The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-09-19
HELENA PAPERS ROAR
Continued from First Page.

head for a clean home run, a remark
ably long hit, almost exactly like the
one he made Friday. but even a longer
One. That tied the score. Two NOR
runs were made in the same inning on
clean hits by McNeeley. Hawley and
Hansen, although a triling error by
Helena prevented these two runs being
earned. In the seventh the Cowboys
scored again on Flannery's beautiful
three Dagger after two men were out,
the hit being stretched into a home run
by Sohnables' error at third base in let.
ting the throw pass him. Score, four
to one in favor Of Billings. Both sides
were retired without scoring in the
eighth inning, McNeeley. unassisted,
making a beautiful double play by
picking up a hot %grounder between first
and second, making a hard run and
touching a base runner on the line and
then fielding the ball to first in time to
catch the batter. 1t was a beautiful
play, one that required head work to
make and could only have been accom-
plished by an old and experienced
player.
In the first half of the ninth, Free
man got first Oh Casey's tumble Of bis
slow grounder. Then Hammond got
first Oh Marshall's tumble of the same
kind OF a hit, Freeman going to second.
Gimlin then hit a safe one to center
field, scoring Freeman and Hammond
going to third. Burton then hit to
Casey at short, who threw Gimlin out
at second, Burton getting first. Bur
ton then stole second on a bluff throw
by Zearfoss. Ryan then came to bat
and hit to Marshall, who threw Ham.
mond out at the plate. Maupin then
hit a safe n to center, Flannery max
ing a bluff throw to third and catching
Ryan mapping at second. He could not
get back to the base and started for
third, but MoNeeley and Marshall had
him on the line, McNeeley finally
touching him fairly with the ball,
which he held il both hands. Then,
all Of a sudden, MoNeeley dropped to
the ground. unconscious, having been
struck on the jugular vein by Ryan,
who is a much heavier man. After he
had fallen, McNeeley, Of course, drop.
ped the ball, being unable to hold it in
his unconscious condition, and while
he was lying there on the ground,
many of the spectators thinking he was
dead. Burton ran in from third base,
Ryan also starting toward home.
Casey picked mp the ball that McNeeley
had dropped and threw to third to
catch Ryan, but that "olean" ball
player, after already having knocked
out McNeeley, struck Marshall in the
face with his open hand as he got to
the base, which caused Marshall to
miss the ball and Ryan ran OH home,
Maupin also crossing the plate while
the Billings players were gathering
around McNeeley, lying PROSTATE and
unconscious on the ground. This
would have made the score five to four
in favor of Helena, providing Ryan had
not been called out, but Billings still
had a half inning to play.
In much less time than it takes to
write it, half the audience was on the
diamond, gathering around McNeeley.
whom DR.. Hogan had been called to at
tend, the Helena ball players in the
meantime, although they did not know
but what McNeeley was dead, demand
ing of Umpire Lavernash that he de.
eide that Ryan was not out. The Ga
zette heard the umpire say he would
make no decision until the crowd had
dispersed, and Mr.. Lavernash, who
lives in Livingston, and has no interest
in either ball team, authorizes this
paper to state that he made no decision
whatever until he announced that
Ryan was cut, in about ten minutes
after McNeeley was knocked down.
Mr.. Lavernash also authorizes The Ga
zette to say that he saw Ryan strike
McNeeley, while Marshall, third base
for Billings, authorizes the state.
ment that Ryan struck him in the face
with his open hand as he passed the
bag. DR.. Hogan authorizes the state
ment that McNeeley was struck on the
jugular vein, but does not pretend to
say how the injury was inflicted.
McNeeley was unconscious for fully
five minutes and the first thing he said
on recovering was, Il held the ball."
McNeeley did hold it, too, for a
oSotHo VI 5CSohun dLt5I IGfuu was
touched. not dropping it until he be-
came unconscious. All the audience
saw this, and they also saw that it was
impossible for McNeeley to be knocked
out by the momentum of Ryan's body,
as he had stopped running just as Nc
touched him. He was facing
player, too, so 1t cannot be claim.
ed that Ryan struck McNeeley with his
The Gazette believes, and it is
the unanimous opinion in Billings,
Ryan struck McNeeley on the
juRlar with both fists, being angry at
being put out and hoping that he could
make it appear that McNeeley dropped
the ball. in which case Ryan would
have been safe. The blow, If one was
was delivered so quickly that
few in the audience saw it, Ryan's