1885-06-15 LondonVSHamilton Fans

In the Canadian Baseball League, during the 1885 season, the rivalry between the City of London and the City of Hamilton was not confined to how the game was played by the pro players of each of the teams.

There were accusations back and forth between the sports reporters in the London and Hamilton newspapers regarding how the home fans in each city behaved themselves.

Case in point was the following written in the London Free Press :

“ The correspondent of the Spectator with the Clippers should learn to tell the truth, which he doesn’t do when he says that :

‘The crowd (at the recent match) favored the Londons and hooted the Clippers’ good plays.’ The club is not responsible for the exclamations of the youthful hoodlums who sneak into the grounds. – London Free Press.”

Of course, the Spectator reporter would not let such an insult pass without a response. In the Spectator coverage of a recent London-Primrose game, the Spectator young man wrote:

“Now there was a tuneful delegation of Londoners here on Saturday. They were well-dressed and did not seem, on the surface of them, to be hoodlums. They cheered the good plays of the Londons in the orthodox style, and with more than usual lustiness. But when the Primroses made a good play, these London gentlemen, with much sonorousness and unction, remarked, ‘Boo-oo-oo! Boo-oo-oo !’ And this same thing, in London, probably misled the Spectator’s correspondent. In Hamilton, it is customary to applaud both sides in the same manner, by the clapping of hands, cheering, thumping of walking sticks, and things like that. In London, it seems, a distinction is made, just as a difference is found in the uniforms of the teams. The London players are applauded in the usual style, and the foreigners, by way of giving them extra encouragement, are treated to extraordinary applause that is found in London, ‘Boo-oo-oo’ An inexperienced person, not accustomed to that invigorating style of applause, might easily fall into the error that the Spectator’s correspondent was guilty of, and mistake the Boo business for lowdown, hoodlum hooting. In London, it was formerly the habit to encourage visiting players by pelting them with stones and things, but that style necessitated too much exertion on the part of the applauders, who have now adopted the more elegant and equally effective Boo.”¹

¹ “The World of Sport : Items of Interest to the Noble Fraternity”

Hamilton Spectator     June 15, 1885.

As part of the Spectator sporting correspondent’s detailed account as to how the game was played, how the scoring unfolded, he said:

““That the Londons are good players cannot be doubted, and that they are able to play good ball under surprising circumstances is a guarantee that they have lots of sand. For they played well, Saturday, and they must have been violently surprised at the conduct of the audience. Their good plays were applauded, there was no hooting, no gang of hoodlums threw sand or tried to trip them with bats as they ran bases, no crowd of boys gathered about their fielders to prevent them taking flies. These things must have astonished people accustomed to London audiences, and the additional astonishments of a first-class ground, and an elegant stand, must have tried their nerves sorely. But they stood it all and played a strong game. There was some excellent play on both sides, and the scoring of runs was managed in such a manner as to make the game quite enjoyable.”¹