I'm Perplexed - a Historical Question

bkmckenna · Post by **bkmckenna** » 13 Jan 2006, 14:27

i read an article in the la times from 10/26/1893 that said that baseball umpire jim mcdonald never has to fear because no one messes with him because he is the "only many to whip corbett" and that mcdonald was soon to umpire in the majors which he did in 1895 and 1897-99

i pulled up the files in boxrec.com and see that corbett fought a duncan mcdonald twice - he was canadian and called butte, montana his home - lifespan 1861-1947

retrosheet.com (a baseball site) has him listed as james f. mcdonald - before and after his major league career he umpired on the west coast so i guess he was from there or settled there

i then read in the boxing register that a jim mcdonald reffed a kid lavigne/mysterious billy smith fight in sf on 3/10/1899

can someone help me connect the dots?

Ambling Alp · Post by **Ambling Alp** » 13 Jan 2006, 22:22

Jim Corbett had a brother named Joe who played professional baseball. He was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of the old Amercian Association, and probably some other teams. I faintly recall the story that you are talking about.

I believe the part about the McDonald "being the only man to whip Corbett" was a joke in the 1890's. He hadn't actually whipped Jim Corbett.
Not sure if he had actually beat up Corbett's brother or had just hit a home run off of him or something like that. Or maybe there was some sort of altercation when McDonald was an umpire after he had quit playing baseball.

Jim McDonald wasn't a boxer who fought Jim Corbett. Hope this helps.

bkmckenna · Post by **bkmckenna** » 13 Jan 2006, 22:31

i kinda got that idea - that it was a joke - after reading various newspaper articles - do you think it was the same mcdonald who refereed that match