The $15,000 Slide was neither a slide nor worth $15,000.
"I am a great believer in good, honest athletic exercise in the gymnasium," [Curt Welch] remarked, "but my hobby is hand ball. I believe you can get more solid benefit out of hand ball than in any other mode of exercise. To play the game as it should be played will develop all the muscles that are called into play on the diamond. It sharpens a man's appetite for physical culture, stimulates his muscular powers, and keeps him hustling to excel in his work. It brightens up the eye, is a damper on sluggishness and calls into play a fellow's best energies. It's no game for a lazy man..."
-Sporting Life, March 9, 1887
I post this merely to note that Curt Welch was a great believer in good, honest athletic exercise in a tavern. The sharpest appetite he had was for a drink. Also, I'm a sucker for any story about 19th century baseball training methods.
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