Umpire Mobbed in Seattle-Portland Baseball Feud
Passions boil over at a local amateur baseball match, leading to an ugly confrontation and a plea for sportsmanship.
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 incident in Saturday's baseball game between the Seattle Athletic Club and the Multnomah Athletic Club of Portland, which caused the retirement of umpire Smith from the game, was a disgrace. The selection by the Multnomah team was certainly most unfortunate, as he was generally declared by Seattle and Portland men of moderation to lack decision and to use poor judgment. But this in no wise warranted the treatment he received at the hands of the hooting mob that swarmed on the field. On the trip to Portland on the Fourth of July, the Seattle team was accorded the most generous and considerate treatment by the spectators. Although the Portland team was getting defeated, the crowd was unselfish in its applause to the visitors and they were given fair play at all times. While it cannot be denied that some of the umpire's decisions materially affected the final score, still Seattle was fairly and squarely beaten, notwithstanding any injustice that might have been shown to the umpire. Even under such trying circumstances, the true spirit of sportsmanship should have prevailed. Any such reception as the umpire was given is inexcusable. He was not a hired professional, but was giving up his time and services for the advancement of the sport, and for that reason was entitled to still more consideration.
“Any such reception as the umpire was given is inexcusable. He was not a hired professional, but was giving up his time and services for the advancement of the sport.”
Amateur baseball in the 1890s Pacific Northwest was a fierce, community-driven affair that often mirrored regional rivalries, much like the modern-day Seattle-Portland professional sports dynamic. This account highlights the transition of baseball from a gentlemanly 'manly' pursuit to a spectacle susceptible to the same crowd pressures and officiating disputes seen in stadiums today.
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