, 1889-06-02
BALL PLAYERS suPeRs1lrIons.
Many Charms Resorted to by the Ball

Tossers.
Nothing brings more joy to the player than
to have the coach which Is conveying him to
tho grounds meet a wagon loaded with bar
rels, provided the heads are in them 1t Is a
Sign OF good luck, and he goes into a game
with a confidence that is In itself half the VIC
tory. BE Is a different player and viii play
In a manner to set the bleaching boards wild
with delight But woe betide him IL he meets
a cross eyed man he will keep the scorers
busy marking down errors opposite his name,
and his work viii DO characterized by a LIST
lessness 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 1t.
On the other hand, when one meets a wo-
man similarly afflicted he is delirious with
Joy, and II 1t Is the day of a game he will
follow the woman for squares md endeavor
by every ~arttfice he possesses to attract her
attention and make her look at him. There
are some uncharitable enough to say a player
viii not take this trouble unless a woman Is
comedy, but they all deny 1t.
When Wizard Shaw played on the
W~ashingtons he would never go Into tho
pitchers box except from the rear, and he
could never be induced to step into 1t with
out kicking a pebble out. He kept a supply
on hand, and before the game enough would
be put In a corner of the box 50 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 pur-
pose of diyerting the attention Of the batter,
1t became such a fixed habit that he could
not avoid doing 1t when practicing.
Jack Farrell, when he captained the team
In Washington, used to possess an idiosyncrasy
that many of his colleagues have. He would
make q little mound Of pebbles near the posi-
ton he was playing, and busted himself dur
ing the game throwing them into the field.
He limited himself to q certain number each
inning, and 1t was a common sight to see
Capt. Jack during the morning industriously
e~ndeavoring to find the same pebbles he 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 1t a practice to pick up all the stones
near his base the boys took good caro- he
should have a full supply by planting n bushel
or 30 every day for him to pick up, and one
morning, when be was a little late arriving,
he found q choice collection of brick bats.
cobble stones and tin cans nicely arranged
near the hasa 1t cost him half a dollar to
get a boy to remove the debris, and for a
time Farrell stopped searching for stones
when the other men were around. but he
could not break the fancy, and today he Is a
persistent follower of 1t. Many other ball
players have the same habit, and they say 1t
keeps their mind on the game, and they are
not diverted by tho audience
Billy O'Brien, the big, hard hitting first
baseman of the W~ashingtons, has but ono
superstition. When he first came here he
discovered a little bunch of clover near the
base, and thereafter he made a practice of
placing his glove over 1t at the conclusion of
each inning. So religiously does he believe
this viii 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 fatesl 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 q
garter when he WINS with the Steubenville
club, but he would never tell where he OBJ
tanned It The recent journey round the
world has furnished the men who made 1t
with q choice collection of articles supposed
to possess soothsaying properties. Ed. Crane
has a monkey he proposes to make his special
divinity during the season, and Fogarty, of
the Philadelphias, carries with him u lock of
hair which he obtained from a dusky maiden
at Honolulu.
&c iAbBo bboJ
believe possess magic powers, and If they are
given to them by some friend after a lucky
game 1t makes the present all the more valu-
able. But under no circumstances ever give
n ball player an opal. They regard the stone
as an omen of bad luck, and viii get rid of it
at the first opportunity even II they accept
1t, which is doubtful.
Players do not like to receive presents of
flowers just before they go to the bat, for the
raan,p it sahONJAOcsf +barx o-l 49, $500
hit tho ball throughout the remainder of the
game.
A well known League player, at the begin
ming of the season, puts a black thread In the
toe of the stocking of his right foot, and al
though he declares 1t Is done to distinguish
them, bis companions insist that unless he
gets 1t on the right foot he says he cannot
play.
Tn carrying of mascots by the various
clubs has gone out Of fashion somewhat. 1t
originated In the wild and woolly west, and
for the next two years Afterwards every first
class club had a mascot. Tn style ran to
freaks of nature, and a dwarf, a humpback,
or q giant was sure of an engagement and a
good salary.
The only club in tho country today that
has O mascot is tho Chicagos. Spalding
picked up a Bengalese boy on his late tour,
and proposes to make a mascot of him, but
the games OF the past few days would tndi
cate he Is not realizing expectations. The
Steubenvfle club used to carry a rooster with
them, but some irreverent boys In q neigh
boring town killed it and thereafter tho club
was simply a mai for the other clubs to
pranceo 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 tho Light
Of the moon When the "Jints" were here
they were besieged by the colored population
Of the city and fabulous prices were offered
for their good buck emblems, but they stead
lastly refused 10 part with them
There are numerous other cases of mascots
and believers In good and bad luck, but as
the game advances each yearthe class of ball
players are improving and are mem Of better
education than formerly, and are losing a
great many of the pecuiarities which for
merly distinguished acknowledgment Post.
Growing Corn o.
Mai IT T. AIvord dfrector of tho Mory-