The Day the Ball Vanished in the Woods
A spectacular home run at the Seattle Athletic Club game clears the fence and lands in the thicket, a feat never seen in amateur ball before.
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 A.C. baseball team resumed its winning streak yesterday at the expense of the Viviendas, of Tacoma, although the game was by no means a walkover. The visitors put up a plucky fight, and but for their weakness with the stick would have made matters decidedly lively for the local team. The hitting feature of the game was a terrific line drive by Morris over the left field fence for a home run. The ball was still rising as it cleared the fence, and was lost in the woods beyond as the big left-fielder jogged round the bases. This was the first time that the feat has ever been accomplished in an amateur game. Notwithstanding the fact that the Athletics won the game handily, their work was open to criticism. After making four runs in one inning, most of them seemed to branch out into the most dangerous of practices—fancy ball-playing for the benefit of the stands.
“The ball was still rising as it cleared the fence, and was lost in the woods beyond as the big left-fielder jogged round the bases.”
Amateur baseball in the 1890s was the heart of Seattle's social life, often played on fields that have long since been swallowed by the urban grid. This story captures the shift from sport as a grim contest to sport as a 'fancy' performance for spectators, a transformation that continues to define the relationship between city stadiums and the fans who fill them.
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