| Show The Dude Catcher Was a Surprise It was not so many years ago said the traveling rnzn when the Imprcs Ion Wa current that a mn who wa a dude and generally fastidious In his habits could not play ball This sentl ment was omewhat strong In Kansas City In the early eighties At that time the town wa very much Olive and the stronger withIn the gates could gt anything any-thIng he wanted from pitch and toss to manlaugbtr i All he had to do was to name his game Sunday baseball was a feature and a delegation from the stockyards Invariably In-variably attended In order that the proper amenities should be made inanl It The games were generally between amateur tam and uhat wa lacking In tcbnlc wa more than eompn ated by the ginger the players put In their iork Willi 11I11 lIutchlon wa then a resident of the city and under the name of Brown generally did the twirling for one of the teams Decker who caught for the Detrolts In their heyday did the receiving 1 Hutch In hose day had a world of retell and always had to let up when Decker came up to the plate On this particular Sunday a big crowilwas present pres-ent ft nine from Sedalla opposing the locals Tho stockyards contingent was decidedly numerous and was backing Hutch against the world It was nip and tuck for four Innings when a foul tip disabled Decker Time was called and a hunt begun for someone who was Illlng to take the hot shot that Hatch son was throwIng a vcr the plate suitable Suit-able material was a minus quantity and apparently the longer tho hunt the loss I likelihood there appeared to be of get ting a catcher and the stockyards ele merit was disconsolate At this Juncture a tall well built man wearing a all do dah overcoat a Bilk hat then rare In the town two watch chains a buttonhole bouquet and other accouterments that bespoke the effete oat arose and went under the grand stand and spoke to the captain of the local team The crowd began to guy and hoot Sol the owls and jeers were intermitted when a few minutes later he appeared In an 111 fitting unl form and put on the mask and gloves The gentlemen from the abattoir ills trict saw In their mind eye a total eclipse of the money wagered and almost al-most Precipitated a riot The game however Proceeded The gentleman from the east stood up unit took his medicine Hutch put them over HBO a cannon hot but the receiving end never flinched In those days the Association and the National league 1 were playing under different rule In the Association a foul caught on the first bound was out In the big league I It had to be caught on tho fly Tbe new catcher had been playing under th reg ulations as laid down by the minor organization or-ganization nnd was greatly surprised after being heartily applauded for a j brilliant run and catch on the bound oC a foul fly to have the umpire call not outTo To make n long story short the newman new-man caught everything that cam his v ay hit safely every time he came to bat ran bases like a deer nnd coached the Players In enjoyable stile Ihe game was won by the local men due chiefly to the easterner Everybody wanted to know his name and It finally became known that he was Johnson the second base mnn and Change catcher catch-er for the crack Staten Island club of Nw York that used to make trouble for all the professional teams In the coun try Johnson had received many offers to enter the rank at the Professionals but i readily refused lie had the free dam ot the city that Sunday night site the cam |
