Show 7 ti V I f il J i 1 FlATt IlAT Aylie Arli u 1 e Own Baseball Stories Stories' Zv S J i I L i I Ij j 1 j l There was old Brush on on first making all sorts aorta of sta stabs s at them thern and somehow or other f stopping them No IVO 4 Old 4 Old Tacks Parrot Pitcher Star in the Early Certainly Was the Real Official League D e Stitched Double cd Article o of an Eccentric Played Eccentric Played Cornet All the Time fie e Wasn't Wasn 1 Playing Ball and Wore Oregon Whiskers ors Thai That Kept Kepi S the Whole Team Guessing Could Guessing Could Ketch Ball Some Too th this number numb r four of the series eries which the famous J r baseball comedian is twirling in the big Magazine league as cu he c ra expresses it we tee have some racy reminiscences of another of oj those old bygone individualities of the game so 0 conspicuous in their day so 0 completely forgotten shortly after Arlie Arhe who was waa christened d Walter Waiter Arlington Latham played his hia first professional ball in 18 1882 2 with the Philadelphia team of the Alliance League Later with the St. St Louis Brot Browns na he became known as one of the best third basemen and in the business Latterly he has been umpiring in in the tM Colonial League after a short hort innings inning as all a delicatessen storekeeper in New York City B By Y YO Arlie Latham LD TACKS PARROT was a character No Noone Noone Noone O OLD one ever quite knew what Tom was capable of and no one ever knew what he was going to todo todo todo do next Ive I've seen a good many bugs when I was in inthe inthe inthe the game militant militant from from fellows who would go go fishing in a mud puddle with a safety pin a piece of thread and a limb of a tree free to eccentric gentlemen who would steal anything fr from m second base to your best girl But for the real official league double- double stitched article I never knew any anyone one that had it on Tern Parrot Tom was a pitcher in the early nineties and when he wasn't playing ball he was playing first cornet or something in a a bush orchestra back in his home town Before a game Tom used to pitch up in practice for more than half an hour and when he thought he was pretty well warmed up hed he'd go out into centre- centre field and shag flies until his tongue got sunburned Then hed he'd come in and pitch his head off in a game When the game was over Tom would run for a hogshead hogshead hogshead hogs hogs- head of ice water and thrust his pitching arm into it He said that sort ort of treatment kept the salary wing in condition I never could figure out whether he had hada a good whip because of this treatment or in spite 9 of it Well along in the early nineties before I developed hoofs gum-hoofs and umpires umpire's crouch I was playing with the Cincinnati team We trained in those days in Dallas Tex On the day I speak of there w were re a alot alot alot lot of rookies upsetting the pepper box ar around und the infield and whooping things up generally The grounds were open and pretty soon soon in strolled a big lanky six-footer six with witha a full set of or bushes and a build l like ke kea a bunch of coach whips He strolled over to one of the ballplayers and asked him if he could borry berry his glove and ketch a few The player asked him if he could play any ball Why Im I'm a right smart ballplayer I am The player looked hard at the others other's whiskers for a second and then said Ill bet I know who you are Youre You're Pete Bush of the Alfalfa League No I replied the other Im a local boy Well the player gave hini him his glove vh which ch was a lefthand one one and the busher put it on his right hand Then he moved over to first base and yelled for some hot ones He got them And he got a hot reception too The minute the players spotted those whiskers they started to ride him Get out from behind that bush 1 IT Take off those rabbit nests the guy with the steel wool on his map Herr Shoot Dont throw the ball into that alfalfa hell he'll hell he'll lose it I r rI I Tom would thrust his pitching arm armInto arminto arminto into a hogshead of ice water 7 The big fellow never batted an eye at all aU this he simply stood there waiting with his arms stretched straight out before hi him n the heels of his palms closed and his fingers stuck out at all an angles les like the blades of a jack knife And they let him have it Every one that got the ball picked it up and let drive at the busher with enough force to send the ball clean through him And there was old Brush on first making all sorts of stabs at them and somehow or other stopping them And the more success he had in stopping the balls baUs the harder the players threw In about ten minutes there wasn't a man on the field that did not have havea a sore arm After a time the big first baseman changed his glove to his left hand and started to ketch them in earnest He speared them from all angles He grabbed e oe a. I 80 aa 00 I y t y s r 7 aw sk c. c Arlie Arhe Lathan them out of the air and picked them up from his shoe laces And he shot them back at the other players so fast that when they hit you could hear the smack all over the field t Then they tumbled tumbled The fellow with the sedge grass on his chin was Tacks Parrot 1 I You see Tacks lived up in m Oregon where it was wasso was wasso wasso so cold that you could sharpen a piece of ice and use it for a a razor all winter and so he used to grow those whiskers to protect his throat Knowing hed he'd have a a little fun he left them on when he came came to Dallas I remember another funny incident connected with Tom I was playing with the Cincinnati team at the time tune and was living in one of those very quiet refined sections of the city where the tradesman deliver their orders through the basement where the people all bat in the Finance League and where you never hear a stray cat singing to his love or an organ grinder playing Sweet Rosie OGrady Before Defore the season actually had started I J awoke one one morning about 5 6 o'clock and lay abed half balf awake thinking idly of one thing and another Suddenly somewhere in the neighborhood the notes of a cornet rang out This was at 5 o'clock in inthe inthe inthe the morning The fellow that played the cornet ran ranall ranall ranall all the way down the scale and then he ran all the way back again Then he came down again and stopped in the middle as though he had made only a two-base two hit He hung around second for a while blowing on the same note then he made a break for thi third d got there and and- without slackening speed made for home The last note was a sharp snappy one ont so I I guess he sli slid and was called safe Well that fellow blew everything out of a cornet that was in it except the hole This sort of thing continued every morning until the season opened All the time we were wondering where Tom Parrot was Up to the time the season opened no one had seen him On the opening day we were all dressed and ready to go to the grounds but still no Tom Parrot I might have suspected that the that bothered me in the morning was Tom but somehow I As I say on the day the season opened we were all ready and waiting for Tom Not a sign of ti t HERB j him Finally along came the conveyance that was w was to take us to the grounds We all climbed aboard aboard- and expected to see Tom come running up at any minute But he At last we were about to start and had given Tacks up for lost wh when en a brass band and on its way to the grounds swung around a corner and headed for us full blare But Dut it wasn't the band that caused us to nearly fall off the tallyho Jt it was something else There at the head of the musicians dressed ina in ina ina a long linen duster and sombrero and blowing a cornet so hard that his face came to a point at hi his mouth was the missing Tom Parrot And then I knew who the morning soloist was When we took trips on trains Tom never bothered to waste his time talking or playing cards hed he'd just take the mouthpiece of his cornet out of his grip and practice making his lips flexible until we came to our oW destination s On boat trips taps Tom was as good as a play First hed he'd take a seat near the orchestra and watch the Little by little hed he'd edge edg up to him until he looked as though he belonged to the orchestra orchestra- Then Tom would pull one hand from behind his back and there would be the cornet And the next thing we knew Tom would be playing away for dear life liCe and paying attention to nothing else I can very well remember the trips we used to take taketo to Washington when old Tacks was along with ith us After we vie had dressed in our hotel we proceeded to the ball grounds in a tally tally-ho That word proceeded proceeded proceeded pro always reminds me of a diary diary diary- we proceeded from the lake to the next village and thence took the sixty eight-sixty three airship back to the boarding house you house you know After we h had d climbed to the top of the conveyance Tom would bring his cornet from under his duster and begin to wet his lips Next hed he'd straighten up throw out his chest and then stretch his arms out in front of him By this time Tom was all aU warmed up and ready to go on the mound I l Ladies and gentlemen Tom now about k to pitch his cornet and if necessary to play any r position or tune in the musical field t. t After Tom had made a few preliminary pass passes through the air with the cornet hed he'd put it to his lips and let her go People eople in the street would look in amazement after the tally-ho tally and those in front of ofus ofus ofus us would line up along the curb thinking that a circus or a a band was coming down the street Tom would keep this up all the way to the grounds he never paid any attention to the people on the street but kept his eyes rolled u up at the sky as th though ugh ugh- there wasn't anything on earth except the cornet worth looking at Tom wasn't a a slouch with the stick but he used to make bigger and more hits on the he way to the grounds than he ever did in them When wed we'd get to the grounds some sam one would have to jog his bis arm ann to make hit him quit playing It If this were not done he would continue to play until there wasn't a note left lert in the cornet I dont don't know what Tom is doing now but I think r it very probable he is owner manager and captain combined of some bush league orchestra up in in Portland Ore and throwing them over with a good free musical delivery holding his opponents hitless and getting a few blows out of his cornet himself a r IL ILAt At the head bead of the musicians showing a comet cornet was the missing Tom Parrott Parrot ft |