When Akron’s LeBron James went from St. Vincent-St. Mary prep school to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and again years later when he returned and brought a championship to the people of that long-suffering city, it was a throwback to the hoary notion of local sports teams.

In 1871, when the Philadelphia Athletics won the championship of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the ace pitcher was Dick McBride, who was born in Philly, took up arms to help defend Philadelphia when Robert E. Lee was bearing down on the city in 1863, and is today buried in Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge.