Pittsburgh Stars

Across the state in Philadelphia, two major league teams fought for control of the city's baseball market.

The interleague fighting began when the Athletics lured several of the Phillies' players from their contracts, only to lose them again through court actions.

And right away he alienated many potential fans in Pittsburgh when he decided to have his team train in Greensburg, 40 miles away.

Berry stated that Greensburg's Natatorium provided better facilities than what could be found in Pittsburgh, but the public outrage continued.

Wrote one historian: "As far as the fans were concerned, Berry had deserted Pittsburgh and deprived them of the fun of watching practices for free."

[10] Berry did build a top-notch team, however; as a player-coach he hired, a former Brown University All-American, Willis Richardson at quarterback.

Having Richardson and the team's coach and quarterback, helped gain the respect of other former Homestead players, many of whom signed up immediately.

[11] With all the baseball involvement, training didn't get underway for the football teams until September 29, 1902 with the season was scheduled to open a week later on October 4.

For example, Pittsburgh halfback Artie Miller joined the team after working as a lumberjack in Wisconsin that summer.

[11] The league played all of its games on Saturdays, since there were no Sunday sports events, in 1902, according to Pennsylvania's blue laws.

The Stars played their home games at the Pittsburgh Coliseum, which was owned by William Chase Temple.

While other historians feel that coach Richardson got rid of Mathewson because he felt that since the fullback's punting skills were hardly used, he could replace him with former Harvard player[13] Shirley Ellis.

After a game against Washington & Jefferson team fell through, Berry guaranteed Connie Mack $2,000 if the Athletics would come to Pittsburgh and play the Stars.

A Philadelphia victory on Thanksgiving would give the A's the championship, but a win by the Stars would tie the race for the league title tighter.

However, Mack soon after received a check for $2,000 from William Corey, the head of Carnegie Steel who impatiently wanted to see the game.

The Athletics and Stars played to a scoreless tie, meaning that Dave Berry's "championship game" hadn't decided anything.

About 2,000 fans showed up, and the Pittsburgh players knew before the game began that the gate receipts were going to come up shorter than what was promised.

However, a late touchdown by Shirley Ellis and another by Artie Miller led Pittsburgh to an 11–0 win over the Athletics.

The team had agreed to that season-ending championship game against Pittsburgh two days after Thanksgiving, and they had lost it.

The Pittsburgh players were too busy suing William Temple for money that was owed to them for their Thanksgiving Day game to celebrate their victory, and the story disappeared from the newspapers before the suit was settled.

[5] Most of the players played again with other teams such as the Franklin Athletic Club, the Canton Bulldogs and the Massillon Tigers over the next few years.