My memories of my grandfather were all of a dignified older bald man. He was a surgeon, always nattily dressed. He was soft-spoken and reassuringly serious. His name was Erastus. Although as a young man, he was an athlete. He played semi-professional baseball to help pay his way through medical school. His nickname was "Rat".
I wish I could have known him then. He was a barnstorming ballplayer at the beginning of the previous century. Of course he was concerned about protecting his hands for his future profession. Fortunately, by this time baseball equipment had progressed beyond catching balls barehanded. Players used padded gloves and the catchers had special protective equipment.
Twenty years earlier a dental student named Albert J. Bushong is credited with inventing the padded catcher's mitt. His nickname was "Doc" since his fellow players knew he was going to be a dentist. He too was very concerned about protecting his hands for his future profession. He played for various teams in his career, but during the season of 1886 he was the catcher for the American Association champions, the Saint Louis Browns.
The Saint Louis Browns were having a great season. They made it to the "World Series" against the National League champions, the Chicago White Stockings. Both teams had met in the previous "World Series" of 1885 with the unsatisfactory outcome of a seven game series with three wins, three losses and a tie. There was no clear winner. They have since changed the rules.
Charles Comiskey was both the manager and first baseman of the Saint Louis Browns. The future Chicago White Sox (no longer the Stockings) ballpark was named Comiskey Park after Charles who eventually managed and owned the White Sox.
At the time of the 1886 season, the Missouri Pacific Railroad company was making its way across Kansas. All of Saint Louis, in fact all the people of Missouri were super excited for their "World Series" heros. As the Missouri Pacific road crew were laying their tracks, they had the option of naming the station depots/towns. They named one depot Bushong and another Comiskey. For about 42 years, the town of Comiskey existed but eventually became a ghost town. Only the cemetery survives, located about 6 miles east of Council Grove. Bushong fared better. Its population grew to nearly 200 people but a disastrous fire destroyed most of downtown. It is now nearly a ghost town with a little under 30 residents.
"Doc" Bushong left baseball and had a long career in dentistry in New Jersey. It is not known if he ever visited his namesake town. My Grandfather traded in his baseball cleats for golf shoes when he became a surgeon. He played with some of the golfing greats of his time period. Golf trophies lined his study shelves. He had a long distinguished career in Wichita.
The Missouri Pacific rail line has also disappeared, but the Flint Hills State Park has taken its place. It is a 118 mile long rails-to-trails park going from Osawatomie to Herrington, Kansas through the heart of the Flint Hills. It is a beautiful way to experience the Kansas Flint Hills by bicycle, horse or walking. There are many trailheads along the way including the trailhead parking lot at Bushong.
Take a walk with Birkenstock.
