160 Days to Opening Day 2008

Opening Day 2008 for the Timber Rattlers is April 3. That was 160 days from October 27. This off-season, the countdown will be based on books. Each day between now and Opening Day 2008, I will pick a random book out of my library and excerpt a passage off the page number corresponding with the number of days remaining to the first pitch of the new season. I will try not to repeat a book during the countdown.

The book from October 27 was Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. This is an account of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Ambrose uses the journals – spelling and all – of the party and many other historical documents to tell the story from start to finish.

The excerpt is from page 160 and recalls the death and memorial service of Sgt. Charles Floyd near modern day Sioux City, Iowa.

Sergeant Charles Floyd had been desperately ill the past few days. Lewis had diagnosed his disease as “Biliose Chorlick,” or bilious colic, and had nothing effective to treat it with – but, then, neither did Dr. Rush back in Philadelphia. On August 20, Floyd died, most likely from peritonitis resulting from an infected appendix that had perforated or ruptured.

Sergeant Floyd was the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi. The expedition carried his body to a high round hill overlooking an unnamed river. The captains had his body buried with all the honors of war and fixed a red-cedar post over the grave with his name and title and the date. Captain Lewis read the funeral service over him. Clark provided a fitting epitaph in his journal: “This Man at all times gave us proofs of his firmness and Deturmined to doe Service to his Countrey and honor to himself.”

Click on the link to go to the web site for the Sergeant Floyd Monument.

Put the October 27 entry into a baseball context.