Sandlot Grad Stars for Pirate Pro Eleven
Played 400 games
Field Goals last Fall Provided Biggest Thrills For Local Fans
Bending, twisting and stretching until every muscle ache, the Pittsburgh Pirates of the professional grid world go through their calisthenics here each day before the actual work with the pigskin. The young fellows from the surrounding country who always gather to gape in wonder at the big names of the rugged sport get a real treat. They have a chance to watch Christian (Mose) Kelsch in action.
Mose is an old timer in a football way. Born on January 31, 1897, he will be 38 in the first month of next year. Looking back today, he discovered that he has spent the invigorating autumn months of 19 of those years carrying the pigskin over widely scattered battlefields of the tri-state area.
Skips Some of Exercises
Little wonder then that Mose skips a couple of times when his youthful mates are touching fingertips to the sod, lying face down and raising their bodies by sheer strength in the wrist and forearms, and many other little maneuvers which the grid player undergoes in the daily routine.
Mose is naturally conspicuous in a crowd of gridders with his 235 pounds of beef and his copyrighted stride which has carried him across so many chalk lines. When he halts for breath and watches the other boys carry on, the youthful spectators chuckle and shout just as the packed stands at Forbes Field chuckled last fall. Not in derision but in the great good humour which the big fellow seems to always arouse.
Mose is merely biding his time though. Letting the lads who were babies just starting to toddle when he was scoring his first touchdowns, and more importantly still, his first field goals, rush along with their practice. But when the spot comes for Kelsch’s trusty toe this season, Mose will be ready as usual.
Field Goals His Specialty
While everyone connected with the Pirates was fairly well satisfied with the showing they made in the National Pro league last fall, it was probably due more to the 37-year-old field goal kicker than anyone else.
The Northside beer garden proprietor kicked two goals after touchdown to win the first home verdict over the Chicago Cards. He booted a field goal against Cincinnati (Reds) at Forbes Field. He sent one over against the New York Giants in Gotham to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead at halftime. On the last play of the games in Brooklyn, he came off the bench cold and sailed one through the uprights for a 3-3 tie even as the final gun sounded.
One of only three sandlotters with no college experience in the league last year (Harp Vaughan was another) he was one of the most interesting.
Born on Troy Hill, husky young Christian Kelsch spent several years in St. Joseph’s orphan asylum there. While playing a baseball game for the nine representing the home, he was nicknamed Mose by someone attending a contest in West View. Who the donor was or why, the big fellow is unable to recall, but like hundreds of other nicknames, it stuck.
Played With Many Teams
The Northside Market eleven, a group of young fellows who played all their games abroad and took plenty of beatings in the days before the war when “homers” always officiated was the initial eleven with which Mose played. Then, as throughout his career, he was a fullback and a placement kicker extraordinary.
Since that start he has played with many sandlot outfits. Pleasant valley, Hope-Harvey, E.V Babcocks, Bradley Eagles, Valley Strip, John Douglas, Duquesne Apprentices, M. J. Griffins, Majestic Radios, West View and J.P. Rooneys form a partial list.
Mose picks the Bradleys as the best. In the halcyon days under manage Al Cercero when Stan Graff, Frank white, Rosy Graham, Bull Boyer, Dan Clark, Mike Matsie and such heroes were in their prime. He rates Graff as the best back he ever saw on the sandlots and Boyer and Clark as the leading linemen. His greatest earnings, $75 per game, came from the Eagles.
His field goals were as numerous as the clubs he represented. He won many 3-0 games, once booting a seemingly impossible placement for Hope Harvey against McKeesport Olympics.
In a game at McKees Rocks after a successful field goal, the official brought the ball back and imposed a 15-yard penalty. Mose immediately sent it over from the added distance, somewhere around the 50-yard mark, the longest of his career. He recalls the kick distinctly but can’t remember the teams playing.
Played Against Present Employer
Kelsch first played against Art Rooney, president of the Pirates, when the latter performed for the Eureka club against Pleasant Valley. The two became, and still are, firm friends.
Some years he has played as many as 25 games a season. Playing for Duquesne Apprentice on Saturday and then for Bradley Eagles on Sunday. His lifetimes record must show close to 400 football games. So don’t chuckle too much. Old Mose will be ready when the time arrives even if he does skip a few exercises now and then.
Jack Sell Mount Pleasant August 30 1934 for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Tragically, Mose Kelsch was killed in an auto accident July 1935. Art Rooney served as a pallbearer at Kelsch's funeral.
1930 Majestic Radios season>>>
