The Seattle Ball Club Cracks Down on Drinking
Management threatens to suspend players who spend their nights in 'drunkenness and debauchery' rather than practicing their game.
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 poor showing that the Seattle baseball team has been making, especially in its stick work, has been a source of chagrin to its supporters. The bad conduct of the players is responsible; while some have been taking care of themselves, the rest have been paying too much attention to 'booze' and other evils. Night after night, certain ones have spent the hours in drunkenness and debauchery in disreputable parts of the city. Officers of the club have determined to call a halt to this. A strict compliance with rules of good behavior will be required, and an official bulletin has been posted in the club house: any player seen under the influence of intoxicating liquors will be fined $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second, $100 for the third, and for the fourth, they shall be suspended for the remainder of the season.
“Night after night certain ones have spent the hours in drunkenness and debauchery in disreputable parts of the city.”
Public morality and athlete conduct remain perennial subjects of debate in professional sports. This 1892 effort to enforce 'discipline' through fines mirrors current struggles with corporate governance and the public image of civic institutions.
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