Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-10
& THE DIAMOND {


The following special correspondence,
under a Great Falls date line, which APP
peared in the st. Louis Sporting News
under date of November 3, is not likely
to prove as oil upon the troubled Waters
of baseball in Montana. Inc signature
to the article is the initials sc. S. r.,
and the full text eff the correspondence
is as follows:
The published statement of ID becky,
Pace in which he accused ~ umpire Cf.
giving unfail. decisions and with giving
the game to Great Falls, created much
Indignation in baseball cl-ales in this
city.
Manager McClosky had very little to.
say in the matter, except that the Helena
team had counted their chickens before,
they were Matched, and thy must now
take their medicine. Mickey Lynch,
however, was more communicative, and
made the following signed statement:
pace has a cast-iron nerve and a.
gall like an OK to max any such state
ment as he did in regard to the final
game in Butte. In the first place, Pace
had at least 20 passed balls behind the
bat. He could not hold the wet ball, and
everything escaped between his buttered
fingers. He made the statement that he
did merely to cover .up. his rotten work
behind the bat. To n,yanlind the Helena
team made a mot plac ings Hur-
ley behind the bat, as he is PAGES SUPERB
Tor in every way. 8- Al'Esa@ '.
"'The day we played in Butte. was a
fright. 1t rained, showed, and hailed, and
the grounds Were one, vast area of mud
and s!ush. Maupin lost control of the
ball and weAt to pieces-he could not get
the ball near the plate
Before he went out to the ball
grounds McClosky secured a pound Of
powdered rosin, and this, mixed finely
with plaster of Paris, he placed in Jones'
hip pocket. with this mixture and a
handkerchief Jones dried the ball every
time he pitched it, giving him every ad-
vantage over Maupin in controlling the
little sphere. 1t also aided the catcher
in throwing to bases, and as a result mt
a single base was stolen on Zearfoss.
While our boys made IL on Helena-Mc-
Closkey himself had six. This fact,
coupled with Maupin's wildness, and not
the umpire's decisions, lost the game for
the Senators. 81
".Lt is passing strange that every time
Helena lost a game they worked that old,
moth-eaten chestnut, robbed by the UNI
pire.' Pace claims that he threw the bari
away in the eighth inning while Me-
Closkey was ait the bat. This is another
mistake, as Raymer was at bat and Ma
Closkey was on first. I was on second
n stole third, and as the ball passed
Pace I scored. 1t was then, in a fit OF
rage at Maupin, that Pace deliberately
threw the ball over the ence. Several
of the Helena players then. became dis
gusted at PAGES actions and quit. Nc
j! Donough then had no alternative but to
forfeit the game to Great Falls, the score
at the time being II to I in favor of Great
Falls and no one out. The game was
called back in order to even the innings
making the score 9 to Z.
"'Referring to PAGES criticism IF the
umpire, I would state -tnac while I was
with the Anaconda team, before joining
Great Falls, Anaconda defeated the lat
ter in four straight games. / know, from
my own personal kno Wedge, rhas Un:-
pire Grim in those games gave Anaconda
the best of at least a dozen decisions. Did
McCloskey appeal to Lucas and say that
they were robbed? No: he kept his mouth
shut and took his medicine. .
"'To my way of thinking, President
Lucas has done his work without fear or
favor, and this thing of blaming and APP
pealing to him after a decision has been
rendered was child's play. / would not
make this reply to PAGES silly account
of that game, only that I think it is bat
justice to the other members Of the Great
Falls team and to myself to state the
facts as they were.'" ..