A Soggy Fourth of July at the Ballpark
Rain and firecrackers dampen the spirits at a lackluster match between the Maroons and Bellingham Bay.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The principal attraction at the Madison Street park was the ball game between the Maroons and the Bellingham Bay clubs. Rain prevented a large crowd, and the 300 sightseers who occupied the grandstand came away with the impression that they had witnessed anything but a brilliant exhibition of the national game. The grounds were wet, slippery, and in consequence the ball was hard to handle. The Maroons won by a score of 10 to 5, but to point out brilliant features would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer. In fact, more attention was paid during the last three innings to the mischievous pranks of small boys with firecrackers than to the game itself.
“To point out brilliant features would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer.”
Public holiday sports remain a staple of Seattle summers, though today's fans at T-Mobile Park rarely have to compete with small children throwing fireworks in the aisles. The Madison Street park, once a hub for such local recreation, has long since vanished under the city's urban expansion, leaving only a memory of these early attempts to establish a 'national game' in the Pacific Northwest.
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