Salt Lake Herald | 1907-07-14 | Page 22 | How Ed Delehanty Learned to Bat

How Ed Delehanty Learned to Bat BI Big Ed the pioneer of that celebrated family of ball pla players ers and whose swatting was the wonder of the baseball profession was often approached by players and scribes as to ills his ability to keep up his stick work so regularly but buthe buthe he never deigned to reply except to say It was born in him But once in a while the big fellow unbent and the way lie he used to shoot the gaff into tIll the green on one was a caution One da day at the ball ballpark ballpark park out on Seventh street the rain pvc pre prevented vented the continuance or of the gilme with the Philadelphia team or of which Del was a member and there was QuIte a group sit sitting sitting ting around J Earle Earie Wagner the own owner or of the passing the thc con round rather free freely Jimmy Jimm McJames was then pitching for forthe forthe the and on his turn up prior to the rain Del had soaked one olle 0 of his for keeps much to the discomfiture discomfiture of who was then JJ i rather green one from South Carolina and he broke into the con Immediately Ho How did you ou learn to gauge curve pitching so well Mr Ir Delehanty Delehant may I ask asked politely The appellation of Mr rather took Delehanty oft off his seat Oh that was easy replied the mighty Delehanty You see my father was a great naturalist and made a fancy of training birds and particularly these cranky bats that fly around nt at night When I gave up my studies at college and determined to play baseball my dad used to go in a Ion long room and placing me under Jt bright light send the bats out of the cages In my direction You know how bats curve cune around in their fl flying ing and 01 my dad made It obligatory that I must hit every one that curved in ny my direction I Idid Idid did and how I gauge yOU jays who think you OU know a thing or two about curves McjameS took It all In and Win used to take him out on the lots even evenIngs logs Ings to practice hitting the bats and It was as a long time before McJames dropped to the fact that the king of batsmen was giving him a stinging for daring to call him Mr Ir Delehanty Delehant when every other player In uniform had permission to say Del