The Dugout
From Tecumsehs
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[edit] Welcome to The Dugout
The Rose & Crown is the Tecumsehs' spiritual home (other brands of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage are available). Post-match refreshment is taken here after home games and it is a point of some pride (and Thursday morning hangovers) that the Tecumsehs have never yet been out-drunk in their own pub. It has been the scene of inappropriate behaviour of many sorts, conversations so random that even a chaos butterfly would have trouble keeping up and possibly the biggest single mass ingestion of potato based snacks ever. The Wotsit v. Bacon Fries debate continues unabated...
On the website, however, the Dugout is the place where you can find information about the team and where everything that doesn't quite fit anywhere else can be found.
[edit] On the bench...
[edit] Who are the Tecumsehs?
There are many, many answers to this question. So it's probably safer to stick with the facts rather than try to pin down any Tecumseh philosophy:
[edit] The history of the Tecumsehs
While we're at it, we may as well get this over and done with...it's pronounced various ways but we stick with "Te-cum-sea". It roughly translates as "the panther passing across". Across what the panther is passing is unclear, but it is possibly the graveyard between the pitch and the pub.
[edit] Tecumseh
Born in c.1768 in Ohio, Tecumseh was the second son of Pucksinwah, a warrior of the Shawnee tribe. Pucksinwah's dying wish was that his young son should grow up to be a warrior and fight against the annexation of the native American lands. As it turned out Tecumseh proved to be a master tactician and an exceptional public speaker to boot.
After completing a number of expeditions to other tribes (as was the custom), and after the death of his brother, Cheesuaka, Tecumseh took on the role of preserving the tribal lands through battle and by forming alliances with other tribes. He soon developed a circle of close but militant followers, which inculded his younger brother, Tenskwatawa.
Tecumseh's boycott of the treaty conference at Greenville resulted in a schism amongst the tribal council and Tecumseh and his followers set up a new settlement in Deer Creek, Ohio, made up of Native American warriors based not on tribal affiliations but by a desire to take war to the invaders.
Tecumseh met his death on October 5, 1813 while fighting alongside the British and this marked the end of the attempt to create a "great alliance" of the native Amercian tribes. Tecumseh's warnings about the threat to native American life posed by the tribes' enemies proved true. He has inspired many namesakes, including US Civil War Union general William Tecumseh Sherman. He has been described (By Bill Gilbert) as "a hero, a noble man of nature, and one who was right." Being right remains important to the Tecumsehs to which many a baseline argument bears testament.
[edit] The Original London Tecumsehs
The team won the first International Association Baseball Championship and in 1877 defeated the Chicago national league side in what was considered to be the first attempt at a World Series game. Success spelt downfall for the Tecumsehs. They were refused membership of the North American National League, because they refused to give up exhibition games against local Canadian teams. Then having relied to heavily on their first choice pitcher and his newly acquired curve ball, the management became suspicious of the teams integrity when his arm broke-down halfway through the season. By the end of 1878 the Tecumsehs had sacked all their American professionals, slid down the league and at the end of the season disbanded.
As with most teams finding somewhere to play (near transport, within the city limits and devoid of sunbathers, dogs, etc.) is a perennial problem. Things were no different for the original Tecumsehs when, in the early 1870s, the managers of the London Tecumsehs succeeded in procuring suitable grounds on the outskirts of the town. It was reported that, "The citizens of London, at least the thousands of them who took a deep interest in baseball, could not thank the small souled aldermen or their equally tightlaced ward politicians for their actions in compelling the Tecumsehs to purchase playing grounds outside the city limits, but no other course was open to them."
[edit] The London Tecumsehs of North London, England
As one of the oldest teams in the GLSML we have a bit of a history...and a reputation.
[edit] The rebirth of the London Tecumsehs 1989
The present Tecumsehs team was formed in 1989 by a number of staff from the Museum of London - Archaeological Department. Following Pete "The Coach" Rowsome's forced retirement after injury early in the 2000 season and the defection of Craig "the Boy" Spence to deepest darkest Lincolnshire there are currently no remaining founder members still playing for the Tecumsehs, however Mark "Centre-field" Sewards was around in those very earliest of days, as was Adrian "the pen" Miles.
On 7 September 1989 we played Philips (UK) drawing the game 11:11, the score sheet for this game records our team name at this date as simply 'Museum'. The name 'Tecumsehs' appeared for the first time on the 13 September 1989 when we had our first competative victory against a team from the Publishing League called the Random Hitters, the score-line 19:7. Finally that summer on 20 September we drew again this time playing the Camplan Cougars (remember them!), 26:26.
Quickly tiring of friendly games the team decided to join the Greater London Softball Mixed League (GLSML) in 1990. The most excellent team name provided the first bauble for the Tecumseh trophy cabinet, the GLSML rancid cheese award for originality. Attempts by Coach Rowsome to turn the Tecumsehs into a well-disciplined unit, however, met with limited success during that first hard season. Despite this problem we ended the 1992 season in the unimaginable position of Division 4 Champions, after which (in true Tecumseh fashion) we were decimated by redundancies, resignations and retirements. Pulling ourselves back together with the persistant help of a seemingly inexhaustable supply of physiotherapists we were, nevertheless, soon known as a team with a certain determination. Our record by end of 1998 season narrowly confirmed this; won 66, lost 52, tied 1.
The London Tecumsehs played their first ever GLSML league game at Kilburn Grangeway on 15 May 1990. The opposition were the Delancy Dodgers (who included Ross, Colin, and wait for it ... Eleri [3 hits and one strike-out] in their line-up). The Tecumsehs ran out winners with a score-line of 18:13.
A mere three weeks later on 4 June the London Tecumsehs 112 year (virtual) winning streak came to a tragic end (OK It had been a won-0 lost-0 ... er, played-0, record since 1874 but it meant something to us!)
On 13 June 1990 we played our first ever home game not at Victoria Park but at Kilburn Grangeway. Our first Victoria Park appearance had to wait until 11 July 1990 when we were hosts to Mobil 4 Star, we won that game 25:12.
[edit] The Tecumseh juggernaught rolls on... 1991-2000
Many of the names that appear regularly in this period have taken a place in Tecumseh folklore. Although many of the current team have never met the people concerned, stories of how Jane laid Darryl out in the pub over the pool table as he tried to improve her swing, Barney's trousers and Spence's temper have acquired near mythical status in the Tecumseh canon and are repeated around the pub table to newcomers.
[edit] Tecumsehs in the 21st century
We held on by the skin of our teeth in 2005 before succumbing to the bottom of the table blues in 2006. The 2007 season saw the Tecumsehs battling against relegation to Division 5 in the expanded 6 division league. Unsuccessfully. However a stellar performance in the driving rain in the playoffs means 2008 is the start of the turnaround.
Although no longer dominated by people who dig up dead things for a living and physiotherapists, the Tecumsehs keep a couple around, a bit like the ravens in the Tower, just in case.
[edit] Acknowledgment
The Tecumsehs would like to thank Craig Spence who wrote much of the original text for this article for the 2003 website.
