The daily gazette., 1883-08-17
A WOMAN on BASE BALI.
Mrs. DiOgsnes W watehes Game and Do
plores the insanity Of Man.

finding some to catch, or plten, or 90 home
thing or other In its games. ] don'twonder
u bit. If the man they want has TO submit
to anything like the rough and tumble per-
fOrmance saw the other day ON the Polo
Grounds, he will need more than his salary
10 pay the doctors for repairing him. l &C
cepted Mr.. Diogenes' invitation to see what
he called "the beauties OF the national
game" II was broiling hot day, but Mr..
D. said the game would be hot in proper
ton, SO we started. We got to the grounds
after the trouble had begun.
1t was the first time had ever seen base
ball PLAYED. 1t will be the last. What
saw confrms me in the belief that mems
ideas of sport are inexplicGble on any theory
except temporary insanity. had heard OF
people who enjoyed getting into fights be-
cause they bad the fun of getting all
smashed to pieces. didn't believe it, how
ever, until saw base tall game. Then l
Was convinced. should think there must
have been as many as 5000 people, bssides
Mr.. d. and mys If, looking on the Is wild
tnen who gyrated about the ball grounds
A great many In the throng were ladies, ,and
10 my amazement, they seemed to enjoy
what they saw.
The man who stood behind the bat had a
cage built around his head, and wore thick
gloves. The man behind him also had his
and down and watched tine man who hurled
the ball, and the ball itself, as If he consid
cred himself in imminent danger of being
made a target. / asked Mr.. d. about cages.
"0h," said he, "that is part of the outfit.
| Formerly they didn't wear those masks, but
\ ON one or two occasions the striker, In hit
| ting at the ball, brought the bat accident
ally in collision with the catcher's head.
The shock split the bat The captain of
| the nine complained, after this had hap
pened several times, that bats were too ex-
| pensive to be turned into kindling wood in
that way. The catcher objected, too. He
said he couldn't afford to have headache
during match. To satisfy both players
masks were adopted. All the damage that
an accomplished batsman can now hope TO
inhict upon the opposite nine is to smash
| the mask to pieces"
While Mr. d. was talking the striker hit
the ball. 1t shot upward as If fired from a
gun, and the man who hit 1t ran away as
last as his legs could carry him. Two other
men who had been standing at different
| points watching him followed his example.
| The crowd began to yell until it was nearly
deaf. The ball dropped like meteor iowa:
| a man who stood with his eyes turned sky
ward waiting for it. 1t went into his hands
with terrific whack, and he promptly lei
20 OF it. The crowd yelled in derision. The
man yelled too. Then he seized his left
wrist with his right hand, and whirled
round and round, bowling like an Indian
Next he doubled up as If he had cramps, and
finally he fell down fat on the ground and
lay there. Another man rushed out, yelling
) like mad, picked up the ball and hurled /
to the man with the cage aud gloves. ThI
man who was frantically running towarC
him tripped, fell fiat on his chest, and shO
| "a. ha far a Hista nt tNHn va rA
like boy coasting on sled. He raised hi
+ hand during the remarkable journey, aui
n | brought it down with whack on a whit
square at the feet of the man with the Gag
, and gloves. The latter planted his heel o
! The hand with great accuracy ofaim. At th
same time he caught the ball, sat down wit
| great emphasis and enthusiasm on the bac
p Of the PROSTATE man, gave him terrihi
: thumpin the ribs with the ball, aud then hel
the ball in the air and shouted:
"Judgement."
''Not OUT" yelled the other man with
(, | mask. Instantly the place echoed wit
/ hisses, and the crowd shouted, "Oh, pu
- him out" "Teach him the rules
a "O'Reilley, you're n. Co." and other my
terious salutations.
lie The man with the mask didn't seem
II the least disturbed by this deluge of abus
"a He only laughed.
- "Oh, that's nothing" said Mr.. D. "He
y only the umpire. That's part of the pc
u quistes of his position. He's used TO |
7. Out West thel sometimes dance all over tf
l. umpire 1t makes him impartial, and pr
il vents him from going to sleep. 1t also eI
liVeDs the game immensely"
The man who made sliding pond of tn
r dirt got up with his uniform all torn at bot
d knees, and spent several minutes pressin
c his chest aud gasping for breath. Eigl
h men ably assisted him by congratuatin
him simultaneously. They shook his bant
b. until the last small remnant of breath VIZ
is quite gone out of him, and then sat hi
if down aud waited with afieCtionate anXet
e till his lungs began very -lowly to infa
. again. rs soon as he could speak he sal
= weakly: by gracious, that home run WI
y a close shave tor US"
e The man who had gyrated, and howle
2 and doubled up, and tumbed over, began
N show some signs of returning life. Tv
players went out and picked him up. Thi
found that the first joint of one OF
fingers was broken. Nobody appeared
pay much attention to 1t. Another ms
e took his place and stood out In the field, /
J. vitug sunstroke with calm indifference
The game went ON much as before. On
the striker hit the ball, and it shot bac
i ward over his head and hi, the white ia
ic hat of man who was sitting on the boa
e. seats,
ne The umpire shouted "Foul," the CROW
os shouted, 'shoot the hat," and the mi
VI made some brief remark that was lost in t
uproar. Incidents of this kind and liber
nb use of the man who was defcTibed as Il
10 umpire filed up two hours of time, and tn
=, the game stopped abruptly, the umpire
of Tired amid a storm of hisses and the croV
v dispersed
., looked in the paper the next day to E
az how it struck the newspaper men. | So
be that the "home team were beaten by sec
a of to 3: Mutfett had his finger broken
muffing fly" There was not a line abo
the other exciting incidents, excepting wht
at nne man, in throwing a ball to another,
Lo him in the stomach. That was down in I
~ score as ian error in play" Mr.. D. {
'n planned that the many tumbles and otf
things we saw were so common In the mol
game that no notice was taken of them
he the papers, unless some one happened to
Of seriously injured.
Mr.. D. thought it was rare fun. If eV
catch his hopeful son playing base ball,
thrash him. MRS DIoGENEs
m -' -
le Many Times