Show I I F HOME RUN HAGGERTY BY WILLIAM GEORGE DALEY I has come out of the west With Vilh a bat and a sixty inch chest The Tho bat Is of or steel and he shatters the phora a ain In a way yay Ya to fill all the tho good pitchers with fear foar When he steps the plate fielders takato taku to the woods For lie he never has failed to deliver the goods Hes Bes He z worshiped and followed and cheered on by mobs This slugger called Swat This poem lOO can be found on page of the Poetical History of the Corn orn droppers league and it marks one of ot the wonderful experiences the famous Alfalfas experienced winning their ninth straight pennant There was weeping in our midst when e C heard of No Nobody Nobody Nobody body had ever In moments oven even on dreamed that a heavier batter than me would ever eV r be dug up and I Inas waa nas admired by my own people and feared by my opponents as I had been for five fie long years or ever since I per Jer performed performed formed the unparalleled feat of ot break breakIng I lug InS a league ball in three pieces In one I great swipe and knocking them so 50 far tar I that I scored three home runs one for forach each ach piece and Won on a close game by a single tally tall I hear he lost so many balls he bankrupted a league out west says sars flub Rufo Gibson one night I hear he broke so many man bats be before before before fore Tie he got this lignum vity Ity stick weighing forty pounds that the price o 0 lumber went wont up ruinous says TarPaper Hennessy I hear hoar one of his famous swipes was vas wasn wasa I n a drive re that went over the leftfield fence nee hit a freight car on a sidetrack I nn Sn knocked It into a passenger train on another track an caused a big wreck says Sam Merritt They found the ball imbedded In the side o 0 ohe 1 he freight car carI I 1 hoar hear the fences down clown at Cloverdale JM JIo peppered full o 0 little holes says Jim Harrison Them fearful biffs birrs o 0 go so fast last they dont simply bust the boards off like Hags flags here but make holes like a bullet By this time I was an mis miserable miserable erable Even talk taUt about the tile of ot another mighty slugger makes you feel mean There might not be a word of ot It true but it gave me a blue An I cd cOd see set that my think as much o 0 me as they did They looked at me kindly enough but Just Justas as much as to say Oh you ou aint so much now There are others How 4 quick Qui Ck glory fades out when It runs up against an gets gots common r pe so so In the groat national gj g mo rue moo I I o 0 ball brili They say went on Pete Brown that he has maimed a lot 0 o good ball ban ballplayers ballplayers players in his day One particular good third baseman got both hands tore off a drive ticketed for the left lett leftfield leftfield field fence and He had plenty o 0 Os pluck but was lackin Judgment Now hes lackin hands Pooh says I That aint so much of a rap Ive lifted fellers clean off their feet with drives Shucks says Pete There aint no comparison Dont you ou see how much he had you beat His was goin so fast it have time to lift this here unfortunate third baseman Jest whisked away hooks and streaked out to the next county perhaps or up against some mountain So everybody waited the first sight o 0 with pleasure an rejoicing an expectation except me who had a reputation to lose and our three pitchers who had to stand In the theja jaws ja WB o 0 death every time they a ball up for this slugger to soak Reggie Van Rensselaer Lamp Hymes Hymen Willyum Rice an me got together therefore an held a mutual sympathy What to do in the face o 0 the common enemy was Wag what worried us They rhey say sa spit ball nor serpentine ball bali nor 1101 any ball bail that was ever has ever puzzled this thin guy says Reg He SHe wont vont bite at slow ones they say says sas Lamp Hymen Hymes sadly If It so no it lets me out I This aint no time for tor e on new curves cunes an slow balls says Willyum Rice our This is the time to use our head pieces An AnI I got a n little scheme I work Im goin to ask Josh to loT ine pitch against him Till Im then silence must be the th watchword As Willyum myum told us what his scheme was ivan silence was the tho watch watchword watchword watchword word When he asked to be allowed to pitch against the wonder everybody thought the Rube who learned how to pitch apples at the cows when he was a kid had gone dippy Well Veil the great reat day came an as the Alfalfas walked out to the field and I Iwas Iwas Iwas was putting on my mask Willyum walks out to who was as his hat at the plate while whilo the held their breaths an says low so only us heard him Say you big dub do you ou think youre going to hit the ball Where do you git off as a The only thing you can hit Is a big bucket 0 o suds eh eli Ill make it teats tea an plenty of ot em before I git through with you Say fairly doubled up with anger He got red an then white an a blue streak of cusses floated out of his mouth An then Willyum chucked him the nastiest little laugh one make you like to cut his face tace off on with a knife an stamp on it was foaming at the lips Ups when Willyum turned In the tile box to pitch Then the Rube swings his arm up without waiting for a signal nor an slams the ball straight at precious ribs Ouch yells the batting wonder as ashe ashe ashe he fell feU in a heap The ball touch him but he got up blinded with rage He pounded on the plate and stamped his spikes In and before he could get the fort pound slugger up Willyum had sneaked strike Mad No he man mail mall It was the first firt strike hed ever had called on him people said He just roared an aft big blue veins swelled out in his neck And Willyum coolly gives him another nasty laugh an drives a shoot shot in that missed his head by a hair I shut my eyes when I caught the ball to find a piece of his skull in my hands when I opened em But Buthe Buthe he had dodged and was madder than L ever eh yelled mois mols moistening moIstening up UI for the spit ball He he he means Then he sends up a n outshoot and Sw is so hot he jumps across the plate to kill lim it and misses Was there silence Two strikes on the ball killer an bat breaker breal er by a Rube pitcher whom no nobody nobody nobody body was afraid of much had spread foam on the happy haDt Y antici anticipation anticipation pation patton Again Willyum um drives a fast one as a only his arm coull riv iriv it right at the sluggers head and again L there was a dodging match that left with anger an anxiety to hit the ball baH Vin an yet in with fear too for fear he might be carried out on a stretcher Now it was three and two and had to be good The coachers yelled to and I signalled Willyum for a drop And he lie tossed one up that I honest hon st I thought never neer would get et to toI I the plat I saw hunch his shoulders swing the mighty bat an Step forward An then I stepped for forward forward forward ward too and snatched that just as the bat was descending to kill it right I picked that ball from fromin in front of the bat clean as a whistle and amid groans and bawls ba and cheers for Willyum the great slugger from the west tasted his first strike strikeout strikeout out medicine And he was so angry over it that he ho packed up his belong belongIngs Ings on the spot quit the game garne and started back to the wild and woolly where hed come from fromI I made four homers that day da and came into my own again And I took tool pleasure in presenting Willyum Rico Rice the nicest gold watch I could find on my next pay ay day da He may be a farm farmer er but he has got wits in a pinch And Ami that talks on the ball field Copyright 1906 by George William Daley |