours the uncertainty.

In 1937 baseball was played everywhere in America. Just as it is today, baseball was organized to varying degrees of professionalism. Unlike the current era, in the Thirties almost every town had a hard-ball baseball team. Even in towns such as the rural logging community of Fort Bragg, California, men came together in teams to compete in Abner Doubleday's signature game. In the games that were played, the teams just as often played error-laden baseball typical of amateurs playing only once a week. However, the Fort Bragg's Seals players exhibited passion for baseball comparable to the legendary pros. The games of the Fort Bragg Seals could be as thrilling as major league games.

The game on June 9 illustrates how much the excitement of baseball does not require million dollar salaries or performance-enhancing nutritional supplements. The Seals were playing the Santa Rosa Merchants. Both teams had crisp defenses with neither side committing any errors. Both Dosal, Santa Rosa's starting pitcher, and Johnny Matson, Seals starting pitcher, keep the other team's offense contained for six innings. Matson dominates Santa Rosa's line-up with a particularly nasty curveball. Right field's Tilio Pavioni energizes the Seals offense with a perfect day batting, hitting three times, walking once, and stealing second base twice. In the home half of the sixth, third baseman Leo Galletti, previously a catcher with the Point Arena baseball team, clobbers a pitch over the fences for the game's only run.

In the bottom of the sixth Fort Bragg's defense shined, particularly catcher

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