Declaration signer would have loved a good York ballgame
Lt. Col. Phil Aubel of York stretches out the center of the American flag on display Friday night in center field at Sovereign Bank Stadium. The York Revolution’s new ball park is full of connections to the American Revolution.
To continue to tie the past with the present, I again explained in a York Sunday News column the link between the American Revolution and the York Revolution baseball team playing in its first season.
I adjusted the column to show James Smith, York’s Declaration of Independence signer, attending a York Revolution game, assuming he came back to live today.
Indeed, from young Alexander Graydon’s account, Smith would have enjoyed such a festive occasion.
Graydon, attorney-in-training in 1773, found lawyer Smith fond of the bottle and bursting with whimsical humor: ,,,
“In him it much depended on an uncouthness of gesture, a certain ludicrous case of countenance, and a drawling mode of utterance, which taken in conjunction with this eccentric idea, produce an effect irresistibly comical … .”
Simply put, Smith would have been at home on opening day at the new ballpark.
