It should be remembered that Jamestown and Valley City were sports rivals a century or so ago.
That would explain why the description of a baseball game between Minot and Valley City was especially harsh on the Barnes County players.
According to the writers of The Jamestown Alert, Valley City’s ballpark admission “was taking money under false pretenses.” And the event was only “alleged” to be a baseball game.
Alert writers even bemoaned the weather, noting that it was a perfect day for baseball.
“It was a pity that the torrents of rain did not fall in the first inning and thus prevent the disaster that followed,” the paper continued.
The game eventually ended with Minot scoring 16 runs while Valley City was scoreless. The game was called final in the bottom of the eighth inning by a “merciful umpire”.
The writers worked a bit on the current political situation in the description.
“We think the Magic City crowd gave Williams Jennings Bryan a mile,” the Alert wrote. “He got 16 to 1.”
In 1920, readers would have gotten the joke.
William Jennings Bryan was campaigning to put the United States currency on both the gold and silver standard with gold worth 16 times the value of silver.
Hence the pun that Bryan was 16-1 while Minot had defeated Valley City 16-0.
Bryan was actually 0 for 3 when it came to White House runs. He served in Congress from Nebraska for many years and was Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State during World War I.
While his economic theories were based on keeping the American currency connected to the value of precious metals, he also took opposing positions on the teaching of evolution and the use of alcohol.
You have no idea how he felt about baseball games.
Author Keith Norman can be contacted at
