When Matty Met the Big Train

By Scott Fiesthumel

Wild Bill Setley was one of the most unusual, interesting, and eccentric characters in baseball history. He played minor league ball for dozens of teams between 1891 and 1902 - sometimes catching pop flies behind his back or using a peeled potato to decive baserunners. After his playing career ended, Setley umpired in hundreds of games, becoming well-known for the $5 fines he imposed on those who argued with him. Wild Bill also was a policeman in Tulsa, greeted visitors at the Oklahoma House of Representatives, appeared on the Ripley's Believe It Or Not radio show with Lou Gehrig, and was one of the men behind the pitching showdown between the "Big Six" and the "Big Train." Here's an excerpt that tells that story - from the new book, The Legend of Wild Bill Setley. (available at www.eriecanalproductions.com)

After losing the 1913 World Series four games to one to the Philadelphia Athletics, the New York Giants joined with the Chicago White Sox on a barnstorming tour of the United States to raise money for a world tour. This was fairly common during the era. Teams, and many players, looked at it as an easy way to earn money in the off-season... in some cases as much or more money than they earned during the regular season. Wild Bill Setley heard about the tour and contacted his old friend Tip O'Neil, business manager for the White Sox.

Bill asked if he could promote a game in Tulsa between the Giants and White Sox... and somehow the name of Walter Johnson came up as a possible pitcher. Johnson, nicknamed "The Big Train," had posted an amazing 36-7 record for Washington that year and lived in Coffeyville, Oklahoma. O'Neil liked the idea of a pitching duel between "The Big Train" and "The Big Six," New York's Christy Mathewson. He asked Bill to come to Chicago on October 3rd and to bring a certified check for $1,000 with him as a guarantee. Bill didn't have that kind of money, but he knew someone who did - Tad Reese, an oil magnate and big baseball fan.

Bill sold his promotion rights to Reese and would help him promote the game. On October 3rd, the two men met with Charles Comiskey, the President of the Chicago White Sox, and finalized the agreement. The two big league clubs would receive 75% of the gate receipts. Walter Johnson would get $500 for one days pitching. Wild Bill would receive $500 from Reese, and the game would be played on October 28th.

When Wild Bill returned to Tulsa, he let the Daily World know that he had been put in charge of getting the South Street Ball Park ready for the big game and had already received permission from the Tulsa Street Railway to use the grounds. "There is much to be done at the park... the main grandstand, however, must be repaired and enlarged. We will also improve the present bleachers and extend them to the south and east. I have received inquiries from all parts of the state regarding the forthcoming game." Setley sounded like things would work out quite nicely.

Besides working on the ballpark, Bill traveled to nearby towns on an advertising/promotional campaign. He convinced towns to run special excursion trains on the day of the big game. He noted to the Tulsa Daily World, "The boys at Cleveland have paid for 200 seats. They are coming to Tulsa on October 28th and are bringing their brass band along." One hundred box seats at $2 each had already been sold and another 4,500 grandstand ($1.50) and bleacher ($1.00) seats would not be sold until gameday. Fans could also attend a farm exposition free with their admission.

October 28th finally arrived, and it actually snowed for a while in Tulsa. The paid attendance reached nearly 5,000 fans, and the Daily World estimated another 1,000 people snuck into the ballpark through holes in the fences. It didn't help that all the schools let out at noon so that the kids could go to the big game. The shivering fans finally got settled in to watch the game. A military troop was marching under the bleachers along the first base side. Then disaster struck. The entire first base bleacher section collapsed, sending hundreds of spectators crashing down onto the ground and the troops.

One soldier was killed instantly and more than fifty fans were seriously injured, some of whom later died as a result of their wounds. While Wild Bill Setley, the Governor of Oklahoma, the Giants and Sox players, and other dignitaries looked on in horror, people rushed to the scene to try to assist the injured. Many went to the hospital, but there were also many who went straight home. Eventually it was determined that the wooden benches had rotted. It took a while to sort out the confusion, but it was decided that the game should go on as most of the fans still remained in the ballpark.

Christy Mathewson (25-11 during the season) started for the Giants. He gave up six hits and two runs in just four innings and left with his team trailing 2-0. Walter Johnson was intent on earning his $500 and pitched superbly. He tossed an eight-hit shutout, striking out eight in the 6-0 victory. White Sox stars Buck Weaver (later of the infamous Black Sox), Sam Crawford, and Tris Speaker had hot bats in helping Johnson to an easy victory. The large crowd, that included Native Americans, also got to see Jim Thorpe get a hit off Walter Johnson.

The two teams each received $1,528 from the game receipts, and Tad Reese received $764 - which he claimed barely covered his expenses. Wild Bill probably would have loved to umpire the game between these two legendary Hall of Fame pitchers, but the teams had brought along the famous Bill Klem and John Sheridan to officiate.

In 1940, Wild Bill was playing dominoes with a boy in the parlor of the Brown Hotel in Oklahoma City when he reminisced about the game to Charles Saulsberry of the Daily Oklahoman,

Johnson won. I don't remember the score, but it was close. Lucky for me I sold the promotion rights. The stands were jammed full and the bleachers fell-killing several people. Everybody who had anything to do with the game was sued, but it dragged along and I don't believe anyone got a judgement. Not from me anyway. That's why the White Sox wouldn't play in Tulsa for years afterward. But to show you what kind of fellow Matty was: One little fellow broke his leg and lay there waiting for the ambulance. All he could think about was that he wouldn't get to see the game.

'I'd sure like to see Mr. Mathewson and Mr. Johnson', he told me. I wrapped my overcoat around him, said I'd be back in a minute and was he tickled when I brought Matty, Johnson and John McGraw over to see him. Matty shook hands with the boy as he left and when the kid opened his fist there was a $5 bill in it.

Bill claimed he always stumped even the most knowledgeable baseball fans when asked the simple trivia question: "Who won when Walter Johnson pitched against Christy Mathewson?" Most fans knew that the only time that players in the two major leagues faced each other was in the World Series, and Johnson never played in one until 1924, long after Mathewson retired. Few fans had heard about the ill-fated game played in Tulsa that was scheduled to help raise money for the "Round the World" Tour planned later. Fewer still knew of the man that conceived the game - Wild Bill Setley.