The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-06-01

Charley Boardman, former Far
go hurler, brought a number of
ball-players and TRUCK load of
horseshoes to Fargo yesterday,
aggregated the outfit and sent it
on the field as the Valley City
baseball club, and after an in and
out battle, defeated the Fargo
Athletics by a score of to 6 af-
ter II innings.
1t certainly wasn't the good
playing Of the Valley City team
that won the game. Fargo errors
in the pinches were costly and
Gelhaye was just wild enough to
give the visitors plenty Of oppor-
tunities to have men on bases.
Boardman took the razzing of
the crowd throughout the II in
nings yesterday with good-nat-
ured smile. Even when he put
himself in the role of a pinch
hitter in the ninth inning and
struck out, he smiled. The big
lefthander must have been using
the ouija board for when things
looked the toughest, he merely
smiled and his team finished
with the long end of the count.
The above is a sample of the goot
craftsmanship of Fargo sports writ
ers when reporting a game lost by {
Fargo team. 1t is part of the lea(
article written by j. A. Purcell, sports
editor of the Fargo Forum, and dis
plays a singular lack Of courtesy OF
regard for a visiting team. We know
that Wednesdays defeat was bittel
pill for the Athletics to swallow as il
is discouraging to have a team, whom
you have been ridiculing in your col
umns, knock holes in your home
towns percentage but there are still
81 games to be played and that same
percentages is very apt to receive sew.
eral set backs, none Of which would
excuse the display of such childish.
ness as is shown above. Valley City
and Fargo have been athletic rivals
for many years, sometimes Fargo
takes the lead and at other times
Valley City gets the honors but Far
go has never received such treatment
as is shown above by any Valley City
paper, regardless of the outcome OF
the game. Valley City prides itself
on the ability to treat visiting team,
with courtesy, to win like gentlemen
and to lose like sportsmen. Valley
City has never received decent treat
ment at the hands of the Fargo fans
when playing in the neighboring city
being subject to every kind Of abuse
at the hands of the crowd. No Valley
City player ever received applause
from a Fargo crowd for making ar
exceptionally good play such as Far
go players would receive on Valley
City's ground. In spite of this atti-
tude on the part of Fargo their teams
always receive the best of treatment
when in this city and the local papers
always give Fargo every courtesy in
their writeups. Local fans who wit.
messed the game in question state that
the winning of the game was due tc
heavy hitting by the Hi-Liners as the
almost errorIess ball played by the
locals. The box score shows Valley
City to have been playing better
class of baseball than did the Fargo
players and substantiates, the state.
ments of the local fans. Then why
should it be necessary for the sports
writer of as large a paper as the Fo.
rum to ridicule the winning team anC
draw conclusions in the write-up that
are not borne out by the records OF
the game?> The story of the game as
written by Purcell does not injure
Valley City in any way but it is la.
mentable that as good a sports writ,
er as he is should display this lack Of
craftsmanship. But then, the article
merely shows the average attitude oil
Fargo fans toward Valley City anC
we suppose is excusable on those
grounds. We beg your pardon for re.
ferring to the people who attend Far
go games as fans,-they aren't. A
fan is one who knows the game and
is also sportsman-and that defin-
ition certainly does not apply to the
majority Of people who make up the
Fargo crowds. The Hi-Liners knock
ed 1877 off Fargo's perfect percentage
but they will knock larger holes than
that in it before the season ends is