Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-04
BALL PLAYERS LUCK.
How He WOOes Good Fortune With
ALI Manner Of Charms.
THEIR sUPERSTITTOUS FANCIES.
A Cross-Eyed Man BringsEvil, but Cross
Eyed Woman is Lucky.
SOME MINES HAVE THEIR MASCOTs

SOME MINES HAVE THEIR MASCOTS
The element of superstition is very strong
among ball tossers. This is due in large
measure to the fact that in former years the
class were most illiterate men, who knew
nothing but how to play ball, and whose
superstitions have become traditional in the
fraternity. The mascot" and "hoodoo" is
recognized in everything, and almost every
act is believed to exert potent influence
for good or bad in the result of game.
Nothing brings more joy to the player,
says writer in the Washington Post, than
to have the coach which is conveying him to
the grounds meet a wagon loaded with bar
rels, provided the heads are in them. 1t is
sign of good luck, and he goes into game
with confidence that is in itself half the
victory. He is different PLAYER and will
play in a manner to set the bleeching boards
wild with delight But woe betide him if he
meets a cross-eyed man. He will keep the
scorers busy marking down errors opposite
his name, and his work will be character
lied by hstlessness and carelessness that is
begot of the knowledge that it is perfectly
useless for him to attempt to play. He is
under the influence of
AN EVIL GENIUS.
and cannot get rid of it. On the other
hand, when one meets a woman similarly
afflicted he is delirious with joy, and if it is
the day of a game he will follow the woman
for squares and endeavor by every artifice
he posses to attract her attention and make
her look at him. There are some WHO are
uncharitable enough to say player will
not take this trouble unless the woman is
comely, but they all deny it.
When Wizard" Shaw played on the
Washingtons, he would never 60 into the
pitchers box except from the rear, and he
could never be induced to step into it with
out kicking a pebble out. He kept sup
ply on hand, and before the game enough
would be put in a corner of the box so he
could kick one out when he started to pitch.
Shaw had another popularity OF always
talking to the batter, and although he did
this for the purpose of divertlng the atten-
tion of the batter, it became such fixed
habit that he could not avoid doing it when
practicing.
Jack Farrell. when he captained the team
here, used to possess an idiosyncrasy that
many of his colleagues have. He would
make little mound of pebbles near the po-
during the game throwing them into the
field. He limited himself to a certain num-
Der each inning, and it was common sight
to see Captain Jack during the morning in
dustriously endeavoring to find the same
pebbles be had thrown away the day before.
Many times the other members Of the team
undertook to play
A JOKE ON FARRELL,
and as he made it practice to pick up all
the stones near his base, the boys took good
care he should have full supply by plant
ing bushel or so every day for him to pick
up, and one morning, when he was a little
late arriving, he found q choice collection
of brickbats, cobblestones and tin cans
nicely arranged near the base. It cost him
half dollar to get q boy to remove the
debris, and for q time Farrell stopped
searching for stones when the other men
were around, but he could not break the
fancy, and to-day he is persistent follower
same habit, and they say it keeps their
mind on the game, and they are not diverted
by the audience.
Billy O'Brien. the big, hard-hitting first
baseman of the Washingtons, has but one
superstition. When he first came here he
discovered little bunch of clover near the
base, and thereafter he made a practice of
placing his glove over it at the conclusion
of each inning. So religiously does he be-
lieve that this will bring him good luck
that when the season commences he plants a
lot of clover seed near the base, and he is on
hand when the grass is trimmed to see that
his clover patch is not disturbed.
There are many other instances of indi-
vidual attempts to influence the fates. Some
players wear charms, those from the South
usually carrying rabbits feet and the others
charms of all kinds and varieties. Ad Gum
bert, of the Chicago club, used to wear a
garter when he was with the Steubenville
club, but he would never tell where he OBJ
tanned it. The recent journey around the
world has furnished the men who made it
with a choice collection of articles supposed
to possess soothsaying properties. Ed Crane
cial divinity during the season, and Fo-
garty, of the Philadelphias, carries with
him a lock of hair which he obtained from
a dasky maiden at Honolulu.
L number of players wear rings they be-
lieve possess magic powers and if they are
given to them by some friend after a lucky
game it makes the present all the more
valuable But under no circumstances ever
give ball player an opal. They regard
the stone as an omen of bad luck, and will
get rid of it at the first opportunity, even if
Players do not like to receive presents of
flowers Just before they go to the bat, for the
reason it 'hoodoos" them and they cannot
hit the ball throughout the remainder of the
game.
A QUEER FREAK
A well-known League player, at the be-
ginning of the season, puts a black thread
in the toe of the stocking of his right foot,
and although he declares it is done to dis
tinguish them, his companions insist that
unless he gets it on the right foot he says he
cannot play.
The carrying of mascots by the various
clubs has gone out of fashion somewhat
It originated in the wild and Woolly West
and for the next two years afterward every
frst-class club had q mascot. The style ran
to freaks of nature, and dwarf, hunch-
back, or giant was sure Of an engagement
and good salary, The only club in the
country to-day that has a mascot is the Chi
Cages. Spalding picked up a Bengalese
boy on his late tour, and proposes to make
mascot of him, but the games of the last few
days would indicate he is not realizing the |
expectations. The Steubenville club used |
to carry a rooster with them, but some irreV-
erent boys in neighboring town killed it, |
and thereafter the club was simply q mat |
for the other clubs to prance over.
The recent trip of the Cuban Giants fur |
nished them an excellent opportunity to |
lay in a stock of rabbits feet, the animal |
being killed in the traditional manner by |
the light of the moon. When the "Jints''
were here they were besieged by the colored |
population of this city and fabulous prices
were offered for their good-luck emblems, |
but they steadfastly refused to part with |
them.
There are numerous other cases Of mas
cots and believers in good and bad luck, |