RRVL Umpire and Fargo Manager George Challis

RRVL Umpire and Fargo Manager George Challis

Kicking It: A Chronicle of Bad Behavior from the 1897 Red River Valley League

May 27 - Umpire O'Donnell fined Moorhead's mouthy catcher Tim Keefe $2 in a 12-7 Moorhead win. In the same contest, O'Donnell booted Wahpeton-Breckenridge player/manager Ed Corbett for a tantrum in which he nearly "foamed at the mouth." (Moorhead Independent)

May 28 - O'Donnell fined Keefe again for calling him a "vile name", and the Moorhead catcher cemented his entry into the hall of jerkdom. (Fargo Forum)

May 30 - George Challis, then a league umpire, ejected and fined Fargo's Arthur "Tige" Lyons for "abusive language," according the the Sunday Argus. Lyons was fined $2 and then escorted off the grounds by Grand Forks police chief Ryan.

June 13 - An exhibition game got heated and O'Donnell was the umpire in the middle of the fray again. The Wahpeton-Breckenridge club argued unsuccessfully on a fan interference ("block ball") decision. When the dust settled, Ed Corbett's club refused to retake the field, and the game was forfeited to Moorhead.

June 26 - June was a fairly quiet month for bad behavior until a contest between Fargo and Moorhead on the 26th. A display of atrocious umpiring prompted Fargo fans to rush the umpire Tupper after the game, who luckily escaped physical harm from the angry mob.

July 12 - The Forum reported that three Moorhead players were fined a hefty $25 for appearing to a game either very hungover or very drunk. Team captain Jack Page refused to pay the fine for a time, but apparently capitulated, and rejoined the aptly named Barmaids.

July 17 - "Peaceful Valley" Brown uncharacteristically lost his composure in arguing a call by Tige Lyons, who had migrated to the position of RRVL umpire. Brown, Fargo's reliable and well-respected first baseman, was ejected, but allowed to continue playing at the pleading of team captain George Keas.

July 23 - Umpire O'Donnell ejected Ed Corbett again, this time for calling him "vile names." Corbett responded by ordering his team off the field and forfeiting the game.

July 30 - Immediately after a blowout win for Fargo, Wahpeton-Breckenridge first baseman Hart charged umpire Tige Lyons, assaulting him and knocking him to the ground. The Grand Forks Herald speculated that Hart may have been trying to regain the respect of the W-B fans after the team's twelve run drubbing.

August 1 - In a game between Fargo and Moorhead, umpire O'Donnell took issue with each team's catcher. O'Donnell first ejected Fargo's Hartman and ordered him removed from the grounds by a cop. When Moorhead's Tim Keefe began verbal sparring with O'Donnell, the umpire left the field himself in frustration.

August 2 - Fargo fans tended to enjoy Josh Reilly's personality and flair. That was until the nomadic infielder showed his true colors.

August 7-8 - Hard feelings between three members of the Fargo club results in the most interesting drama of the 1897 RRVL season.

Top 5 "Good Guys" from the 1897 RRVL

In a season filled with plenty of bad behavior, here are five of the most gentlemanly personalities from the Red River Valley League of 1897:

1) George Challis - umpire; Fargo manager
It is nearly impossible to find a single bad word written about George Challis. His umpiring work was unanimously considered to be the best in the region. Challis was so respected that after he became Fargo's manager during the 1897 season, he was called upon to finish umpiring one of Fargo's own games after umpire O'Donnell quit the game. A benefit game was played after the season to raise money and show appreciation for Challis.

2) Deacon Phillippe - Fargo's promising young pitcher
Phillippe, on his way to stardom, was by all accounts a humble player during his time in Fargo. His disposition made him instantly popular among local fans, and his work ethic eventually made him a star pitcher in the majors. 

3) Umpire O'Donnell - umpire in 1897
O'Donnell regularly had to deal with nonsense while umpiring league games, particularly from Moorhead catcher Tim Keefe. Early in the season, O'Donnell fined but did not eject Keefe in back-to-back games for arguing and foul language. Later in the season, Keefe's antics caused O'Donnell to leave the field rather than finish umpiring a game between Moorhead and Fargo. Earlier in that game, O'Donnell had ejected Fargo catcher Hartman and had a cop escort him from the field. Impressively, O'Donnell didn't respond in anger at any point despite dealing with plenty of reckless behavior.

4) Peaceful Valley Brown - popular Fargo player
Despite an incident in which he vociferously argued with umpire Tige Lyons and was ejected, Charles "Peaceful Valley" Brown generally lived up to his nickname. He was a consistent player, generally considered to be a gentleman, and became a fan favorite after first playing for Fargo in 1896.

5) Sheriff Bodkin - Moorhead manager
The local sheriff and Moorhead team manager was well-respected in the community. A Civil War veteran who fought for the 104th Illinois infantry, Bodkin achieved the rank of sergeant, spent over three months as a prisoner of war, and was wounded on two separate occasions. In 1876, he began the first of two stints as Clay county sheriff. In 1897, Bodkin took on additional responsibility as manager of the Barmaids. In this role, Bodkin was a strong advocate for the RRVL and his team, the pennant winners for the season. (The Record Vol 3 Issue 8 p. 152 Feb. 1898).

On This Date: Season Ends With Another Moorhead Win

Sunday, August 8, 1897 - A shocking thirteen errors plagued Fargo in their season finale loss to Moorhead. Amazingly, none of the Barmaids fifteen runs were earned. Bill Zink started at shortstop for the Divorcees, and made four errors as Moorhead scored ten runs in the third inning. Manager George Challis then moved the stocky Iowan to second base, where he didn't stay long, finally ending up in left field. In total, Zink committed six errors out of seven chances, a remarkably bad performance uncharacteristic of one of Fargo's most consistent players. Lee Roberts chipped in an additional three errors playing out of position in right field. Fred Steele managed first base splendidly in the absence of Peaceful Valley Brown, who had left for Dubuque late Tuesday night to be with his ailing mother. Steele also went two for four at the plate with a run scored, making his showing one of the few bright spots for Fargo. Within a week, the players of the defunct Red River Valley League were searching for teams to join, if only for a game or two, to earn a few more paychecks before the end of summer.

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican
August 4, 1897 p.4 "Notes"
August 9, 1897 p.4 "The Last One"

On This Date: Hartman Ejected, O'Donnell Quits

August 1, 1897 - Fargo's 7-4 win over crosstown rival Moorhead was only part of the story on this date. Overshadowing Oscar Peterson's great pitching performance for the Divorcees was some extra-curricular nonsense from the game's catchers. Hartman started at catcher for Fargo, and wasted no time getting into trouble. He began arguing with the umpire, O'Donnell, for an unknown reason, and became so incensed that a policeman was called. The cop escorted Hartman, known to be a fan of hard drink, off the field. Hayes finished the game as the Fargo backstop.

In the fifth inning, Moorhead catcher Tim Keefe similarly lost his composure. According to the Forum, Keefe's conduct was even worse than Hartman's (however, bias from the home team's newspaper in its account is a distinct possibility). Again, the precipitating factor for Moorhead catcher's behavior is unknown. The Fargo paper criticized O'Donnell for not ejecting Keefe from the game, as he had with Hartman. At this point, the embattled umpire was fed up enough to quit the game. The well-respected George Challis assumed the umpiring duties for the remainder of the game, despite the fact that he was also Fargo's manager.

Meanwhile, a game was played, and Fargo hit Pike Mullaney hard, tallying 13 hits and five earned runs off the Moorhead ace. The Divorcees were led by center fielder L. D. Hopkins, who went three for four with two doubles and three runs scored. Fargo's starter Oscar "Pete" Peterson surrendered just eight hits and two earned runs to the Barmaids. The rivarly would continue for the next three days, as Fargo and Moorhead were scheduled for three games in Fargo, followed by three games in Moorhead. The Grand Forks-Crookston series of six games was also scheduled to get underway. Only one of these series would be played...

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican August 2, 1897 p. 4 "Easy for Fargo"

Former Major Leaguer Released and Blacklisted

If nothing else, William Henry "Josh" Reilly's 1897 season was an eventful one. He brought his brash personality and erratic play to at least three different Midwest cities during the summer, including a month long stop in Fargo to play second base for the Divorcees.

Reilly had appeared in nine games the previous season in the National League for the Chicago Colts (later the Cubs). It would be his only major league stint. He began the 1897 season with the Kansas City Blues of the Western League, but was released at the beginning of June after not playing up to Manager Jimmie Manning's expectations. In a June 12 Sporting News report on the Blues, Reilly was grouped with several other Kansas City players who were belittled as "a set of 'cattle drivers' who could not play ball as well as a ten-year-old 'kid' nine" (p.7).

By June 2nd, Reilly had signed with the Indianapolis Indians, also of the Western League. He was signed to fill a need that arose due to other players' injuries. After two weeks, Reilly, who had "showed while with Kansas City that he was not fast enough for (the) league," was released (July 19, 1897 TSN p.5). He likely then traveled to southern Minnesota to play with a team in the city of Kenyon that disbanded shortly after his arrival.

On June 30th, the Forum reported that Josh Reilly arrived in Fargo and would be given a tryout. Described as a great coach of players, Reilly made his debut for Fargo playing at second base on July 1st against the Barmaids and went 1 for 3. His strong character was evident in Fargo, and he even became an object of affection for some of Fargo's female fans. Over the next month, Josh would hit .307 for the team, but had a fielding percentage of just .882 (fielding had been a problem earlier in the season for Reilly). On August 3rd, after the RRVL had officially disbanded, Fargo was playing Moorhead as part of a revised schedule. The team's 4-2 loss in 16 innings to the Barmaids would be Reilly's last game with Fargo.

Angry at Manager George Challis for not advancing him a paycheck, Reilly responded with purposefully erratic play. According to the game summary from the Forum, he "carelessly muffed" an easy throw from a teammate in the first inning. In the second inning, Reilly moved non-nonchalantly toward a slow roller hit up the middle by former Fargo player Charles Jahnke. The last straw for Manager Challis was in the third inning, when Reilly half-heartedly handled a line drive, dropped it, and slowly pursued the ball, allowing Jack Page of the Barmaids to score. Challis took him out of the game and Reilly was released and blacklisted the same day.

The Fargo management should not have been surprised at Reilly's actions, however. They had played a part in helping Reilly come to Fargo despite a warrant for his arrest in southern Minnesota (likely from the town of Kenyon). Apparently, Reilly had been wanted for not paying a boarding bill while staying in the city (Forum Aug 3, 1897 p.4).

The Springfield Governors of the Interstate League picked up Josh Reilly for the remainder of the 1897 season. Interestingly, The Sporting Life reported on July 31st, while Reilly was still with Fargo, that Springfield "expected (him) to report this week..." (*p. 17). This raises the question of whether he intended to leave Fargo anyway around the time of his release. After all, the RRVL's future for 1897 was murky at best, with the league officially disbanding July 31st. Reilly may have simply been trying to squeeze some money out of Fargo's management before heading east for Illinois.

Before the 1898 season began, it was reported that Reilly wanted too much money from Springfield, and had begun playing baseball back home in California. In reality, Josh Reilly had burned many of his bridges in the Midwest. He would spend the next decade playing minor league baseball on the west coast, mainly for teams in his native San Francisco and in San Jose. 

(*There is some ambiguity concerning Josh's 1897 season. Box scores in late July that appeared in The Sporting Life indicated that a player with the last name of Reilly had been playing with Springfield while Josh was still playing for Fargo. There are also reports of a Reilly playing for Indianapolis after Josh was released June 19th. Neither of the accounts referred to the player's first name, however. Based on various newspaper reports, I believe that a different man with the last name of Reilly was playing for Indianapolis in July, and a different Reilly was playing for Springfield before Josh arrived there in early August.)

5 umpires, 3 managers, and 2 captains - Fargo's Volatility in 1897

There was plenty of change for the Fargo team throughout the summer of 1897. I have commented earlier on the fact that the team had at least 33 different men play for them during the season ("Nomads and Vagabonds"). Recall, also, that the season was only about ten weeks long. Some other changes in this short time span:

In the Fargo area, George Challis began the season as the main umpire. When Challis became Fargo's manager (see below), Jimmy Banning became the lead umpire. Not everyone was impressed with Banning's umpiring - in fact, his performance in one game was deemed "awful" by the Forum. After a time, Umpire O'Donnell was featured in many Fargo games. An umpire named Tupper was tried as well, but he was essentially run out of town after an outrageously bad call in June ("It Was Larceny"). Arthur "Tige" Lyons officiated some of Fargo's games later in the season. This is interesting considering his unpleasant departure from the team as a player earlier in the summer ("Fined and Released"). A final umpire Emlay was present at a game in early August. His performance was considered "horrible". Really the only umpire who escaped sharp criticism at any point in the season was Challis. He even took over as umpire in the middle of a Fargo game while he was Fargo's manager! He was universally well-respected.

A note on umpires: they were not rotated between cities and games in the same way they are today. One umpire was at each game, and it was generally preferred to keep the same man umpiring in the same area. 
The managerial post was similarly in flux for Fargo during the summer of 1897. When the team got off to a slow start, Lee Roberts stepped down as Fargo's manager and opted not to stay with the team as a position player. Adam Leech took over for Roberts on an interim basis, and later, George Challis finished the remainder of the season as manager.

Finally, it is notable that Charles "Peaceful Valley" Brown began the season as the team's captain. He also stepped down in favor of fellow Iowan George Keas in the middle of the season.

It is no wonder that Fargo spent most of the year in last place!

Fined and Released

Fargo was excited to have Arthur "Tige" Lyons back for the 1897 RRVL season. Lyons had played in Fargo in 1896, when the team was not in an organized league, but played exhibition games during that summer. In the May 10, 1897 issue of Fargo's paper, the Forum touted Lyons as always being "in splendid shape". The same account, however, hinted that Lyons had some problems with drinking in the past, but that "(Lyons) is sure the flowing bowl no longer has any attraction for him and promises to put up the game of his life."

The optimism about "Tige" did not last long. In Fargo's fourth game of the season on May 29th at Grand Forks, Lyons was fined early in the game for arguing with the well-respected umpire George Challis. Interestingly, his behavior was bad enough to also move the Grand Forks Chief of Police to remove Lyons from the premises (Sunday Argus May 30, 1897). After the Grand Forks game, Lyons stayed with the Fargo team, and played in their embarrassing 27-6 loss in an exhibition game against Moorhead on May 31st. By June 2nd, however, Lyons had been released by the team. The Forum hinted that his level of play during the exhibition game was suspect, even causing "a large number" of people to criticize him for his "indifferent" play. Though Lyons apparently had some supporters as well, his reckless behavior was enough for the Fargo team to show him the door.

Interestingly, Lyons later umpired several RRVL games in 1897, and continued to umpire games in the region for several years.

"It Was Larceny"

The game between Fargo and Moorhead on the afternoon of June 26, 1897 featured a great pitching match up and promised to be a compelling game. Indeed, the game was compelling, but for unusual reasons.

Deacon Phillippe (spelled Phillippi by the papers) and Pike Mullaney squared off in a contest between first place Moorhead and last place Fargo. In the first inning, Phillippe gave up four runs, but settled down and shut out the "Barmaids" for the remainder of the game. The first inning featured a controversial call by the umpire Tupper. The Forum said Page from Moorhead was out by at least five feet on a play at home, but was called safe. Fargo's Sunday Argus claimed the runner was ten feet short of home when tagged out. Whether Tupper just had a bad view of the play or was grossly incompetent or unethical is unclear. He may have been obscured, but even though he was the only umpire for the game (as was customary at the time), he should have been near home plate. The Forum claimed that Tupper made several other bad calls throughout the game, "two against Fargo, and two against Moorhead", but these missteps paled in comparison to the events of the ninth inning.

For Moorhead, Mullaney was solid as usual, but got into some trouble in the ninth inning with the game 4-2 in favor of Moorhead. Mullaney walked the first two batters, Phillippe and Hopkins. One of Fargo's fan favorites, the utility man Hartman, followed with a fly ball out to right field. Phillippe tagged up on the play and advanced to third. Moorhead appealed the play, however, and Phillippe was called out by Tupper for leaving second too early. The Fargo team and their fans were incensed by this call. Tupper had his back turned to second - he never saw the play. Fargo failed to score in the ninth, and lost 4-2. The Moorhead team, along with Fargo's manager, local travel agent George Challis, ushered Tupper to safety after the game, protecting him from the rage of some of the Fargo fans. Fargo launched a formal protest of the contest. The story of the awful umpiring in the Red River Valley League even made the pages of the Sporting News on July 10th. The Sunday Argus proclaimed, "It Was Larceny."

The protest was eventually addressed by National League President Nick Young. The National League was the only "major league" at the time, and wielded much power over the baseball establishment. In the meantime, Tupper had admitted that he did not see the Phillippe leave second base in the decisive ninth inning blown call. Young ruled that the game should be replayed. However, the Red River Valley League folded for 1897 in early August, so Moorhead declined to replay the game. (More on the league's collapse later.)

Opening Day - 1897

Opening Day, May 26, 1897

Grand Forks 6, Fargo 2
WP: Hutton
LP: Roberts

Moorhead 16, Wahpeton-Breckenridge 7
WP: Mullaney
LP: Berg

From the Sporting News:
June 5, 1897 p.4

"RED RIVER VALLEY LEAGUE.
Personnel of the Teams and the Umpire Corps.
Fargo, North Dakota. May 26. Editor "Sporting Life:" The River Valley League has at last started. The League is made up as follows: Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks and Breckenridge and Wahpeton, Breckenridge and Wahpeton being represented by one team. The various teams will line up as follows: Signed with Fargo are Jack Banning, Arthur Hill, Chas. Janke, Jack McDonald, Chas. Brown, Ed, Martin, Arthur, better known as Tiger, Lyons; Gus Munch, Tad Roberts, Hartman, Oscar Peterson and Lee Roberts, as manager.

Moorhead lines up with Jack Page, captain; Pike Mullaney, Anderson, O'Reagan. Flannery,
Harry Howe, Burke, Keefe, Dea, Clayton and Murphy.

Grand Forks will consist of Sid Adams, Chas. Hutton, Riddell, McNeal, Rudge, Hanrahan,
Jack Turner, Walker, Boblitz and Marshall.

Breckenridge and Wahpeton will be represented by the following players: Ted Corbett. manager
and captain; Swartz, Berg, L. Conrad, A. Conrad, Jim Hart, Fitch, Wm. Ploof, Red O'Donnell,
Pete Quinn and Jack O'Donnell.

The League umpires will be George Challis and Robert Irons, the first-named, a well-known
man; but the latter, being a new man. he is still an unknown quantity. The championship
season opens to-day and closes September 4."