The Kitty League Game With No Umpires (1936)

The Kitty League is often referred to as quirky and usually with good reason. From the league president getting into a fist fight with fans to players refusing to play in the championship series, there always seems to be something odd happening. Then, there is this:

Mel Ivy and Bennie Muse acquitted themselves nobly in the role of umpires at Hook Park (Paducah) Wednesday afternoon. For the fourth time this season there were no umpires on hand when it was time to start the game.

So the Paducah catcher donned equipment and called balls and strikes and the Hopkinsville jack-of-all-trades star decided the plays on the bases. Each young man did a high class job, and there was no squawking.

It’s a mystery to me why Dr. Frank Bassett cannot at least see that there are umpires on hand for the games in the league of which he is president.

Source: Paducah Sun-Democrat