Baseball was a popular leisure activity for boys and young men in Nebraska during the 1890s and early 1900s. Small towns often fielded teams, giving rise to strong rivalries between neighboring communities. C. S. Fowler, editor and proprietor of the North Bend Argus, on September 6, 1895, criticized the visiting Cedar Bluffs team for taking undue advantage of North Bend.
“It will be remembered that a majority of the North Bend boys who have met the Cedar Bluffs team five times this season are still school boys. It will be also noticed that the Cedar Bluffs team are big husky fellows, a majority of them over five feet ten inches in height. Well the Bluff team arrived in the city Friday last on time. And they did not come alone. Oh, no! But with them were two of the Wahoo professionals, ‘Dad’ Clarke, the Wahoo pitcher, and one Morse, the short stop.
“To think that the Bluff team would hunt up a couple of professionals to defeat North Bend’s school boy team was a stunner. But they did and if Cedar Bluffers can take any comfort out of the deal the North Bend team are willing. Our boys here made a mistake in going into the game with the understanding that they should lose. They did this and the result was a record of sixteen errors against them. Cedar Bluffs took the game by a score of 21 to 5 and were welcome to it. When North Bend again meets the Bluff team it will be with the understanding that Saunders County will be searched to find a team to handle our school boys.
“The boys here need not feel taken in; it is but a few weeks ago that the Cedar Bluffs fire department swelled its membership from 26 to 67 for a certain occasion and their ball team is liable to do likewise.”
(July 1997)
