The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-08-16
BY JOHN A. CLUNEY

Careful to claim is-interpreta- tion of ground rule, rather than judgment of an umpire, Manager Johnny Divito, through Attorney Frank J. Summa, filed written pro- test of the Tribune A. c. 6-2 victory last Sunday over the North End Thomas club in which the 1888 title changed hands, giving the Tribes their first championship of record.
 Insisting that Umpire Leno Cas- taldo, base umpire in Sunday'S game at Hamilton Park ADMITTED a ball hit by Tommy Sipples land- ed to the LEFT of a TREE TRUNK agreed upon as dividing line, and was therefore a free ball, the umpire then allowing an automatic two- base hit by waving Sipples down to second base, the Thomas Club protest IS expected to be heard be- fore Friday, following appointment of committee TO HEAR THE CLAIM by President Ed Fitzpatrick of the City Amateur League.
 Heard Before
 Umpire Castaldo's testimony will be the all-important point of the entire protest, and is what the Thomas Club claim must stand or fall. Two years ago, Umpire Castal- do was the central figure in g pro- test involving the Sacred Hearts. He came in, lost no time in admitting that he had made mistake and f hp farft npf bf,a rI However, what the present situation may develop, due to the ball in question passing through the leaves and branches of & tree, remains to be seen.
 The protest filed yesterday after noon, is self-explanatory and is as follows:
 August IS, 1888. To Raymond Fran,
 Secretary, City Amateur League, Waterbury, Conn.
 PROTEST
 Dear Sir:-This is to give you mo- tice that the North End Thomas club protests the game played with the Tribune A. c. at Hamilton Park, on August 14, 1888, which game the Tribune A. C. won by the score of 6 to 2, the reason for said protest being that Umpire Lcno Costaldo misinterpreted ground rule in the fourth inning of said game. The facts are as follows:
 The ground rule makes the trunk of a certain tree in right field the dividing line as to what shall be considered free ball and what shall be considered an automatic two-baSe hit.
 To be more explicit, any ball hit to the left of the tree trunk is to be considered free ball and any ball hit to the right of that tree trunk is to be considered an auto- matic two-base hit
 That was the prevailing ground rule on August IA, 1888. the day that this game was played.
 In the fourth inning with one out and the score 2-l in favor of the North End Thomas club, Sipples, of the Trlbunes, hit ball into the right field that landed into the, branches of tree about seven feet to the left Of the trunk. Borowy, the right fielder of the Thomas club, threw the ball to Gill, the Thomas club shortstop, who tagged Sipples out before he reached geo. ond base.
 Umpire Costaldo admitted that the ball was to the left of the trunk of the tree which Is considered the dividing line, but also ruled that 1t was an automatic double, allow ing Sipples to remain on second base. On the next play, Curry, of the Tribune A. C., hit to Gill, the Thomas club shortstop, who threw the runner out at first base, Sip pies advancing to third base mak- ing 1t two outs.
 The next Tribune batter (Utke) walked and stole second. putting runners on second and third. The next Tribune batter (Maro) hit to Greatorex, the Thomas club sec- ond baseman, who made an error allowing two runs to score. The next Tribune batter, Jay) was out,