The Olympics Outlast Seattle in a One-Run Amateur Thriller
Seattle's amateur nine fought to the last man against the Olympic Athletic Club in a game full of spectacular catches and disputed calls.
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 Olympic Athletic Club baseball team, which has replaced the Ballards in the Amateur League, defeated Seattle yesterday afternoon at the Twelfth Street grounds in one of the most exciting games of the season. The play was rapid and the crowd had no time to stretch. It was one of those games in which the winner could not be picked until the last man was out, and it showed that a team with nerve and determination may win even after it seems beaten.
The most sensational work was done by Seattle's left fielder, who robbed the Olympics of two two-base hits by catching the ball close to the fence. Blondo pitched for the Olympic boys in his best suit of clothes, apparently thinking he might need to make a quick departure if business called him, but he was steady, accurate and apparently indifferent to the opposition. Davis, behind the bat for Seattle, did work that comes near making him the best backstop in the league; one left-handed stop of a low pitch that would have let in two runs drew a ripple of applause.
Seattle scored in the first on Vaughan's three-bagger and McKinstry's double. The Olympics made two runs in their half after poor work in the field, and a disputed call at the plate caused a howl from the Olympic players and a war of words between Ganzel and the umpire. Seattle led by one after the fourth. The Olympics tied and then went ahead, and in the eighth, with two men out, Campbell's long hit to deep center brought home the runs that made the score 6 to 7. Seattle came to bat in the ninth needing one run, but Blondo and Rodgers prevented it, and the Olympics won.
“It was one of those games when the winner could not be picked until the last man was out.”
Amateur baseball rivalries were part of Seattle's public life before the major leagues arrived, drawing crowds to neighborhood grounds that have since vanished. Today's city leagues and revived sandlot teams still play the same role: cheap, local spectacle and civic bragging rights.
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