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Show HAGGERTY HAS A ffORTHY RIVAL Baseball Yarn That Is a Prizewinner. What Happened During a Contest Betweenthe Browns and Orioles. "Star Hooter" and ''Fat Tom" Meet and Swap XJea Some Great Performances. In the language of the seas, It tvas blowing half a gale. The "wind soughed mournfully through the. treetops and the fleecy mantle covered the earth. It was the night of the weekly meeting of the Fan club, but only half a dozen members showed up for' the session. The Star Rooter, the Elongated Enthusiast, Enthu-siast, the Fat Fan. the Man Who Never Nev-er Missed a Game, the Veteran Blcach-erlte Blcach-erlte and the Ancient and Honorable were the only ones to urave the blasts for the usual baseball powwow. There was silence deep and' long for half an hour, when finally the Star Rooter arose from his leather-covered couch, gently drew the curtain aside, peered out into the night and gurgled: "Boys. I guess tomorrow's game's postponed on account of spow." "Baseball, eh'?" chuckled the Fat Fan. "Say, don't you ever get anything any-thing else In that think tank of yours?" The Star snorted. "Baseball?" he almost al-most yelled. "And why not? Ain't Johnny McAleer gone hotfootln' down to Hot Springs to get In trim for tho next rag-huntlh' expedition, and didn't Clark Grllllth, him who leads the-Tarn O'Shanters, send a white heat wire to Frank Farrell sayln' he'd be here on New Year's day? Ain't them signs of the season and ain't It high time for all the followers of the great and glorious glori-ous to buckle on their armor and get ready9 I should 3ay It was. I donno what right you got to butt In when I make a remark touchln on the nay-tlonal nay-tlonal sport anyhow." jected the Man Who Never Missed a Game, "and not to get In any argument.' argu-ment.' I'm holdln' downline chair tonight, to-night, and If any member's got any stories to relate about great achievements achieve-ments with tho bat and ball, now's the time for him to spiel 'cm out. If not1 the game will be called off on account of thp storm and the absentees fined 60 cents apiece for not reportln for practice." prac-tice." Browns and the Orioles. "That's what I was a-sayln," retorted retort-ed the Star Rooter. "Soon's as I make a remark about baseball th,e Fat Ono over there tries to get in a row with the empire and break things up. I got a good story or two to let out" of my kick tonight, arid with the permission of the chair and the promise of Fatty, that he'll keep quiet, I'll reel 'em off. If he's mad becauso it's snowln' what'd lie join the club for? A little thing like seven or eight Inches of snow never feazes me nor any other good old dyed-in-the-wool rooter." After this shot at his loyalty, the Fat Fan said ho was only teasing, and the chair having granted permission, the Star Rooter began to unfold his tale. "I wafted Into Baltimore once when Hnnlon's old Orioles was settin the world afire," began the Star, "and one day I see the two greatest ketches ever made on a ball field. Maybe you think that's stretchln' it some, but it'3 a fact, copper riveted, and steel bpund. The Birds was.a-flyln' at a awful fast clip them days, and nothln' could stop 'em. And what a bunch they was to stack up ngalnst, to be sure. There was "Keeler and Kelley and Jennings and McGraw say, wasn't that a combination combina-tion likely enough to make any pitcher sick afore he ever started to warm up? Well, on this particular day along comes old Chris Von der Abe's St. Louis shines t6 take a' Hhot at the Orioles, Ori-oles, and I might Just as well say that Hanlon had that game packed away In salt afore the Westerners got Inside tho grounds. "The night precedln this little bit of pleasantry a cyclone got on a rampage In Baltimore, and cuttln' loose In great shape tore down the left field fence of Union, park. That was a sort of calamity, ca-lamity, but early in the mornln' a force of men was set to work Jackln' It up, and when It was time for the game to start the fence was raised to a angle as the scientists say, of about 45 degrees. de-grees. "That fence would have made a good toboggan slide If It was long enough, but that's neither here nor therb. Well, St. Louie goes flrst to bat, .and Tommy Dowd you all remember Tommy he was the flrst man up, und Sadie Mc-Mahon Mc-Mahon was doln the twirl In' for the Orioles. Two balls and two strikes was called on Tommy, when suddenly he ketches the ball square on the trademark. trade-mark. I looks up to seo where, the thing was a-goln' and as I ketch sight of It curling toward left field way I softly whistles to myself. 'Over the fence and one run for the Dutchman's outfit." Kelly Nipped the Ball. "But this was a error for nie, all right and no complajnt coming to tile ofllclal scorer, either. Tho minute the ball was hit Sir Joseph Kelley turns, and, makln' tracks for tho fence, runs with the ball. Of course, everybody expected to see Joseph stop when ho reached the fence and let Mr. Ball go over, but that's where everybody, In-cludln' In-cludln' me, was mistaken, "With IiIb eye still glued on tho sphere, Kelley strikes the boards and he bounces up that Inclined piano just like he was a-goln' up stairs in a hurry to get to bed. Holy mackerel! My eyes almos't popped out of my head. Everybody was a-hollerln' 'Look out, Joe! You'll go over!' but, of course, Kelley never heard 'cm. Just as he reaches the top of the fenco Kelley swings around same's as if he was on the ground, puts up one hand, grabs the ball and sklddooe3 back to Mother Earth. "Maybe that crowd didn't yell! Maybe May-be it didn't, and then. again maybe it j did. Why, I say, I Just got up on my hind legs and howled till I waa black In tho face, and everybody else did the same thing. Talk about a sketch. That was a lallapaloosa and no mistake. "I seen baseball ever since Harry Wright took the Cincinnati Reds around the country, and I- never seen anything like It In my life. Well, Sl Louie goes out noe, two, three, and when Kelley comes In from the field he gets another reception, the crowd makln' ma-kln' all the noise that was left In 'cm. McGraw leads off for the Orioles, and he goes out from short to flrst. Keeler puts up a fly which the third basemafi gobblps, and then up to the plate steps Sir Joseph. He gets the glad hand again, and, of course, he wants to make a hit. Dowd Returned tho Bobbery. I "Seems to me Red Ehret, with his hoochle-choochle delivery, was handln 'em out that day for the St. Louie and, Red he puts on steam and tries to strike Joey out. Kelley, you knows, always lets the first good one go by, and a strike was called. Then ho makes a tremendous swing at the ball and didn't hit nothln'. Strike No. 2. But the' third! Say, he lands on the leather with a crack that made the old man's heart go pltty-pat, and 'way she sails Just like Tommy Dowd's stlnga-ree. stlnga-ree. 'way over left field, headed straight for over the fence. "I just chalks down a run for Kelley on my score card and looks up to ketch a last glimpse of the ball, when I see Dowd doln' the same stunt Kelley did. Tommy waa mountln' that Inclined fence like as If he had wings, and the crowd was a-holdln' Its breath. "Say, you may take me outside this room and roll me. Into a snowball may I never see Johnny McGraw pullln' on the halliards raisin' that pennant next April at the polo grounds, If Tommy didn't do the same Identical stunt Kelley Kel-ley did. That SL Louis greyhound whips right up to the edge of the fence, wheels around, sticks out a mitt and pulls tho ball out of the clouds. Then he slides gracefully back to where the green grass grows all around, round, round, where the green grass grows all around. "You may believe me or not, but that gang nearly took the roof oft tho grandstand. grand-stand. The rzeket was awful. You'd have thought another cyclone had hit old Baity. And me a-slttln' there like a mummy. I couldn't open my trap. I was so dumbfounded. Me a-seeln' baseball at that time about twenty-five years and then to tumble In on a game and see the two greatest ketches ever made, all In one day. Say, one of 'em would have been worth the price of a season's ticket, but two! "Well, I just crossed out the run I had chalked down for Kelley and sat through the game like a mut, and that's no joke. The wind wns clean gone out of my sails. When tho game was oyer and the Orioles had breezed In I walks down onto the field to my old friend Hanlon and I says, ,says I: 'Say, "Ed. jever see anything like them ;two--ketchcs-orr-the--fence In "all your born days7 And Ed says, 'Nope, old man, and I never will again.' " New York Press. |