JUNE 1906: INNOVATIONS, TRAGEDY, AND CRAZINESS,

by Mike Comfort

Despite the new fines associated with forfeiting, the month of June started with forfeits as Boone forfeited to Fort Dodge after their manager and pitcher argued a decision in the 11th inning. They were thrown out and the umpire called a forfeit five minutes later. Marshalltown repeated the feat, also against Fort Dodge, when they forfeited in the 3rd inning after a dispute with Umpire Voris on a hit call. Another repeated occurrence was extra inning games, which were common in the league. Oskaloosa played 7 extra inning games in their first 24 games. One included the 19 inning game where they beat Burlington 3-2. Later they beat Keokuk in 12 innings 1-0. Fred Steele went the distance, striking out 9. He also contributed to the winning run by tripling in the 12th and then being singled home to win. On the same day, Ottumwa beat Keokuk 6-4 in 13 innings.

70 years before the first night World Series game and 30 years before the first night major league game, the Iowa League experimented with night baseball. This was not an original idea, as other leagues had tried it as well. Burlington decided to start experimenting with 6:00 starts in hopes of getting the game in before dark. Most Iowa League games took between 1:15 and 1:45 to complete, so it was certainly possible compared to the modern game. The hope was for people who worked in the afternoon to be able to see a game and to keep people out of the summer heat. Oskaloosa tried a night game as they started a game against Fort Dodge at 6:00. The game was called on account of darkness in the 8th, with the game tied 8-8.

Despite President Peckman telling umpires to rule with an ‘iron hand’, a season of the Iowa State League couldn’t be complete without umpire drama. In two separate incidents, players tried to assault umpires. During a Marshalltown-Fort Dodge game, Umpire Voris fined a player for saying something which caused the player to go after Voris who was escorted out with protection. A month later, Umpire Risler’s call upset a player who attempted to throw a punch at him, but the player missed and hit his teammate. These were far from the first time this had happened in the league. In the previous season, Umpire Fleming needed police protection to flee an angry mob during the game. Fleming’s reputation was so poor that Keokuk forfeited a game to Oskaloosa because they refused to play a game he umpired. Some protests were subtler, however, as Oskaloosa stole Umpire Danihy’s mask after they were upset with his calls, but the mask was returned by order of Peckham. All of the blame didn’t rest on players, however, as umpires caused their own consternation. Umpire Hampton showed up drunk to a game, was fined $25, and fired. A bright spot for umpires was Umpire Brennan who was knocked out by a pitch when he was hit in the solar plexus, was revived, and finished the game. The Marshalltown-Oskaloosa series was marred with issues by Umpire Risley throughout. In one game in the series, Risley called a Marshalltown runner out. Marshalltown protested and Risley later admitted he was wrong. Things got worse in the next game when Risley called a ball fair that many felt was foul, allowing 2 runs. Later in the game he called a runner out for running out of the baseline between 2nd and 3rd, but did not make the call until after the runner scored a couple plays later. The runner, Marshalltown’s Williams, later threw a ball into the field and was promptly fined. Williams attempted to physically attack Risely, and was eventually thrown out of the game (Oskaloosa won 4-3). Risley was then fired by President Peckham for being “incompetent”. Peckham declared that Risley “is not the sort of man for an umpire, and that he is too excitable and loses his head.” Players umped the next game while a new umpire was hired.

In one of the more tragic events in the history of the league, Burlington catcher Herbert Whitney was struck in the head by a ball during a game against Waterloo and passed away. Whitney was at bat and as he was beginning to swing, he turned his head and was struck in the side of the head. He was able to walk to the bench with assistance, but was eventually taken to the hospital where he passed away. Whitney was said to be “one of the most popular players in the league” and “a favorite with the fans.” This was Whitney’s first year in the Iowa League after he had spent 6 years playing in Montana. In a cruel twist of fate, he was friends with the Waterloo pitcher Fred Evans whose ball had caused the accident. Whitney was 27 years old.

The most unusual result of the month was between Marshalltown and Burlington. During the game, Burlington 1B Bill Schafer stole a ball during the game and scored while carrying it (another run scored during the play as well.). President Peckham suspended Schafer, fined him $25, and threw out the results of the game. Schafer then jumped the league.

Burlington’s manager Ned Egan was also involved in a controversy, this time in regards to the salary limit. After being charged that he was exceeding the salary limit, he said he was just $35 over the salary limit but he didn’t think that it was a problem because 3 or 4 other teams were over by the same amount. He stated that he would go back down if he was required to, but he declared all of his contracts had been ok’d by the league. However, Fort Dodge Manager Frank Boyle officially protested games played against Burlington due to accusations of Burlington being over the limit. The salary limit was expected to be a matter of serious discussion at the next league meeting. In other news, Marshalltown 3B Clyde Williams was sold to St. Paul but he refused to report. Marshalltown said they were going to keep the $300 anyways, essentially saying Williams was now property of St. Paul and was their problem now.

Burlington continued their blistering start and was still in first at the end of June with a 32-11 record. They were almost to their win total from the previous year and had already sported win streaks of 11, 9, and 6. Despite starting 20-6, Fort Dodge was in 2nd place (29-16). Oskaloosa rode a 12-1 stretch in sit in 3rd place, followed by Marshalltown and Waterloo. Waterloo started June 4-15, before winning their last 8 games in the month. Boone was in 6th, while a 7-25 stretch sunk Ottumwa to 7th. Keokuk was in the basement after a 1-12 run. Nine players were hitting .300 (minimum 10 games), led by Gray of Keokuk with at .383. As usual of the Iowa League, however, instability dominated the talk of the league just as much as the play of the teams.

Sources:
Waterloo Courier, Davenport Times, Oskaloosa Herald, Marshalltown Times, Sioux City Journal

This article is copyright Mike Comfort and used with his permission. You can read more at his Substack by clicking HERE.

Mike Comfort is an Oskaloosa native as well as a baseball and history buff. He resides in Oskaloosa and is an educator and coach.