Before the Curse: The Chicago Cubs' Glory Years, 1870-1945

7 HOT TIME AT THE HOT SPRINGS

7. Hot Time at the Hot Springs In Ma r c h of 1899 the Chicago Orphans headed west to Hudson Springs, New Mexico (which in 1897 boasted a permanent population of 35 people) for pre-season training that included bronco riding and mountain climbing. They stayed at the renowned Casa de Consuelo (House of Comfort), which Chicago businessman Andrew R. Graham, at the prodding of his friend Albert G. Spalding, had turned into the most sophisticated resort in the territory. At that time, Americans thought highly of the healing powers of hot springs, and Graham had smartly made the springs at the House of Comfort a focal point.1 There the Cubs chiseled their bodies in a West that was not quite as wild as it had been just a couple of decades earlier, but one that still produced rugged individuals of the type Frederick Jackson Turner wrote about. And though the frontier may have technically closed by 1890, this article represents how the values associated with it lived on. This was not the first year that a team sought out a warm climate for “spring training.” Some argue that the practice started as early as 1870 when the Chicago White Stockings trained in New Orleans, others credit it with starting in the late 1880s, but regardless the 1899 Orphans did carry out some rather interesting training tactics and they attracted perhaps the wildest group of spectator-revelers.2 The following Chicago Daily Tribune article shows that the Chicago club’s training camp that year become an event all its own as it attracted ranchers, herders, townsfolk, and well-known figures such as former Princeton football star Garrett Cochran. Despite the ballyhoo, the 1899 squad, as with all of the Cubs teams during the 1890s, failed to capture the pennant. Those pennantless squads, which played at the beginning of the decade in West Side Park I, then moved to “South Side Park II” (1891–93)before moving again to “West Side Park II” (1893–1 915),did not boast the same seasoned talent as the organization’s earlier clubs.3 But hope lived on and the training continued. Start Play This Week: Orphans Finish Their Training at Hudson Hot Springs Chicago Daily Tribune, April 3, 18 99 Go to Kansas City to Open a Series of Games with Jimmy Manning’s Blues— Although Little Real Baseball Work Is Done at the New Mexico Resort the Men Are in First-Class Condition— Taylor to Be Third Pitcher. ——— Hudson, N.M., April 2.—[Special.]—The preliminary spring training of the Chicago ball club practically closed today, and in a day or two the club will leave Hudson for Kansas City, where the actual playing will begin. Five games with Manning’s men are scheduled. The first of them will be played on Saturday. The team will remain in Kansas City until April 12, going to Louisville to rest up a day before starting in the pennant race. The stay at Hudson Hot Springs has given little chance to see the men in baseball or show their form. The few games played offered but little chance for real work, yet the physical condition of the players is well nigh perfect. The free, out-of-door life, bronco riding, mountain climbing, and long hunting trips, have made them hard as rocks. The baths in the waters from the hot spring has driven away all soreness, and the good, plain food of the Casa del Consuelo has kept the men in a state of happy contentment. The Hudson Hot Springs as a resort has drawbacks for real ball playing, but the club has not yet found so good a place for man to get into condition. On the way to the springs the team stopped between trains at Deming. One of the natives, viewing the crowd, remarked to another: “Big crowd of ‘lungers’ going up to Hudson.” If that same native sees the men as they pass 76 f r om t h e c ol t s t o t h e dy na st y through Deming on the trip to Kansas City burned black by sun and wind and whiskered like a Populist delegation to a State convention he will scarcely recognize them. Pl ayers Ar e Confid ent . The men are full of confidence and expect wonders of themselves. The feeling in the club is better than it...