BrooklynBallParks.com - Forfeited By St. Louis

FORFEITED BY ST. LOUIS

A Game Which Proved a Disgraceful Exhibition

Brooklyn's Rivals Left the Field Before the
End of Yesterday's Contest, and Have to
Endure a Score of 9 to 0.

Brooklyn Eagle, September 8, 1889

Not in the history of professional ball playing in this city has the game received such a blow to its continued favor with the best patrons of the national game as was given it yesterday at Washington Park at the hands of the St. Louis Club players and the club's president, the latter of whom sat on the bench and aided and abetted Captain Comiskey and his gang in their ball playing tricks on the field and in their bold and impudent exhibition of the bulldozing work through which they have gained so many of their victories this season. Hundreds were present yesterday who, on witnessing the disgraceful conduct of the visiting team in the closing part of the contest, declared that if that was professional ball playing they would have nothing to do with it.

Everything went on with comparative quiet, despite some disreputable tricks the visiting team resorted to, until the sixth inning, and, when that had ended with the St. Louis team one run ahead, then did the bully captain of the gang and his lieutenants begin to resort to the ways which had won them victories at home time and again. They entered upon a line of tactics to delay the game which the umpire was made powerless to prevent, simply because every fine inflicted was paid by the club, and the penalty was therefore completely nullified and the umpire rendered helpless to enforce the rules. But at least his patience gave out, and he refused to acquiesce in their impudent demand that he call the game on account of darkness, and that, too, before sundown, and they took up their hats and left the field, they insultingly ignoring his decision, he very properly, and under a legal interpretation of the constitutional laws of the association, decided the game forfeited to the Brooklyn Club by a score of 9 to 0, and with the added penalty of a $1,500 fone for leaving the ground before the legal close of the contest, and this amount the "boss manager" will have to pay out of his own pocket.

Never before have the Brooklyn team met with so hearty and enthusiastic a reception as they did when they marched on the field to engage in their preliminary practice. The St. Louis players had preceded them and as they went on the field only a slight reception was given the champions compared to that they met with last Spring on the same field.

Everything was propitous for a grand contest. The weather was all that could have been desired, and as for the attendance it exceeded in numbers and surpassed in character every previous gathering seen on the grounds, except on a holiday occasion. Not a seat was at command at 3 P.M., and at the hour for calling play standing room was at a premium, over fifteen thousand people being within the inclosure. An extra force of police were on hand in case of an emergency, but their services were not needed, except where the crowd inadvertently rushed on the field in the seventh inning. The attendance of ladies was so large that the overflow of the fair sex had to find seats on the bleaching boards. The outfield was inclosed by a roped boundary and a cordon of police kept the crowd from encroaching. In fact everything was done by President Byrne to afford the contestants a fair field under the circumstance of so vast an assemblage of spectators. By 4 P.M. seats on the edge of the fence were sought for until a fring of people encircled the grounds.

The Game.

At 4 P.M. Umpire Goldsmith called play and O'Brien went to the bat, and the first ball from his bat rolled easily to Fuller, who fumbled it badly, and O'Brien had a life given him. On a passed ball Darby reached second. Collins then came to the bat, and after two strikes had been called he hit a beautiful liner to centre field which, under the rule, gave him only second base, Darby going home on the hit. Next came Dave Foutz with a rattling bounder to left centre which gave him first base, and by Duffee's error he took second, Collins scoring on the hit. Burns then tried to hit safe to right field, and McCarthy not only got under the ball, but he threw it to Latham in time to cut off Foutz at third, Dave accidentally spiking Latham as they came together at the base, and a delay occurred until Latham could change his shoe. The double play cut off a run. Pinkney then followed with a hard hit bounder which caromed off Robinson's leg, and before the ball could be fielded Pinkney had stolen second. He was left there, however, as Corkhill fungoed out to Duffee. On the part of St. Louis in this inning Latham opened with a hard hit bounder to Pinkney, who found the ball too swift to field, and Latham earned his base. Latham started for second on a steal, but Collins put the low thrown ball on him like a flash and he was out. McCarthy then hit to O'Brien and retired and the O'Neill hit the ball into the crowd at deep left field, getting two bases under the rules. Comiskey then came to the bat, and after a strike had been called O'Neill attempted to steal third on a passed ball, and on the throw to Pinkney he was put out through over running the base, and the first inning ended with the score as 2 to 0 in favor of Brooklyn.

In the second inning Clark led off by striking out; then Caruthers hit fungo to McCarthy, and to the surprise of the crowd an easy chance for a catch was missed and Caruthers got to second on the error. With one out and a runner on third Smith slugged at the ball and retired on strikes, and as O'Brien followed suit the inning ended for a blank. On the other side in this inning Comiskey was splendidly struck out by Caruthers. Robinson was similarly disposed of, and then came Duffee, whom Von der Ahe wants to release for Welch, and he, too, was retired on strikes by Caruthers' masterly pitching. This left the score still the same as before, 2 to 0.

In the third inning Collins opened with a beautiful bunt to Latham, earning his base, but he was well thrown out at second by Milligan, and as Foutz and Burns gave easy chances for catches the inning ended for a blank. On the other side, after Fuller had been finely fielded out by Caruthers, Milligan hit a hard one to Caruthers, who, in his effort to stop the ball, injured his hand, but he pluckily went into the box again; on Chamberlain's force Milligan was retired at second, and then Latham came to the bat, with two out and a runner at first base. On a throw by Clark to cut off Chamberlain trying to steal second the ball hit the umpire in the neck, and Chamberlain went back to first base. On his next essay to steal he was finely thrown out by Clark, and that ended the inning. The third of the game was now over and still the score stood at 2 to 0 in favor of Brooklyn.

In the fourth inning Pinkney tried to duplicate his home run hit of Thursday, but Duffee got under the ball and George went to the bench. Then Corkhill was given his base on balls and afterward stole second. On Clark's pretty liner Corkhill was sent to third, but in trying to get home on the hit he was easily thrown out there, Clark stealing second on the throw in. Then Caruthers hit to Robinson, who gave him a life by a wild throw to Comiskey, but the latter's fine stop and throw to Milligan caught Clark at the base, he having no show to get home, owing to Comiskey's fine stop of the wild thrown ball. Comiskey then hit to Collins, and by Clark's pretty stop of Collins' low thrown ball McCarthy was put out at home. With two men on unearned bases, Robinson hit a low liner to O'Brien, who made a fine catch of the ball and ended the inning for a blank amid a perfect storm of applause, for the fielding in this inning was splendid.

In the fifth inning Smith opened with a base on balls and then O'Brien sent him to second by a cracking bounder. On Collins' bunt and sacrifice both runners were forwarded, and with runners on second and third Foutz came to the bat. He hit to Chamberlain and on the hit Smith was run out between home and third, Foutz getting to second on the play. Burns now came to bat, with runners on second and third, and he hit a rattling ball to Comiskey, who muffed it, and as Burns made the fatal mistake of not running to first base on the hit a chance for a run was lost by bad play. On the other side Duffee opened with a safe bounder to left field and by a steal he got to second. Fuller was them finely thrown out by Caruthers, the sacrifice sending Duffee to third. On Milligan's hit Duffee scored. Chamberlain followed with a safe hit and Latham's sacrifice forwarded the two runners. McCarthy then hit to Foutz and that ended the inning, leaving the score at 2 to 1 only, with Brooklyn still in the van.

The champions nearly got the home team rattled in this inning, the latter totally ignoring the EAGLE'S advice to them to "keep cool above all things," and the result was that the visitors were permitted to make a successful rally.

In the sixth inning fungo hits to the outfield disposed of the first two batsmen and Clark's foul fly ended the inning. On the other side O'Neill opened with a safe bounder to center. On Comiskey's sacrifice the runner was forwarded, and Robinson's safe bounder to center sent O'Neill home, thereby tying the score. Fuller's two bagger to left field then sent Robinson home with the leading run, and then Milligan ended the inning, leaving St. Louis in the van by 3 to 2. Now came the tug of war as Brooklyn went in to their seventh inning at 5:40 P.M. with a cloudy atmosphere, but the sun still well up in the west. Caruthers opened at the bat and after two balls had been called a strike was declared, on which Caruthers threw up his arms as if the decision was an outrage. The next ball nearly hit him, and as he went to the base on balls Milligan did the kicking act. The St. Louis captain now began his bulldozing tactics to delay the game into darkness and kept up arguments on the subject with the umpire, despite fines, for delay. Smith then went to the bat and he purposely got in the way of a pitched ball and ran to first. Another delay occurred on this discussion, the Brooklyns playing into Comiskey's hands in this ining. Then Smith made an effort to balk the catcher and a third argument delayed the game still further. This was just as objectionable as the St. Louis tricks. It was now 5:50 P.M. and the umpire noted the time and got ready to call the game in case Comiskey did not resume play promptly. With Caruthers on third and one man out, O'Brien came to the bat, but after two strikes he fouled out to Latham. Collins now came to the bat, and he hit apparently safe to center field, but Duffee made a wonderful catch and a blank was drawn. Comiskey had thus far successfully worked his tactics of delay, and he intended to win the game by it. The eighth inning was then played with the result of blanks to both sides, and once more Comiskey and his gang tried to bulldoze the umpire. But he adhered to his determination to have the game played out as long as he himself could see the ball. Despite over half an hour's intentional delay by the visitors, it was only 6:18 P.M. when the Brooklyns went to bat in their ninth inning, and when Smith reached on an error by Milligan, Comiskey called his men in, who took up the bats and marched off the field, to the disgust of every impartial spectator on the field, he contemptuously disregarding the umpire's call to the St. Louis field to play ball. Goldsmith took his watch, waited the legal time, and the St. Louis players not returning, he then and there gave the game to Brooklyn as forfeited by 9 to 0, and with this decision goes all bets, as also the penalty of the $1,500 fine which the St. Louis Club must pay to Brooklyn. Here is the score of the game:

             BROOKLYN.                                ST. LOUIS.
                 R.1B.PO. A. E.                           R.1B.PO. A. E.
O'Brien,l.f......1  1  1  0  1           Latham,3b........1  2  3  2  0
Collins,2b.......1  1  4  2  2           McCarthy,r.f.....0  0  3  1  1
Foutz,1b.........0  2 12  1  0           O'Neill,l.f......1  2  1  0  0
Burns,r.f........0  0  1  0  0           Comiskey,1b......0  0  4  0  0
Pinkney,3b.......0  1  1  2  0           Robinson,2b......1  1  0  2  1
Corkhill,c.f.....0  0  0  0  0           Duffee,c.f.......1  1  3  0  1
Clark,c..........0  1  4  2  0           Fuller,s.s.......0  1  3  1  1
Caruthers,p......0  0  0  4  0           Milligan,c.......0  2  7  1  0
Smith,s.s........0  0  1  2  0           Chamberlain,p....0  1  0  1  0
                -- -- -- -- --                           -- -- -- -- --
Total............2  6 24 13  3           Total............4 10 24  8  4

                         RUNS SCORED
                    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8
Brooklyn............2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0--2
St. Louis...........0   0   0   0   1   2   1   0--4

Earned runs- Brooklyn, 1; St. Louis, 2.
First base by errors- Brooklyn, 4; St. Louis, 2.
Battery errors- Brooklyn, 1; St. Louis, 3.
Left on bases- Brooklyn, 8; St. Louis, 6.
Stolen bases- Brooklyn, 4; St. Louis, 2.
Total bases- Brooklyn, 7; St. Louis, 13.
Struck out- Brooklyn, 3; St. Louis, 3.
Chances for catches- Brooklyn, 12; St. Louis, 6.
Sacrifice hits- Brooklyn, 1; St. Louis, 3.
Double play- St. Louis, 1.
Runs batted in by safe hits- Collins, 1; Foutz, 1; Milligan, 1; Robinson, 1; Fuller, 1.
Bases on balls- By Chamberlain, 3.
Passed balls- Clark, 1; Milligan, 2.

The game ended at 6:18 P.M. Attendance- 15,143. Umpire- Goldsmith.
Time of game- 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Scenes and Incidents.

It would take the pen of a Dickens or a Collins to describe the scenes and incidents of yesterday's contest. Nothing like it has ever been seen in this vicinity, and there was more excitement to the square inch than ever seen before. People hereabouts, aware of the importance of the three games of the series, began passing through the gates at an early hour, and by 3:30 o'clock even standing room could not be obtained on the grand stand. In fact not another person could get anywhere near the little box office leading to the reserved seats. The bleacheries were black with people and on the pathways surrounding these seats the people were jammed together in one immovable mass, and the only time they could gather themselves together was when the excitement got the best of them and everybody was forced to throw up their hands and were compelled to sway about like a wave on the ocean from the irresistable and frenzied throng. The banks back of the fielders were littered with a multitude, and even on the high fences venturesome enthusiasts perched themselves on a precarious and dangerous footing. The rays of the sun, when not obscured by the threatening clouds, poured down on the sweltering mass with terrible intensity, and the crowd shed their coats and vests, but the perspiration still poured from them like small rivers. The excitement as the game progressed made it worse for them, for they shouted, yelled, stamped, and acted in a general way like mad men until they were utterly exhausted.

No words can describe the scenes and excitement which prevailed throughout. Imagine nearly sixteen thousand people worked up by the appeal of one of the Brooklyn players, who wrote to the EAGLE some time ago beseeching the patrons to "root" for their success. They came there to do it, and it is safe to say that if some of the spectators, the majority of whom were staid, dignified, and phlegmatic citizens, could have a slight idea of the manner in which they acted, frenzied by the outrageous actions of the St. Louis team, they would utterly refuse to believe how they behaved.

When the Western players marched off the field they were the recipients of such hooting, cat calls, hisses, and adjectives not nice to print that it made them look around in alarm, and it is safe to say they will never forget the scene, nor will there ears stop tingling for some time with the volume of sound which met them.

An amusing incident happened at this point of the game. One of the waiters, back of the third base line, with a tray loaded with glasses of beer, became so enthused he forgot himself, with disastrous results. He leaned out over the railing and evidently wished to clap his hands in approval of the runs scored. The tray fell to the ground below the stand, the glasses were smashed to pieces and he was out of pocket for a pretty penny. This made the crowd yell with ghoulish glee and amused them while Comiskey brought in his original mule play. Latham was spiked at this juncture and another delay ensued.

When Latham went in for St. Louis he showed the effects of his injury. After unsuccessfully trying to bunt the sphere he mumbled to himself, walked around the home plate like a chicken with its head cut off and then tried again. Pinkney's fumble enabled him to reach the initial bag, but Clark's deadly throw to second rendered him hors de combat. How the crowd did guy him! McCarthy, one of the worst ruffians on the field, then tried his kicking propensities on Goldsmith but without avail. When he came in hissing and indescribable shouts which greeted him, and which must have convinced anyone but one of his caliber how detestable he was held in the spectator opinion, went up from the multitude. He did not mind it, apparently, for with an air of sang froid he lifted his cap and smiled his approval.

In the second inning Chamberlain showed his qualities as a pitcher by striking out Clark, Smith, and O'Brien on his curves. But Caruthers followed him in just as good work, retiring three heavy hitting Missourians on his drop curve balls. For fully three minutes the air resounded with deafening applause for Bob, and he looked proud. The Brooklyn team had several opportunities to score after this point, but by some stupid base running or bad coaching and lack of a little hit they could not make another run.

Latham, the clown, who always caused unlimited merriment by his antics and hippodromes, did not begin his funny tricks until the sixth inning, when the St. Louis team had scored. He woke them up and made the spectators laugh at his witty sayings and repartee. At one time, while at the bat, he yelled to McGunnigle, the Brooklyn manager, who was showing signs of nervousness, to stop pulling his moustache and not to hoodoo him. Again, just as O'Neill was about to meet a ball, he said: "Oh! Look at that hit," and the remark was well timed, too, for the left fielder cracked out a ball which enabled one of his fellow players to cross the plate. When the Missourians tied the score he turned flipflaps, stood on his hands and rolled over the ground in a perfect paroxysm of delight. Of course, the spectators looked distressed, but they had to laugh at the clown's antics nevertheless.

At the end of the eighth inning the St. Louis players on the bench, reinforced by two or three of their followers, took out a few tallow candles and lit them. They evidently thought they had the game well in hand and were holding a wake over the Brooklyn corpse. They grew hilarious over the scene and it required manager McGunnigle and a policeman to remove the St. Louis men who were on the bench.

The scene when umpire Goldsmith declared the game forfeited beggared description. Cheers rent the air, mingled with hoots and derisive shouts for St. Louis.

A youth who had allowed his enthusiasm to get the better of him became involved in a quarrel with a bystander, but was arrested.

Manager McGunnigle and Tom Burns had an animated conversation on the players' bench when the latter hit a slow bounder to Comiskey and did not run on it. The St. Louis captain fumbled it, and had Burns run on the hit he would probably have reached the first bag and perhaps saved a shut out in the inning when two men were on bases.

On the elevated trains the mass of people coming home was simply terrific. It was a jostling, turbulent crowd, and a number of hats were crushed and some clothing torn. Altogether, the game will not be forgotten in some time by those who witnessed it.

Bob Ferguson, one of the association umpires, came on from Baltimore, where he was scheduled to judge yesterday's Cincinnati-Baltimore game. He sat in the press box and was an interested spectator of the contest. Ferguson evidently did not envy Goldsmith's position for the day, but was content to watch the plays.

At the Eagle Bulletins.

The scenes at the various EAGLE bulletin boards were a repetition of those at Washington Park on a miniature scale. The crowds that surrounded the main office bulletin on Fulton Street, at the Bedford branch, 1,227 Bedford avenue; the Eastern District branch office, at 44 Broadway, and the Fifth avenue branch, 435 Fifth avenue were large and the excitement knew no bounds. They understood that there was something the matter by the slow manner in which the score was coming in, and the many hard sayings against the visiting team showed to what pitch the feelings were strung. As inning followed inning, and the score at the ending of the eighth showed St. Louis in the lead, not a murmur was heard, but when the announcement was made that the game had been forfeited to Brooklyn the cheering from the spectators could be heard blocks away. Hats were thrown in the air, men who had never seen each other shook hands like old friends and the boys began pummeling each other in their delight. It was an animated sight at each of the places and shows what a hold base ball has on the public.