The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-15
UNPRoFEssIoNAL CONDUCT.
Peculiar Methods In Baseball on tn
Pacific Coast.


Pacific Coast.
The slipshod and smateurish methods with
| which professional baseball has been carried on
| this season in some Of the cities OF the Pacific
Coasts without parallel. Happily Portland Is
the only town of the Pacific Northwest League
In which such practices are prevalent, but there
the conduct OF affairs is something fearful and
| wonderful The players seem 20 set at naught
| all discipline and governed by boyIsh
whlms, which has made more than one Of them
say: "I'm mad and I'm going 70 quit playing"
| Early in the season Billy George in q
| fit Of pique jumped the team and went to Cali
| fornia Returning after weeks absence, he
| was received with open arms He not only re-
sumed his place on the team without being dis
ciplfned, bat petition was actually circulated
entreating him not TO jump the club a. ain.
Another reprehensibe piece of business, If Sec
Rotary Roekwell's word lie to be believed, is the
Portland clubs refusal 10 give up Darrah after
his rele- sc had been promised TO Tacoma
Other unheard-of practices have been in
duIged in, but the most remarkable are the
recent antics of Westlake and Osborne. These
two men left the team and went to La Grande,
member OF the little Pacific Interstate League.
There they played one game, and Westlake is
now supposed to be on his way East Osborne's
course, however, capped the climax He re-
turned 10 Portland and took his place In the
team again, apparently without even repri-
mand, IL the newspaper reports are true. This,
too, while IL was publicly announced that hs
would leave the team again in few days and
20 back 20 lie GraDde. And il would seem that
he has done so, as he has not played with Port
land in the games at spokane.
The Portland management has also acted very
unadvlrsdly in allowing to be sent out reports
that they threaten to jump 70 the California
League. Considering the 81 so forfeit impC sed,
the late time OF season and the long stretch be-
tween Portland and the California cities, the
n on no pf
Ii is IN the California League, however, that
unprofessional and unbusiuesslike conduct has
reached it's height. There baseball law seems to
be ignored entirely. To begin with, number
OF reserved players of the Pacific Northwest
League were stolen, and the securing OF the re-
turn oil part of them was like pulling eye
teeth. For failing to return the Others the
league is now lowering on the brink of expulsion
from tue protection of the national agreement.
The same kind OF WORK has been kept up all
season. Players have been induced to jump
from different clubs throughout ths country,
and no attention whatever has ever been paid
10 the rights of other leagues under protection
The latest news of trouble comes from sacra-
mento, where four players, McQuirk, Spies,
Holman and 0Day have been released by the
| owner of the club because they refused to play
unless he reinstated MeCloskey In the manage
| ment. MeQuirk is one of spokane's reserved
| players, who should have been released by Fac
ramento long ago.
The dernoraized condition OF affairs in most
of the minor leagues, and their failure to live up
to the provisions of the national agreement, is
undoubtedly due TO the quarrel last winter be-
tween the League and the Association, which re-
suited I'm the latter Withdrawing from protec-
ton. Things were then turned upside down
and the effect has been felt everywhere. Next
year, in order 10 make the national agreement
something more than mera name, the lines
will have to be drawn much more strictly, and
they undoubtedly will be. Unless they are, a
repetition Of the demoralizing work of this
son will take place.