|
With Nyce having pitched on May 8 and Staley on May 9, it was Sproat's turn again on May 10, except that the lineup printed in the paper that day indicated that the pitcher would be Jim Burns, a local amateur. There was nothing in the local papers that indicated why Sproat wasn't pitching, and there was nothing in the local papers about his being released later. The last note on his condition was that he was sick on May 7, during his last start. And then all's quiet on the Sproat front. Burns seems to have been intended as a one-time fill-in for Sproat... and then Burns was signed by Leavenworth, of the Western League. The Globe Democrat reported that "Burns, a local pitcher, was to have gone for the home team, but a telegram from Leavenworth accepting his terms for the season altered his determination and he decided not to pitch. Nyce was the only one to fall back on, and he was put in. The lad has a bad arm, and was consequently hit hard." Nyce allowed twelve hits and gave four walks, and the club made five errors for five unearned runs. The Whites came from behind, scoring three runs in the eighth to take a 8-7 lead. Beckley homered, and Nicholson and Burch hit triples for three of their nine hits. But St. Paul scored one in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game on a double and an error by Herr. In the ninth, the winning run scored on a walk, a stolen base, a wild throw by Arundel to second, and a wild throw by Herr to third. Thus endeth the ball game, which was the White's second walk-off loss in three games. After the game, team capatin Herr registered a protest over a call by umpire Hogan. Hogan had allowed a runner (Kemmler) to score after another runner (Tuckerman) was hit by a batted ball. The protest was denied, as the umpire stated that Tuckerman was not called out for being hit by the ball, but rather for stopping and interfering with the fielder trying to catch the ball. The game brought to an end the White's first homestand with a record of 5-4 in nine games. Eleven games were scheduled, but two (against Milwaukee and the Maroons) were cancelled due to the poor weather. The poor weather did more than cancel ball games; it also led to poor attendance. Von der Ahe looked at the Whites as a way to make money while the Browns were out of town, and poor attendance wasn't helping with that goal. The discussion of the Whites being sold would start shortly after the Whites returned from their road trip, as attendance never picked up.
|
Newspaper articles
St. Louis Globe Democrat |
St. Louis Republican |
St. Paul Globe |
Sporting Lifee |
Minneapolis Star Tribune |