April 26, 1917 - Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, Tennessee) - "LOOKOUTS WILL PLAY PINK-TEA BALL DURING REST OF SEASON"
LOOKOUTS WILL PLAY PINK-TEA BALL DURING REST OF SEASON
Kid Elberfeld
No More Arguing With Umpires—Player That Even Talks to One Will Be Fined $10—O'Toole Shows Partiality in Yesterday's Game - Crowd Hooted Him.
Kid Elberfeld has become resigned to "pink-tea" baseball in the Southern league. The scrappy little Lookout manager announced last night that he was through crabbing opposing players, fighting umpires and riding any and everyone that happened to stand between him and a game in
the win column.
"President Baugh is determined to make a pink-tea affair of the league," the Kid said, "and his
umpires seem to take fiendish delight in enforcing his orders insofar as they effect me. Very well. If they insist on playing that way, I'll play with them. I have issued orders tonight to every member of the Chattanooga club not to argue with an umpire—not to even talk to one. No matter what they do or how they do it, they will not hear one word out of me or any of my players. The first man that disobeys this order will be fined $10, and he will have to pay It, too."
Manager Elberfeld is thinking of having the Lookout players wear pink ribbon laced in their uniform trousers at the knees as a special honor to President Baugh.
Yesterday's "run-in" with O'Toole convinced Elberfeld that "the law has run out on him" as the writers of wild-west fiction say, and that no matter what the justification he will not be permitted to protest an umpire's decision. He said last night that the Birmingham incident and that in Memphis were similar, and that Morgan and Chestnutt had about the same cause for ordering him from the park as O'Toole.
The new order of things cannot last. It is not the nature of Elberfeld to play baseball without showing some spirit. and he cannot change, no matter what his intentions, no matter what his resolutions. It is not fair that he be forced to change. If Morgan, in Birmingham, and Chestnutt, in Atlanta. acted toward Elberfeld as O'Toole did yesterday, then President Baugh has issued orders that the Lookout leader be prohibited from protesting a decision, and he intends to
make good his promise to "run Elberfeld out of the league." If he succeeds through the means that he has apparently employed, then he may as well figure on Chattanooga getting out of
the league at the same time, for the fans who saw yesterday's game were almost
unanimous in their opinion that O'Toole showed partiality.
This was proven within less than five minutes after Elberfeld had been escorted
to the clubhouse. Pitcher Ledbetter objected to O'Toole's calling of a ball and he walked out of his box toward the umpire, throwing his glove in the air and waving his arms. Chapman also
gave physical evidence of his opinion of the decision, as did other Little Rock players. At least two of them protested louder and longer than Elberfeld was permitted to do, and yet O'Toole stood calmly and waited until they were ready to resume play.
If he has, orders from President Baugh to stop demonstrations of protest he should enforce them against all players, and not against the Lookouts alone.
The crowd hooted the umpire, threw cushions on the field, and otherwise made public its opinion of his work. "Thief," "robber" and such terms were mild. Someone in a box started calling him "Old Fool," instead of O'Toole. and soon it was taken up almost everywhere.
Kid Elberfeld
No More Arguing With Umpires—Player That Even Talks to One Will Be Fined $10—O'Toole Shows Partiality in Yesterday's Game - Crowd Hooted Him.
Kid Elberfeld has become resigned to "pink-tea" baseball in the Southern league. The scrappy little Lookout manager announced last night that he was through crabbing opposing players, fighting umpires and riding any and everyone that happened to stand between him and a game in
the win column.
"President Baugh is determined to make a pink-tea affair of the league," the Kid said, "and his
umpires seem to take fiendish delight in enforcing his orders insofar as they effect me. Very well. If they insist on playing that way, I'll play with them. I have issued orders tonight to every member of the Chattanooga club not to argue with an umpire—not to even talk to one. No matter what they do or how they do it, they will not hear one word out of me or any of my players. The first man that disobeys this order will be fined $10, and he will have to pay It, too."
Manager Elberfeld is thinking of having the Lookout players wear pink ribbon laced in their uniform trousers at the knees as a special honor to President Baugh.
Yesterday's "run-in" with O'Toole convinced Elberfeld that "the law has run out on him" as the writers of wild-west fiction say, and that no matter what the justification he will not be permitted to protest an umpire's decision. He said last night that the Birmingham incident and that in Memphis were similar, and that Morgan and Chestnutt had about the same cause for ordering him from the park as O'Toole.
The new order of things cannot last. It is not the nature of Elberfeld to play baseball without showing some spirit. and he cannot change, no matter what his intentions, no matter what his resolutions. It is not fair that he be forced to change. If Morgan, in Birmingham, and Chestnutt, in Atlanta. acted toward Elberfeld as O'Toole did yesterday, then President Baugh has issued orders that the Lookout leader be prohibited from protesting a decision, and he intends to
make good his promise to "run Elberfeld out of the league." If he succeeds through the means that he has apparently employed, then he may as well figure on Chattanooga getting out of
the league at the same time, for the fans who saw yesterday's game were almost
unanimous in their opinion that O'Toole showed partiality.
This was proven within less than five minutes after Elberfeld had been escorted
to the clubhouse. Pitcher Ledbetter objected to O'Toole's calling of a ball and he walked out of his box toward the umpire, throwing his glove in the air and waving his arms. Chapman also
gave physical evidence of his opinion of the decision, as did other Little Rock players. At least two of them protested louder and longer than Elberfeld was permitted to do, and yet O'Toole stood calmly and waited until they were ready to resume play.
If he has, orders from President Baugh to stop demonstrations of protest he should enforce them against all players, and not against the Lookouts alone.
The crowd hooted the umpire, threw cushions on the field, and otherwise made public its opinion of his work. "Thief," "robber" and such terms were mild. Someone in a box started calling him "Old Fool," instead of O'Toole. and soon it was taken up almost everywhere.
