The Arms Race in the 1919 Two-Team League

This article was published in the SABR Deadball Era Committee’s February 2026 newsletter.

Scott Perry (Trading Card Database)

 

In 1919, Major League Baseball returned to full strength after the disruption of war. Its revival echoed far beyond the big cities — professional and independent clubs sprang back to life in small towns across the country. Ballplayers were returning from military service, while others who had spent 1918 in essential industries had discovered the advantages of playing for well-paid factory teams.

What follows is an account of independent baseball during the brief post-WWI economic upturn, when two small towns, still wringing the lingering drops from the northwestern Pennsylvania oil boom, carried their profits onto the ball field and touched off an unsustainable arms race.

THE SETTING

Franklin, Pennsylvania, and Oil City lie 10 miles apart, on the banks of the Allegheny River, about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. Franklin is the seat of Venango County, but Oil City is the larger of the two. In 1919 Oil City’s population was about 20,000; Franklin’s was 10,000.1 The towns had a baseball rivalry stretching back to 1866,2 coinciding with the rise of northwestern Pennsylvania as the cradle of the American oil industry.

The Oil City club played at the West End Grounds along West 1st Street,3 where a railroad car barn crowded right field, just 200 feet from home plate.4 The field had a new clubhouse, with showers, for the 1919 season. Franklin played at Miller-Sibley Field, part of 14 acres donated to the city in 1913. Franklin’s field had no fence in centerfield.5 Each field had a grandstand; the seating capacity at either field remains undiscovered. Any Oil City player hitting a home run was entitled to a free silk shirt.6 In Franklin, the same feat got you free laundry services for the rest of the season.7

Pennsylvania law still prohibited Sunday baseball in 1919. Ohio law permitted it, though, and both Oil City and Franklin crossed the state line to play Sunday games at Idora Park, an amusement park outside Youngstown.8 In May, New York allowed each municipality to decide for itself, and both clubs visited the resort town of Celoron Park, near Jamestown, for Sunday games.9

Oil City and Franklin were hardly alone in the region’s strong baseball scene. Closer to Pittsburgh were clubs such as Allegheny Steel of Tarentum, the Aluminums of New Kensington, the Pittsburgh “Collegians,” and the Homestead Grays. Sixty miles west, the Youngstown, Ohio, area fielded formidable teams including the McElroys, Carnegie Steel, and Sharon Steel Hoop just across the state line in Sharon. 160 miles to the north, the Buffalo region boasted the Niagara Shoe Company team — the “Niagaras” — along with several other powerful nines. Most of these clubs benefited from company backing, a luxury neither Oil City nor Franklin possessed. The president of the Oil City club was John Dickson Rynd, an oil producer, and the Franklin club’s president was James Brown Borland, editor of the Franklin News-Herald.

Reportedly, these teams signed players to contracts, though little evidence remains to show the specific terms. Clubs occasionally “loaned” players to one another, often as short-term replacements for injuries. Sometimes players from one team would appear for another under an alias, with a local newspaper frequently exposing his true identity. Even players under contract to clubs in Organized Baseball10 sometimes took the field, under assumed names.

Neither the Oil City nor the Franklin club had an official team name. The Oil City team was usually referred to simply as the “Independents”. Writers sometimes called the Franklin team the “Nurserymen” or “Nurseryites,” reflecting the city’s nickname as the “Nursery of Great Men.” To avoid confusion, I do not use any of these informal names in this article.

In retrospect, the rivalry is often referred to as the Two Team League. Strictly speaking, there was no “league,” but this term did emerge during the 1919 season. Newspapers initially described games between the two clubs simply as part of a series (against the other team). The earliest use that I found of “two-team league” for this rivalry appears in the June 29 Pittsburg Press.11 By the following week the News-Herald adopted the phrase,12 and within another week began using “The Two-Team League” as the heading for team standings.13

THE STAKES

On the surface, little more than bragging rights were on the line between Oil City and Franklin and their fans. Oil City had had the best of things in 1918, posting a 19–8 record with one tie.14 I’ve found no evidence of a trophy or any monetary prize awarded for the series between the two clubs, even though both teams did offer cash challenges for short series with other opponents in the region.

However, there was substantial betting on these games. Some Oil City and Franklin fans reportedly had a standing $50 wager on each game.15 (The author resists the temptation to convert 1919 currency to modern dollars, but an approximate ratio is 20 to 1.) The News-Herald often mentioned the prevalence of wagering in the ballparks; betting odds were also mentioned, if only after the fact. Moreover, the so-called “Scott Perry Incident,” in which Franklin inserted ringers in the second inning, strongly suggests Franklin management itself had money riding on the outcome.

In the aftermath of that affair, directors of the Oil City club, as well as the News-Herald, publicly condemned betting on the games and called for wagering to be barred from the grounds.16 If anyone made a serious effort to enforce that call, I found no trace of it. On the contrary, betting seems to have continued in Oil City, with thousands of dollars wagered on its final home game.17

FINANCIALS

The teams were funded through stock sales, “subscriptions,” “memberships,” paid attendance, and fund-raising carnivals. I found no evidence of any ancillary income such as concession sales or parking fees.

Oil City attempted to raise money with a campaign to secure 2,000 “members” at $2 a head. By mid-March, however, only about 600 signed up, barely sufficient to cover the salary of new manager Jake Pitler.18 By April 1 that number had increased to 900. The club also sold season tickets at $5 each, good for admission to all non-holiday games between Memorial Day and Labor Day — roughly sixty games. By May 2, 400 season tickets had been sold, with another 300 anticipated.19 Taken together, the 900 memberships and 400 season tickets suggest Oil City entered the season with just under $4,000 in hand.

By February of 1919, Franklin had offered 100 shares of stock at $25 apiece.20 The incoming manager, Otto Jordan, had agreed to take the position only on the condition that the entire $2,500 issue be sold.21 Demand proved strong enough that an additional ten shares were soon offered.22 It’s unclear what these shares actually conferred — did ownership entitle the holder to a share of any profits, or were they simply a thinly disguised donation? Additional subscriptions were expected to pull in several hundred dollars. The proceeds cleared several hundred dollars in debt from the previous season and left roughly $2,000 in working capital.

Those initial funds would not last the entire season. Franklin was close to running out of money by mid-June and raised another $300 in subscriptions.23 On July 1, the News-Herald published a reminder that subscribers who had not yet paid were requested to “make payment at once,” and that “any others who wish to see the club maintained at its present, or increased, strength are asked to make a subscription.”24 Meanwhile, Oil City was also having trouble. By late July it made a plea that the team “needs the money, and needs it now.” Club officials gave many reasons, among them that they’d lost $500 for a home game when Franklin refused to show up, and that much of the club’s bankroll was tied up in a local bank that was shuttered by the State Banking Department.25

Both teams held special fundraising events during the season. Franklin held a two-day street carnival in late July, raising more than $1,000,26 expected to be enough to “place the club on Easy Street for the remainder of the season.”27 A month later, Oil City hosted its own carnival, raising at least $2,500.28 Both teams also declared certain games “booster days,” with a $1 admission charge. Franklin’s stated goal for a booster day in late August was to raise $5,000;29 but gate receipts amounted to only $1,272.30

Ticket prices fluctuated throughout the season, and contemporary newspaper accounts are not always clear in their wording. My reading is that “35 cents admission and 10 cents to the grandstand” meant a 35-cent charge to enter the park, with an additional ten cents required for a seat in the grandstand.

At the beginning of the season, Oil City set admission at 33 cents, and 11 cents for grandstand seating. These prices included the ten-percent war tax on entertainment. 31 By the end of June, however, it became clear that handling odd pennies was slowing the flow at the gate, so the club adjusted prices to a simpler 35¢/10¢.32 Special games incurred higher prices. For example, when Oil City hosted the morning half of the Fourth of July doubleheader it charged 50 cents for adults, 15 cents for children.33 A ticket for the July 29 Booster Day game against Franklin cost a dollar.34 In August the price was raised to 50¢/10¢.35

Franklin began the season charging 50 cents.36 I found no specifics regarding the extra fee for the grandstand, but since this fee was rescinded for September games against Oil City, there must have been a fee earlier.37 The admission price was raised to 75 cents prior to the September 30 game, due to an escalation of player payroll including “the heavy expense involved in bringing George Sisler to Franklin.”38 It was reported afterward that the higher price had not cut down the crowd, with fans evidently realizing “they are getting their money’s worth in the only opportunity many of them will have to see in action famous big league stars whose names are household words among baseball fans.”39

Oil City and Franklin had agreed that each team would usually retain the full gate receipts from its home games.40 The clubs made an exception to split gate receipts for the two-site Fourth of July double header, netting $810 apiece.41 For games against other opponents, it was more common to pay a fixed guarantee, rain or shine, rather than a share of the gate, although newspapers seldom reported precise amounts.42 Franklin was said to have asked for $150 to travel to Jamestown,43 but it is not known if this amount was typical.

Newspapers reported attendance figures sporadically, often only in general terms such as “the largest crowd that ever gathered at West End Park”44 or “there were so many at the game that dozens of women were forced to stand in the bleachers.”45 Attendance for a few specific games was reported though. Oil City’s opener in mid May was witnessed by 800.46 A week later, Franklin’s opener drew only 250-300.47 But Franklin’s half of the Fourth of July doubleheader had 2,200 paid admissions,48 and two games there in August had 1,100 and 1,280.49 The final meeting of the two teams, a booster day at Franklin, pulled in 1,400.50

A mid-July report in the Pittsburgh Leader claimed Franklin averaged about 400 a game.51 This can be compared to an estimate for gate receipts and attendance derived from the reported $1,350 in war tax Franklin collected for the season.52 That equates to a roughly $15,000 total gate.53 With admission costing at least 50 cents for every one of Franklin’s 41 home games, total attendance was no more than 30,000, and the average no more than 750. In contrast, the lowest attendance for a major league club that year was just under 2,500 per game.54

All told, the Franklin club seems to have made a profit of $200 for the season, lowering the $800 debt it had coming into the season to $600.55

Player salaries are also hard to pin down. The only concrete figures I encountered are these: first, Honus Wagner received $100 per game to play for the McElroys in 1918;56 and second, Elmer Knetzer was said to be asking $800 per month the pitch the final two months of the 1919 season for Oil City.57

A 1961 article in the Oil City Derrick claimed that Oil City’s payroll ran to $12,000 per month, but that figure likely refers to the 1921 season rather than 1919.58 The same article stated that some Oil City players received as much as $1,000 a month, in contrast to the $600-per-player monthly pay ceiling then in effect in the Class AA American Association. For further context, the Memphis News-Scimitar reported in 1918 that a hanger-on in the class A southern Association earned about $200 per month.59

THE 1919 SEASON

Both cities were optimistic about their team’s chances versus the other for the upcoming season. The clubs had met nearly 30 times the previous year, with Oil City enjoying a wide margin, winning 19, losing 8, and tying 1.60

For the 1919 season, they agreed to a fairly regular schedule of games every Tuesday and Wednesday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 13 weeks, and three holiday doubleheaders, including the Fourth of July. The midweek games alternated home-and-home, and the holiday doubleheaders featured a morning game in one city and an afternoon game in the other. This would have been 32 games, but with some minor changes, the two teams ended up meeting 34 times in that period. They decided to extend the series into early October with another 12 games, bringing the total to 46.

Each team’s schedule also included other teams. These seem to not have been arranged more than a few weeks in advance. Oil City ended up playing another 34 games, with 23 at home, while Franklin played another 33, 17 at home.

At the outset, Oil City’s operation was much better organized. New manager Jake Pitler, formerly of the Pirates, had wintered in Oil City, and by early April the News-Herald reported roughly a dozen players that he’d secured.61 Among these was Ben Shaw, one of Pitler’s Pirate teammates. Most of the other players had played for Oil City in 1917 and/or ’18; some of these had Organized Baseball experience, but at levels below the high minors. A few of the announced players did not end up in Oil City, most notably Carmen Hill of the Pirates. But by and large, the players reported to be with the team were. The team held its first practice on April 23.62 It played its first game on May 17, before 800 fans,63 and played two more prior to the first meeting with Franklin, winning all three.

In contrast, Franklin’s new manager, Otto Jordan, didn’t arrive until May 1.64 Jordan had been in charge of athletics at Camp Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, and his arrival was delayed as he awaited discharge from the service.65 Jordan was not forthcoming about specific players he was recruiting; at one point, he was quoted as saying, “Just tell the boys that when the season opens, I will have a club that will give any independent club in the country a run for the money.”66 A roster was finally announced on May 12, the day before the first practice was to be held.67 Most of the 18 players listed apparently had no Organized Baseball experience; only one had major league experience — Larry Cheney — but he didn’t end up with the team. Of the 18 players listed, 7 were either rumors or not good enough, and none lasted the entire season. Franklin called off a practice game scheduled for May 21 because several players hadn’t arrived yet.68

The first contest with Oil City was little more than a week away, Oil City had been practicing for nearly a month, had already played its first game, and Franklin didn’t even have a full team in place. Even up to Franklin’s first game, on May 23, player information was sketchy. The day of the game, the News-Herald reported the arrival of “… two new players from the Buffalo district. Another from there, a pitcher, arrived last night, and a third baseman is to come Monday. They are all players of Class A calibre.”69 That first game was played in front of 250-300 loyal fans on a wet day; one of the Franklin reserve players was furnished with a box of sawdust and tasked with keeping baseballs dry.70

Franklin and Oil City began play with a doubleheader on Memorial Day, Friday, May 30 — the teams met in the morning in Franklin, then reconvened in Oil City for an afternoon contest. The grandstand and bleachers were both packed. Fans sat along the outfield, in the field of play. Oil City won both games, 5-1 and 9-3.71 The two teams met again the following day in Franklin, Oil City winning again, 3-2. The News-Herald reported that the Franklin team was “outclassed” and that there was no mystery why Oil City wins: “… it has the better team — a better one than we have so far been able to get with money.”72

With nearly a week before its next scheduled game, the Franklin club responded to the Memorial Day catastrophe by releasing six players “in order to make room for men who can hit.”73 Manager Jordan was sent out of town to round up some new players — “that they will be heavy hitters is the general expectation,” and “every effort of the Franklin backers has been directed toward securing men who can wield the stick and field to perfection.” 74 They did have four new players in the lineup for their game against the McElroys on May 6. However, none of these appear to have had any Organized Baseball experience, and two of them were not with the team beyond that weekend. Franklin’s stopgap roster changes were an improvement, though, as they split the next four games against Oil City.

An altercation caused a temporary cancellation of the series after only 8 games had been played. A near riot broke out in the first inning of the June 17 game at Franklin. Newspapers from the two cities gave differing accounts but agreed on some basic details. With runners on first and third, Franklin attempted a double steal. The runner from first, Jack Snyder, was out, but prevented Pitler from throwing home to catch the runner scoring from third. Fans and players swarmed the field. Oil City’s catcher, Ben Shaw, may have punched Snyder but Franklin’s sheriff intervened, preventing either a first or second punch.75 The game resumed after officials restored order, apparently without further incident. The umpire had ejected both Snyder and Pitler.

The next morning’s Derrick reported that Snyder had started the fight; and that his act was one of rowdyism. It included a side article reminding fans that Franklin, including Mr. Snyder specifically, would be playing in Oil City that evening.76 Fans were advised to buy tickets during the day to avoid long lines at the box office. To this modern reader it seemed like an invitation to another riot.

The Franklin team did not show up for that June 18 game at Oil City.77 Around noon Franklin’s management informed Pitler they would not be coming, claiming their scheduled pitcher was unable to make it. Franklin’s claim was probably an excuse to avoid a potential riot. However, just a week earlier Franklin found itself without its expected pitcher because manager Jordan had neglected to inform Hageman, who lived 60 miles away in Youngstown, that he would be pitching in the June 11 game.78 That was a home game, though, and Franklin trotted out the same pitcher it had used the day before (and lost to Oil City 13-2).

Pitler’s stance was that Franklin should play — many tickets had already been sold and it was too late to inform the public of a cancellation. He offered to let Franklin use any of his pitchers of choice so the game could be played. Thinking this offer had been accepted, the Oil City team and fans showed up for the 6:10 game and waited until 7:30 to no avail. Oil City lost an estimated $500 due to the cancellation.79

The next evening the Franklin stockholders met to discuss the fate of the club.80 It had become clear that, as things stood, the team could not compete with Oil City; Franklin had won only 2 of 8 games. Moreover, very little of the initial capital of $2,500 remained. Though the team was not in debt, more money would be needed. Subscribers pledged an additional $300 during the meeting and officials planned to solicit more.81 Whether or not to continue playing games against Oil City was left undecided — but this was a moot point since Oil City’s management decided to terminate the inter-city series.82 While Franklin sought to acquire better players, the two cities’ newspapers traded thinly veiled insults on a daily basis.

Within a week, the two clubs had mended fences and resumed play on June 24. The two midweek games, already on the schedule, were played as planned, and additional contests were added for Friday and Saturday. Each team posted a deposit, which it would forfeit in the event of any future failure to appear.83

Meanwhile, Franklin began its talent upgrade, announcing two new players: centerfielder Gene Layden and shortstop Lester Buffington. Both had Organized Baseball experience, albeit at class B and C, respectively; both had been in the military in 1918. Buffington had played for Oil City in parts of 1917 and ’18 and had been expected to rejoin them upon his return from France.84

Coming into the Fourth of July doubleheader, the improved Franklin team was holding its own versus Oil City. It had won the three most recent games, bringing the series standings to 5-7 (5 wins, 7 losses). Not to be outdone, Pitler was now in search of players to strengthen the Oil City Club.85 Franklin directors requested that subscribers who had not yet paid do so, and anyone who wished “to see the club maintained at its present, or increased, strength” should subscribe.86 The News Herald wrote that a professional umpire would be needed, as “the war has reached that stage;” and noted that “the teams are costing so much that we’ll probably retire from the business for a few years at the end of the season.” 87 The race was on — but it would be a slow start.

Either Jordan found the heightened managerial task beyond him, or Franklin’s directors found Jordan unequal to the task. By July 8 he had resigned and the club was negotiating with Billy Nixon to take over.88

Pitler had little early success in finding better players. On July 4 he added outfielder Munch, a former class B player who’d played for Oil City in parts of 1917 and ’18 and had just returned from France. On July 15, infielder Tommy Ray was lured away from the Pittsburgh Collegians. On July 16, Pitler brought in Elmer Knetzer to pitch a game, but it was 3 weeks before he’d reappear. (In the interim, Knetzer may have pitched in one game for Franklin; probably two.) On July 25, it was announced that “star shortstop” Merle Edmunds would be joining the team; Edmunds’s prior experience was mostly at class D, but he’d been a popular Oil City player in 1917. Ray was just a good player in western Pennsylvania independent ball; Knetzer was a former major leaguer, considered one of the best pitchers in the region. Knetzer was the best of this bunch but it didn’t seem that Pitler would be able to hold onto him.

In the same period, Nixon’s only significant acquisitions for Franklin were George Murray (July 15) and Bill Thompson (July 18), both from other western Pennsylvania independents. On August 9, Franklin decided it could not afford the luxury of a backup catcher, owing to “the high cost of the club.”89

Pitler’s first real upgrade was pitcher Ray Gordinier, who arrived for the July 29 game. Gordinier was under contract to Buffalo of the International League. Newspapers reported that “Oil City is paying real money this season for ball players and to get Gordinier to jump the International must have required a big slice.”90 At the same time, Oil City also signed pitcher Lory Lodestro, recently released by class B Kitchener.

 

Tom Rogers

 

On August 14, it all went to the next level with a fresh influx of talent and the Scott Perry Incident. Franklin brought in Scott Perry and Tom Rogers, who’d recently jumped from the Philadelphia Athletics.91 Moreover, Perry and Rogers (and another newcomer, Harry O’Donnell) didn’t enter the game — didn’t show up at the ballpark, even — until the second inning, after bets had been placed.92 The kicker — though Perry gave up but three hits, Oil City won the game 1-0 in ten innings behind the five-hit pitching of Knetzer.

Oil City responded by signing Knetzer for the rest of the season93 (though he also continued to pitch for Allegheny Steel) and bringing in four new players over the next two weeks — pitchers George Mohart and Bob Steele, and outfielders Pete Knisely and Lee Strait. Mohart had been with the Niagaras and was one of the better pitchers in the Buffalo area. Steele, Knisely, and Strait were all jumping class AA contracts.

Franklin answered with a salvo of its own, adding pitcher Herb Kelly on August 30. Kelley was jumping from class A Chattanooga.

Despite the roster turnover, the two clubs were evenly matched. Beginning with the Fourth of July double-header they split the next 19 games evenly through late August (with one tie), neither winning more than twice in a row. By that point, Oil City remained two wins ahead, just as things stood before the Fourth. Oil City then captured the final two games in August to take an 18-14 lead going into the Labor Day doubleheader.

For Labor Day, Oil City added Charley Caton from the Pirates. In the second game they enlisted a mystery pitcher known only as “James,” said to be from Buffalo of the International League. They swept the double-header, closing out the originally scheduled series with a commanding 20–14 edge. A second series, consisting of twelve additional games, was then set to carry the rivalry through September — culminating with four games ending on October 4.

Franklin brought in several new players in the first half of September. Anderson (1b), Harber (ss), and Fielder (3b) in the infield; Sullivan in the outfield. Anderson and Harber were class B players who’d been out of Organized Baseball for a few years. Fielder and Sullivan were fresh from the Southern Association. Lober, a former class AA outfielder, was brought in to play one game before Sullivan’s arrival. Both teams brought in pitchers in the middle of the month — Main for Oil City and Peterson for Franklin. Main was a former major leaguer who’d left the Pacific Coast League earlier in the season. Peterson came directly from the International League. Each team added one more player prior to the big four-game showdown at the end of September. Oil City added Hersche from class AA Toronto, while Franklin added Kennedy from class C Greenville.

Franklin had won five of the first eight post-Labor Day games against Oil City, and tied one, reducing Oil City’s edge to 22-19. It would need to win all four of the remaining games, set to start on September 30, to take the season’s series. With the major league seasons ending on the 28th, the two teams were able to bolster their rosters with a few bona fide non-jumpers.

On September 26 it was rumored that Wilbur Cooper, of the Pirates, and Bill Doak, of the Cardinals, would be pitching for Oil City.94 That rumor would turn out to be true, though Cooper used the name Wilson. On September 29, the public was informed that the Browns’ George Sisler would be joining Franklin for the series, and he would be bringing another player with him.95 The other player turned out to be Joe Harris of the Indians.96 Newspapers listed these two in the top five in batting average in the American League (though by modern standards, Harris would not have enough at-bats to qualify). False rumors flew right up to game time, with Ray Caldwell and George Uhle both reported to appear. Big-city newspapers claimed that these lineups were full of major leaguers.97 In reality, for the first of the four games, the Oil City lineup had four players with recent major league experience — Pitler, Shaw, Caton, and Cooper/Wilson; Franklin’s lineup had three — Perry, Sisler, and Harris. Oil City followed up with four in the second game, Doak replacing “Wilson;” and dropped to three and two in the final two games, pitching Gordinier and Steele while Pitler sat out two games for Yom Kippur. With Rogers or Perry on the mound, Franklin had three every game.

Franklin won only one of the four games, Oil City two; the other was tied. This gave Oil City the final edge, 24 wins to 20. Franklin took solace in the fact that it had the advantage in the “second series of 12 games,” six wins to four (with two ties).98

THE AFTERMATH

The arms race did not end with the 1919 season. Immediately following the season, the Franklin directors issued a statement that “sentiment among the directors was for a strong club in 1920” and that “fans of the city are practically unanimous in their desire for one.”99 Thus, plans were begun for the 1920 season.

In fact, the push for each team to outdo the other’s roster only escalated in 1920 and into 1921, with several players enticed away from the major leagues. But the salaries were too high — it was not sustainable. It all came crashing down in July of 1921, when the Franklin club folded.100 The Pittsburgh Post reported that $5,000 of debt still remained from 1920,101 and the News-Herald opined that if only Oil City “would agree to live up to a proper salary limit, we would be able to make a go of it,” but admitted such an arrangement was unlikely to work. Oil City folded a few weeks later;102 the ballpark at West End Grounds was dismantled, and the lumber was sold, with the proceeds used to cover some of the club’s deficit.103

But while Oil City and Franklin had folded, the desire to improve a local team, financial sanity be damned, had spread to other independent teams across the state, and beyond. Many of the players ended up playing for Clearfield (about 90 miles east) and its rival, Philipsburg. A third club in that region, Osceola, apparently went so far as to hire the entire team away from Allegheny Steel.104 When these teams went down the tubes, some of the players crossed the state to join the Mahanoy City-Tamaqua rivalry and later found their way to Hornell, New York, for its rivalry with Corning.105

EPILOGUE

Billy Nixon had originally signed to manage Franklin through the end of 1920,106 but resigned the position shortly after the end of the 1919 season.107 The 30-year-old Nixon had purchased co-ownership in a dry-cleaning establishment in Meadville (about 30 miles away). His resignation letter included this assessment of the rivalry:

“I have been accustomed to playing ball where, when the breaks of the game went against a club and they lost, it was taken as a matter of course, but every game between Franklin and Oil City is a World’s Series contest, with all the tenseness that implies, and each one is played over in the evening by the fans and all the mistakes discussed, with a liberal sprinkling of what ‘might-have-beens.’ No, I much prefer the quiet life.”

We end with this limerick, penned by your author:

Two small towns in west Pennsylvania

Infected with rivalry mania

Had salary frenzy

That spread throughout Pennsy

And chased common sense from their crania.

 

ENDNOTES

1. In 1920 Oil City had 21,274 residents, Franklin 9,970. In contrast, the city of Pittsburgh had 588,313. Department of Commerce Bulletin, Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920; Population : Pennsylvania, page 20.

2. “First Franklin Oil City Game Was Played 53 Years Ago,” Franklin (Pennsylvania) News-Herald, September 4, 1919: 3; “History of the Game Here,” Oil City (Pennsylvania) Derrick, August 25, 1919: 12. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, August 19, 1919: 3.

3. “Steelers Win, 6-2, Before West End’s Large Assemblage,” Franklin News-Herald, August 29, 1919: 9.

4. “Munch Recalls Player Fights,” Oil City Derrick, December 28, 1961: 11.

5. It was noted that the lack of a fence in “middle field” conveniently provided the umpire with an escape route for a hasty retreat. “Notes of the Game,” Franklin News Herald, July 19, 1919: 3.

6. “Notes of the Second Game,” Franklin News-Herald, May 31, 1919: 3.

7. “Eisenbeis to Have Laundry Done Free,” Franklin News Herald, July 11, 1919: 3.

8. “Jake Pitler’s Team Plays at Youngstown,” Franklin News Herald, May 16, 1919: 3; “Jordan’s Crew Captures Game at Youngstown,” Franklin News-Herald, June 30, 1919: 3.

9. “Larry Lobestro [sic] Walloped In Sunday Game,” Franklin News-Herald, August 18, 1919: 3; “Jamestown Team Beaten,” Oil City Derrick, August 4, 1919: 10.

10. Organized Baseball refers to the formal alliance of the two major leagues — the National League and the American League — together with the National Association of minor leagues, all operating under a common agreement that governs player contracts and the reserve clause. The term distinguishes this structured system from independent clubs and so-called outlaw leagues (such as the short-lived Federal League), which were not bound by its rules or authority.

11. “Franklin Wins This Time,” Pittsburg Press, June 29, 1919: 24.

12. “4 Games on Card for Franklin Next Week,” Franklin News-Herald, July 5, 1919: 3.

13. “Standings of the Clubs,” Franklin News-Herald, July 10, 1919: 3.

14. “Independents Had Big Margin Over Nursery Batters,” Franklin News-Herald, September 5, 1918: 3.

15. As part of a series of reminiscences four decades after the fact, specific values like “50 dollars” should be taken with a grain of salt. “Local Club’s Payroll Was High,” Oil City Derrick, December 27, 1961: 13

16. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, August 16, 1919: 3.

17. “Steelers defeat Oil City in Final Game of Big Series,” Pittsburgh Post, October 8, 1919: 12.

18. “Oil City is Long On Stars, But Short On Funds,” Franklin News-Herald, March 21, 1919: 3.

19. “Stovers in Oil City Plan Big Parade,” Franklin News Herald, May 2, 1919: 3.

20. “Three-Fourths of Stock for Ball Team is Sold,” Franklin News-Herald, February 12, 1919: 3.

21. “Jordan’s Terms Satisfactory to Fan’s Committee,” Franklin News-Herald, February 10, 1919: 3.

22. “Baseball Team Assured …,” Franklin News-Herald, February 19, 1919: 3.

23. “Local Team to ‘Carry On’; New Players Signed,” Franklin News-Herald, June 20, 1919: 3.

24. “Subscribers to Baseball Team Requested to Pay,” Franklin News-Herald, July 1, 1919: 3.

25. “Booster Day Will Be Dollar Day At Oil City Ball Park,” Franklin News-Herald, July 25, 1919: 9.

26. “To Boost Ball Team,” Oil City Derrick, July 29, 1919: 12.

27. “Baseball Directors Grateful for Help,” Franklin News Herald, July 29, 1919: 3.

28. “Carnival Yields Baseball Team $2,500 or More,” Franklin News-Herald, August 25, 1919: 9.

29. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, August 18, 1919: 3.

30. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, September 2, 1919: 8.

31. “Independents Look First Rate in First Game,” Franklin News-Herald, May 7, 1919: 3.

32. “Battle Royal Expected, Oil City Derrick, June 27, 1919: 12.

33. “Two Games on Friday,” Oil City Derrick, July 3, 1919: 12.

34. “Booster Day Will Be Dollar Day At Oil City Ball Park,” Franklin News-Herald, July 25, 1919: 9.

35. “Baseball Rates Raised,” Oil City Derrick, August 1, 1919: 12.

36. “50 Cents to be Charged for Ball Games This Year,” Franklin News-Herald, May 20, 1919: 3.

37. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, August 30, 1919: 3.

38. “George Sisler, St. Louis Star, Joins Franklin,” Franklin News-Herald, September 29, 1919: 3.

39. “Notes of the Game,” Franklin News-Herald, October 1, 1919: 3.

40. “Booster Day Will Be Dollar Day At Oil City Ball Park,” Franklin News-Herald, July 25, 1919: 9.

41. “Friday’s Crowd at Ball Game Second Largest for City,” Franklin News-Herald, July 5, 1919: 3.

42. Ibid.

43. “Westfield Seeking Game With Locals,” Franklin News Herald, August 4, 1919: 3.

44. “Steelers Win, 6-2, Before West End’s Large Assemblage,” Franklin News-Herald, August 29, 1919: 9.

45. “Notes of the Game,” Franklin News-Herald, August 21, 1919: 9.

46. “Independents Start Season With Victory,” Franklin News-Herald, May 19, 1919: 3.

47. “Jordan’s Players Get Off With Win, 8 to 0,” Franklin News-Herald, May 24, 1919: 3.

48. “Franklin and Oil City Split Even in 2 Games on Fourth,” Franklin News-Herald, July 5, 1919: 3.

49. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, August 16, 1919: 3; “Notes of the Game,” Franklin News-Herald, August 20, 1919: 3.

50. “Franklin Loses to Oil City Crew in Closing Game,” Franklin News-Herald, October 6, 1919: 3.

51. “Richard Guy Thinks Well Of Bill Nixon,” Franklin News-Herald, July 12, 1919: 3.

52. “Baseball Finances In Good Condition; Debt Is Reduced,” Franklin News-Herald, October 9, 1919: 3.

53. For a 10% tax, the tax amounts to 9.09% of receipts. $1,350 divided by 9.09% is $14,850.

54. The Cardinals and Braves averaged 2,421 and 2,462 fans, respectively. From the table at baseball-reference.- com/leagues/majors/1919-misc.shtml.

55. “Baseball Finances In Good Condition; Debt Is Reduced,” Franklin News-Herald, October 9, 1919: 3.

56. SABR BioProject for Casey Hageman. sabr.org/bioproj/ person/casey-hageman.

57. “Baseball Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, July 21, 1919: 3.

58. “Local Club’s Payroll Was High,” Oil City Derrick, December 27, 1961: 13.

59. “The Sporting Spotlight,” Memphis News-Scimitar, December 2, 1918: 9.

60. “Independents Had Big Margin Over Nursery Batters,” Franklin News-Herald, September 5, 1918: 3.

61. “Franklin’s Old Hoodoo, Murray, To Oppose Again,” Franklin News-Herald, April 1, 1919: 3; “Oil City Already Has World Beater; on Paper, at Least,” Franklin News Herald, April 10, 1919: 3.

62. “Oil City Takes On Two More Players,” Franklin News Herald, April 23, 1919: 3.

63. “Independents Start Season With Victory,” Franklin News-Herald, May 19, 1919: 3.

64. “Jordan Arrives; Fans to Greet Him Next Week,” Franklin News-Herald, May 2, 1919: 3.

65. “Manager Jordan Asked to Report Here on April 15,” Franklin News-Herald, March 31, 1919: 3.

66. “Otto Jordan Promises Good Club; Will Be Here Soon,” Franklin News-Herald, April 12, 1919: 3.

67. “Candidates for Baseball Team Due to Report,” Franklin News-Herald, May 12, 1919: 3.

68. “Practice Contest for Tonight is Off,” Franklin News Herald, May 21, 1919: 3.

69. “Jordan’s Players Have First Game Here This Evening,” Franklin News-Herald, May 23, 1919: 3.

70. “Jordan’s Players Get Off With Win, 8 to 0,” Franklin News-Herald, May 24, 1919: 3.

71. “Notes of the Second Game,” Franklin News-Herald, May 31, 1919: 3.

72. “No Mystery About Why Oil City Wins,” Franklin News-Herald, May 31, 1919: 3.

73. “Six of Jordan’s Players Draw Their Releases,” Franklin News-Herald, June 2, 1919: 3.

74. “New Players to Oppose M’Elroys, of Youngstown,” Franklin News-Herald, June 5, 1919: 3.

75. “Oil City Wins Game,” Oil City Derrick, June 18, 1919: 12; “Franklin Loses 11-Inning Battle to Oil City,” Franklin News-Herald, June 18, 1919: 3; “Answer Franklin Claim,” Oil City Derrick, June 19, 1919: 12; “Mr. Cunningham’s Affadavit Didn’t Go Far Enough,” Franklin News-Herald, June 19, 1919: 3.

76. “To Play Here Today,” Oil City Derrick, June 18, 1919: 12.

77. “Franklin Not On Hand,” Oil City Derrick, June 19, 1919: 12.

78. “Locals Forced to Use Hurler Who Had Not Rested,” Franklin News-Herald, June 12, 1919: 3.

79. “Booster Day Will Be Dollar Day At Oil City Ball Park,” Franklin News-Herald, July 25, 1919: 9.

80. “Baseball Fans Call to Meet at 7:30 Tonight,” Franklin News-Herald, June 19, 1919: 3.

81. “Local Team to ‘Carry On’; New Players Signed,” Franklin News-Herald, June 20, 1919: 3.

82. “Oil City Dates to be Ignored by Local Club,” Franklin News-Herald, June 20, 1919: 3.

83. “4-Game Series With Oil City is Scheduled,” Franklin News-Herald, June 24, 1919: 3.

84. “Franklin Signs 2 More Players; Buffington One,” Franklin News-Herald, June 21, 1919: 3.

85. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, June 30, 1919: 3.; “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, July 1, 1919: 3.

86. “Subscribers to Baseball Team Requested to Pay,” Franklin News-Herald, July 1, 1919: 3.

87. “From Franklin’s Viewpoint,” Franklin News-Herald, June 28, 1919: 3.

88. “Franklin Wins Easily,” Oil City Derrick, July 9, 1919: 10; “Meeting of Directors Called,” Franklin News-Herald, July 8, 1919: 3; “Nixon Secured to Manage Local Baseball Team,” Franklin News-Herald, July 9, 1919: 3.

89. “O’Toole Through As Arbiter in Inter-City Games,” Franklin News-Herald, August 9, 1919: 3.

90. “Gordinier is Star Buffalo Pitcher,” Franklin News-Herald, August 2, 1919: 3.

91. “Jack Meehan Lands Trio After Fruitless Trip to South Bethlehem to Get Players On Disbanded Plant Team,” Franklin News-Herald, August 15, 1919: 3.

92. There are many accounts of this event, with differing details, variously called “The Scott Perry Incident” or “The Hays Hollow Coup.” Some appeared in newspapers decades after the fact. Here, we only reference the accounts from the next day’s newspapers in the two cities. “Oil City Captures Great Game; Franklin Signs 3 Big Leaguers,” Franklin News-Herald, August 15, 1919: 3; “Franklin’s Bluff Fails,” Oil City Derrick, August 15, 1919: 12.

93. “Franklin Signs Leaguers,” Pittsburg Press, August 16, 1919: 11.

94. “Some Local Gossip,” Franklin News-Herald, September 26, 1919: 3.

95. “George Sisler, St. Louis Star, Joins Franklin,” Franklin News-Herald, September 29, 1919: 3.

96. “Sisler And Harris Arrive; To Play Here This Evening,” Franklin News-Herald, September 30, 1919: 3.

97. “Ambridge Must Play Better Ball … Big Leaguers Galore,” Pittsburgh Post, September 30, 1919: 16.

98. “Outlucked, That’s All,” Franklin News-Herald, October 4, 1919: 8.

99. “Baseball Finances In Good Condition; Debt Is Reduced,” Franklin News-Herald, October 9, 1919: 3.

100. “All Efforts To Save Club Have Failed,” Franklin News Herald, July 9, 1921: 3.

101. “Oilers Win Final From Franklin; To Finish Out Season,” Pittsburgh Post, July 10, 1921: 23.

102. “Oil City Club Disbands; West End Park Goes Too,” Oil City Derrick, July 27, 1921: 12.

103. Ibid.

104. “Knetzer and Tyson Help Osceola Win,” Pittsburgh Post, August 9, 1921: 8.

105. “Joe Harris To Finish Season With Hornell,” Franklin News-Herald, September 10, 1921: 3.

106. “Richard Guy Thinks Well Of Bill Nixon,” Franklin News-Herald, July 12, 1919: 3.

107. “Franklin Must Find New Pilot For Next Season,” Franklin News-Herald, October 15, 1919: 3.