That Really Annoying Fan: Not a New Phenomenon

When I read a description appearing in an 1887 edition of Fargo's Sunday Argus, I felt like it could have been written yesterday. The subject: the obnoxious fan. The Philadelphia Press originally published the story, which also covers a distinctive sound known as the "baseball yell". The picture painted by the writer's explanation of the baseball yell isn't particularly clear or applicable to today's game, but the portrait of the unreasonable fan strikes a chord:

"The genuine base-ball yeller yells because he can't help it. But there is a cousin of his who makes other noises with a pertinacity that is evidently wilful (sic). There is a man with a shrill tenor voice who has a season ticket and who sits in one of the upper boxes overlooking the grounds. He is the self-constituted critic of the umpire. He knows more about base ball, in his own mind, than all the experts in the country boiled down and rolled into one. He is always, too, a violent partisan of the home club... He is there every season. His name may vary, but the type is never absent. The regular attendants, the constant devotees of the game, soon grow used to his rantings, and they pass without notice. Even the umpire is too sadly accustomed to the exhortations of the crank even to permit himself a smile."

I guess there is some consolation in knowing that this guy has been around for 125 years. Or maybe not.

Sunday Argus July 17, 1887 "Lovers of Base-Ball" citing the Philadelphia Press.

Terminology: Part 5

I have continued to find interesting terminology from the summer of 1897. Some of the references are a little difficult to figure out, but the context usually provides the answer.

"Assaulted the ozone instead of the sphere" - Swung and missed
"Comer" - player with potential; like an "up and comer"
"Cracker" - like a "crack" team; skilled
"Do the leg wrapping" - pitch
"Doughnuts to cookies" - like "dollars to donuts" (I'm not sure what this says about the relative value of doughnuts vs. cookies)
"Flowing bowl" - alcohol
"Garden" - field (i.e. Center garden = Center field)
"Hoodoo" - trickery, deception
"Horse collars" - zeroes (relating to their appearance on the scoreboard)
"Hospital list" - like the disabled list
"Hummest" - best
"Inshoot" - Curveball that breaks toward the right-handed batter
"In the swim" - similar to "in the mix"
the "McGinnity Act" - pitching both games of a doubleheader 
"On the toboggan" - injured
"Pan" - the plate
"Pets" - players
"Pink of condition" - in the best shape
taking a "Reef in his sails" - likely meaning the action of settling down, or reassessing a situation
"Stuff is off" - event is not going to happen
"Up in the air" - going up in the air is used to refer to a pitcher losing control of his pitches
"Weary Willies" - hobos

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, Grand Forks Herald, Moorhead Independent", Sunday Argus; April - August 1897.

Metaphorically Speaking

The baseball accounts from the dead-ball era were often unusually and excessively descriptive. The writing certainly played an important role regarding perceptions of baseball in an era before radio and television. The newspaper descriptions about the games of the Red River Valley League are a key piece in understanding the flavor of the league. Here are some of the more entertaining gems:

During the summer of 1897, several pitchers who struggled to control their pitches were deemed to be "as wild as a March hare" by the Sunday Argus. Among the out of control rabbits were Wahpeton-Breckenridge's Ollie Berg, Grand Forks pitcher Charlie Hutton, and Fargo's Gus Munch. On a separate occasion, during a particularly poor weather day in which Ollie Berg surrendered 15 runs, the weather was described as "being as wild and wooly as Berg's delivery."*

Solid pitching performances elicited even richer descriptions. Deacon Phillippe was credited for being "as steady as a clock" in a game in late June. Wahpeton-Breckenridge pitcher O'Donnell's alertness in a game in late May caused The Moorhead Independent to credit him for watching base runners "like a hungry hyena".** Moorhead's Pike Mullaney was complimented for a start in which he "shot the ball over the plate with Denzer-like steam," a reference pitcher Roger Denzer, who threw for the St. Paul Saints and Chicago Colts in 1897.*** Moorhead's other ace, Bob Brush, pitched an impressive game allowing hits and runs "as scarce as mosquitoes in January."**** Perhaps the most creative embellishment of a pitcher's dominance came courtesy of the Sunday Argus. The paper remarked that Pike Mullaney's pitching against the Wahpeton-Breckenridge club "had the Methodists feeling around as aimlessly as pedestrians trying to escape the Fargo street sweeper, or huge cats from whose muzzles the whiskers had been cleanly shaven."*****

*The Moorhead Independent June 11, 1897
**Independent May 28, 1897
***Independent June 25, 1897
****Independent June 11, 1897
*****Sunday Argus May 30, 1897

On This Date: Bad Blood Boils Over

Saturday, August 7, 1897 - Tige Lyons apparently was not satisfied with just arguing with Fargo's catcher Ryan at Haas's saloon in downtown Moorhead Friday night. The Red River Valley League umpire and former Fargo player got into a disagreement with Ryan at the bar, and Ryan (or someone with him) knocked Lyons to the floor. The catcher may have hoped he had seen the last of "Tige", and migrated to Murphy's saloon later that night. But Lyons made an unwelcome appearance again, found Ryan, and knocked him out with a "blunt instrument." Interestingly, if it weren't for a followup confrontation Saturday afternoon between the men, the story may never have surfaced.

At about 2:30pm on Saturday, Lyons found Ryan on Broadway in Fargo. On this occasion, he had former Fargo catcher Hartman with him, who was no doubt recruited due to his reckless nature and the fact that Ryan had displaced him as the Fargo backstop. The two men ganged up on Ryan, and Hartman pulled out a razor while Tige cheered him on. As Hartman chased Ryan into Alex Stern's clothing store, Ryan picked up a brick and hurled it at Hartman in self-defense. By this point, officer Bingham of the Fargo police department was on the scene and arrested Hartman. Meanwhile, Lyons took off towards Moorhead in an attempt to escape arrest, but was chased down near the Great Northern bridge and taken in. Later that day, awaiting their appearance before municipal judge Hanson, Hartman made his own escape attempt, but was tracked down by Bingham in a slough on First avenue north.

The two embittered former Fargo players appeared in court before judge Hanson on Monday, but the bizarre chain of events would have a very anti-climactic ending. The cases against both men were dismissed, oddly, because Ryan failed to appear at the hearings. No reason was given for Ryan's absence, and the specific reasons that precipitated the assault were also unclear. The previous week Hartman had been let go in favor of Ryan. After this, Lyons apparently took a barrage of verbal abuse from the new Fargo catcher at the August 2 game between Fargo and Moorhead. What Ryan specifically did or said to Lyons during the game is unclear, but the Moorhead Independent amusingly observed that "the freak catcher yelled and gyrated like an escaped lunatic." The sole reason given in the Forum for the attack was the fact that Ryan had been bad-mouthing Lyons, who apparently was trying to stir up discord among the Fargo players. Ultimately, the resentment among the men, along with a likely liberal flow of alcohol, played a role in spurring the violence.

Lyons and Hartman left the area, and the following June, the men were said to be trying out for a Seattle club. Tige had not made the team, but Hartman was playing "magnificent ball" and had reportedly quit drinking.
 
Also on Saturday, August 7, second baseman Breuer's four errors hurt the Divorcees in a loss to the Barmaids. Breuer deserves some sympathy as he was likely a local man, called on to fill in after the release and blacklisting of Josh Reilly. The Forum also blamed poor umpiring as a contributing factor in the loss, though they shouldn't have expected much. The game was officiated by a Western Union operator who hadn't umpired a game all year in the Red River Valley League. The Moorhead nine scored two runs in the ninth inning to give pitcher Pike Mullaney yet another win, which fit the mold of a season in which the Barmaids dominated while Fargo struggled to find consistency. The loss went to Gus Munch, who surrendered just five hits, struck out six, and gave up no earned runs. 

Fargo Forum and Daily Republican
August 7, 1897 Front page "Baseballists Scrap"
August 9, 1897 p.3 "City Locals"; p.4 "Saturday's Game"
August 10, 1897 p.3 "City Locals"
June 20, 1898 p.4 "Baseball"

Moorhead Independent
August 6, 1897 Front page "A Battle Royal"

Sunday Argus
August 8, 1897 p. 6 "Two Home Runs"

On This Date: Moorhead Awarded Pennant, New Schedule

July 31, 1897 - Officials from each team met at the Columbia hotel in Moorhead to nail down details concerning the future of the Red River Valley League. A newly constructed league would play through September 11, with the existing Wahpeton-Breckenridge franchise being transferred to Crookston. The four teams re-committed to finishing the season by putting up $50 in forfeit money, helping ensure all the franchises would finish the season. The schedule would kick off August 2, with Fargo playing Moorhead in a six game series (three games in each city), and Grand Forks battling Crookston in the same six game format. As for the previously constructed league, Moorhead was awarded the pennant after building a large lead in the standings.

Meanwhile, in their final game in Wahpeton-Breckenridge, the Methodists hosted Fargo for an afternoon contest. The Divorcees put twelve hits on the board, while W-B drew six walks off Fargo pitcher Fred Steele. Third baseman George Keas went 4 for 4 (all singles) with a sacrifice fly for the visiting team. The game was tied 5-5 in the eighth inning when play was suspended to allow Fargo to catch the train back home. It was an inauspicious ending to a very eventful week for the league. The coming days would hold more surprises for the troubled RRVL.

Sunday Argus August 1, 1897 p.8 "All Fixed Up"

On This Date: Quitters Never Win, Except Today

July 24, 1897 - Wahpeton-Breckenridge soundly defeated Fargo a day after manager Ed Corbett was ejected and marched his players off the field, forfeiting the game. The Divorcees managed just "three measly singles", and a five run outburst in the fourth inning was all the Methodists needed. Southpaw Gus Munch started on the mound for Fargo, but was "as wild as a March hare", walking six batters and throwing wild four times in the 9-1 defeat. Jack Murphy, a day after his release by the Fargo club, received a warm greeting from the Fargo fans in his first game with Wahpeton-Breckenridge.

"Base Ball: Fargo Easily Defeated by Wahpeton Yesterday." Sunday Argus July 25, 1897 p. 8

*Oh, and Amelia Earhart was born July 24, 1897!

On This Date: A One-Hop Home Run

In a July 10th game between Fargo and Grand Forks at the Senators' YMCA field, Sid Adams of the home team accomplished an interesting feat. In the first inning, he sent a sky-high drive into right field off of Deacon Phillippe. Fargo's right fielder Green didn't get to it in time, and the ball bounced off the bicycle track inconveniently located within the ball field. The baseball found its way over the right field fence and Adams was awarded a home run! Three runs scored on the unfortunate bounce, and would be the only runs earned off of Phillippe all day. Disappointingly for Fargo, they could not figure out Grand Forks pitcher Charlie Hutton, managing just three hits in nine innings and the Divorcees fell 3-0. In his dominant complete game shutout, Hutton struck out eight and walked none.

"BASE BALL: Fargo and Moorhead Are Both Defeated Yesterday."
Sunday Argus, July 11, 1897, p.8 

Research Challenges

For as much as I enjoy this project, and I really do, there are some challenges and frustrations. I'll share a few:

1) No first names - baseball recaps in the late 1900s usually omitted the first name of the player, and not just in the box scores (which still remains common practice today). Typically, a player was referred to by his position and his last name. My most frustrating example of this is "Catcher Hartman". Hartman played for Fargo for the entire 1897 season, yet not one account in either the Forum or Sunday Argus mentioned his first name. This is especially frustrating because I suspect he was from the area. Finding out a player's first name becomes an exciting discovery. Sometimes, even just getting the first and middle initials (as I have found with A. J. Hessler), is a nice accomplishment. First names help greatly in finding different paths for research.

2) No comprehensive index of the Forum - somewhat surprisingly, no useful searchable index of the Fargo paper exists. The Grand Forks Herald does have a searchable index, which is nice. Though the search mechanisms for older versions of newspapers are not always fully reliable, having something would be nice. Instead, I need to go through each individual newspaper edition that may provide some information. This is fun at times, but tedious, too. As it stands, these are the publications I have searched, page by page:

Fargo Forum - daily editions from April 1 - September 21, 1897, along with some of the mid-June to mid- July of 1896 and some of the summer of 1898
Fargo Sunday Argus - weekly editions May - October 1896, April - August 1897
Grand Forks Herald - daily editions May 19 - June 6, 1897 (still in progress...)
The Sporting News - weekly editions March - October 1897
The Sporting Life - several editions from the summer of 1897
The Spectrum - North Dakota Agricultural College's monthly newspaper 1897-1898
St. Paul Globe - just the daily sports page from May 22 - June 15 1897 (still in progress...)
That's over 300 editions of papers. Wow. If I only could get paid for this. (At least the Forum daily was usually just 4 pages!)

There are many more papers I am interested in searching. More to come.

3) My last complaint is similar to #1 and concerns Fargo's baseball park. I have no idea where it was. Well, I have some idea, but the Forum and Argus do not specify its location. Not even reference to nearby landmarks that would help my cause. The papers do call it a "park" and sometimes the "baseball grounds". Based on some vague clues like these and my moderate knowledge of Fargo's history, I do have a theory. I really do think they played at Island Park. However, they also could have played at Oak Grove Park, and possibly could have had a makeshift baseball park somewhere else in the city. I hope it's Island Park - I have always loved that place.

Rivalries and Trash Talking

Arguments and insults between fans of rival teams are normally confined to blogs, online forums, and talk radio. This was not the case in 1897. Newspapers carried the load of hyping (or criticizing) the home team and tearing down the opponents. In particular, Fargo's Sunday Argus took special liberty to publish antagonistic jabs at opposing cities and their teams - both openly and with subtlety.


A sampling of some interesting criticisms:
May 30th - The Argus says the Wahpeton-Breckenridge team, in losing to Moorhead, was "feeling around as aimlessly as pedestrians trying to escape the Fargo street sweeper..." The same article refers to the Moorhead team as the "Barmaids", a moniker that in no way could be considered complimentary. Fargo was an dry city, so Moorhead was the place to drink in 1897. And, apparently, referring to the other team as a bunch of girls is not a new phenomenon in competitive sports - today, though, it is typically reserved as the insult of elementary-aged children.

June 6th - After a win for Fargo against Grand Forks, the Argus simultaneously insulted both the home team for their slow start, and jabbed at the visitors, proclaiming: "Strange! Fargo has won a game! And it was easy at that!"

June 13th - Umpires rarely escaped the wrath of the papers. The Argus claimed in a game between Grand Forks and Moorhead, that "Umpire O'Donnnel's (sic) work was rank, and he received a great deal of roast from the crowd."

July 11th - Speaking of Moorhead's Frank Kulp: "When Kulp can't hit the ball he blames the umpire... Anyhow, it's a case of Kulp-able carelessness."