Thursday, January 16, 1947 Twin City News The Citizens' Committee: "We, the undersigned qualified voters of the Village of Baltimore, realizing that better cooperation will exist between the peoples of Baltimore and Basil, and that many advantages would be gained by the uniting of the two villages named above, therefore to obtain this, we petition the Baltimore Council to proceed as provided (by State law). This with the understanding that the new name will be neither Baltimo

Writer's note: As we await Judge Parker's promised November 12 decision, we will continue to exam the famous merger name decision following the annexation of Basil to Baltimore. Will it be to retain the name Baltimore or will we become Baseball, Ohio? In Part 9 we will review some of the history of the conflict including the merger understanding after it was ratified in November of 1945 and look at some more suggested names for the merger. One suggestion was a take-off on Lib

Writer's note: In Part 7, we learned that the decision as to whether the merger name of the annexation of Basil to Baltimore would be Baltimore or Baseball would not be known until November 12, 1947. Of course, both the "Citizens Committee To Retain Baltimore" and its supporters and the "Petitioners for Baseball" and its followers were frustrated and angered by the two-month delay. Lobbying, campaigning, and arm-twisting would continue while Judge Parker deliberated on his de

Writer's note: At the close of Part 6, the last sentence of the Twin City News article from September 11, 1947, foretold that "the hearings have turned the national spotlight on our community as the wire services and radio prepare to circulate the decision offered by Judge Parker." More suspense and white knuckles. Unfortunately, for supporters of both the "Retain Baltimore" and the "Petitioners for Baseball" committees had to find even more patience. In Part 7, we revisit th

Writer's note: Remembering that the "Twin Cities" of Baltimore and Basil were officially "dedicated" one day apart (Baltimore, then called New Market, on March 1, and Basil, a misspelling of Basel by twelve-year-old Henry Leonard, on March 2) in 1825, it is not surprising that the residents of both communities were more than ready to settle the most recent of the dozens of feuds that had developed between the two communities and cultures. A delay in the merger name decision