The morning call., 1891-07-12
PITCHES, POSES
AND HITCHES.
How Oakland's New Twirler
Passes the Hours Away.
Che Giants Hammered Him Out of the Lot in
one-sided Contest-Two Games
To-Day.

If Apollo BelYidere Lawson, who bitches.
pitches and poses for the Colonel, would
wear pair of two-bit sus penders in the box
and use.a sky-blue inger-bowl with water
in it with which to moisten the first two
fingers of his right hand, he wouldn't be
performing 10 a Standardization Of yellow
backed chairs in the last throes Of the game.
This young man. who has lots Of style but
no curves TO speak Of took two hours and
half to worry through spectacular per-
Torrance at the Haight- street grounds yes
ieFday afternoon with the Sacramentos.
The Giants won by score of 10 to z. and
the Colonel is suffering from sad relapse.
When the game opened the grand stand
was well filled, but when the eighth inning
got round in the course of human events the
chairs had all grown cold again.
Young Mr.. Lawson's time was equally
divided between hitching up his trousers
aud reaching into his mouth for moisture,
with the aid of which he is supposed to i'm
part great speed to the ball. But as lie al
WAYS wiped his fingers on himself before
delivering the sphere lie accomplishing
nothing but great waste Of time, to say
nothing of the constant drain on the Saly-
airy glands, which will in the end. we fear
greatly impair his digestive apparatus.
SOME MORE ABOUT LAWSON.
There were other bitches in the game be-
sides those with which Mr.. Lawson favored
bis raiment from time to time, but they are
deserving of little or no mention in the pub
lie prints. They are what the leading base
hall liteTati of the country would speak of
as chestnuts. Colonel Robinson knows
what they are. In fact, he has concluded,
on account of his guilty knowledge, to bore
a hole through his last years pennant- pole
and dive il in the ground for an arteSian
we'll
But TO return TO Mr.. Lawson. with his
bitches, pitches and poses. At the lowest
calculation he hitched up his trousers 800
times during the game. Fifty-one batsmen
faced him, to each Of which lie threw at
least seven balls, with hitch Immediately
before and after each delivery. This makes
ia bitches. Then there We're the incidental
yanks anu jerks he got in while watching
base-runners and waiting for foul tips to
come back into the lot These would easily
foot up the difference.
At the end of two hours he had himself
hitched up so tight he couldn't keep his
heels on the ground.
We were also panied to note disposition
on the part of Mr.. Lawson to monkey with
his toilet while trying to hit the balls the
other fellow pitched On one occasion he
stood at the plate eight minutes, during
which time he knocked eleven fouls and
h!tched his trousers seventeen times. When
he finally struck out voeiierouS sigh of re-
lief went up from the spectators.
THOSE CLASSIC POsINGs.
1t is in the box. however, that the Apollo
like grace of young Mr.. Lawson charms the
beholder. He is of athletic build, with
well-r0unded calves, naughty pose and
the calm, unTuffied demeanor of a Greek
statue. Instead of a pitcher he should have
been a statue clog-daucer doing a turn wit h
m ba aoul1 haV intt
on The bill-boards, wearing nice shirt with
TUftrS on it while standing with his feet
crossed and resting one hand on his hip
bone.
II is absolutely painful to watch Mr.. Law
son in the preliminary stages of al over
hand delivery. First he assumes a position
similar to that of the ball-thrower statue in
Golden Gate Park. He holds the ball in his
left hand we'll in front and above the head,
while lie reaches stealthily with his right and
gives his trousers surreptitious hitch from
behind. While doing this Mr.. Lawson
stares unhiRchingly into vacancy, straight
ahead, with the dull, dead, liStess gaze of a
man uraped across green-trnged chair in
a country photograph gallery getting his
tintype taken.
An unconQuerable yearning to hitch his
trousers again finally breaks the spell. The
right hand gradually comes out from its
place of concealment and travels with a
wide upward sweep in the direction of Mr..
LawSOu's head with slow, majestic move
ment of a mud-Oucket on a Government
dredge-bost
HIS CLOSING EXERCISES.
at this point in his professional career
MI Lawson dampens the first two fingers
with his Tongue and then imparts mOdicum
of the moisture thus obtained To his thumb
by contact. He then places his right hand
at the point of the left shoulder, after feel
ing carefully of the ball, and then drags it
in a southeasterly direction across his breast
and stomach to the east line of section six
and thence back again to the place of begin
ming.
Having thus removed the last remaining
trace Of moisture from his pitching hand
MI Lawson gives bis dOVe-cOlOred Oakl and
pants farewell jerk, tips a sign to the
catcher, shuts his eyes and lets drive al the
plate.
One reason why catcher Hines missed so
many yesterday is that he had little or no
opportunity for guessing from the time the
sign was given until the ball reached him.
Thus and in divers other ways did Mr..
Lawson beguile the weary hours When he
pitched he did very we'll, when he htched
lie did better aud when he posed he was
simply immense. Still the Colonel was not
greatly eXhilarated The Giants watched
Mr.. Lawson's delivery for sixteen hits, in
Guiding one home run, two triples and
pair of doubles. Good men have been fired
out of the Oakland team for less than this
many time, many time.
GREEDY CAPTAIN M'CLoskEY.
Captain McCloskey evidently fears tie
OaElands in spite of the fact that they have
been beaten early and often. He placed
Hoffman in to pitch and then took him out
again at the end Of the third inning because
Oakland made few runs. McCioskey is
very unkind, TO say the least. If team
cannot make runs, how will it win game?
Doubtless McCloskey has lost sight OF this
fact in his absorbing greed for games.
1t was he who recommended Mr.. Lawson
TO the Colonel. Now if he wants to do the
square thing, why don't he hire Mr.. Lawson
and give the 0akiands chance?
The Colonies didn't do anything in the
first inning. In the second two hits and
one run occurred. and i'll the next TIRES hits
and three runs This was where McCluskey
got scared and put Oscar France in the box,
after which the miserable Colonies got but
two hits.
From the way those Steers landed up
against the ball they evidently believed in
the old adage, a pitcher in the box is worth
two on the bench. So they cavorted mer-
rily from bag to bag scoring in every in
ming except one. In the first they got four
In the sixth, with two men out, Mr. Law
son stopped to hitch at critical juncture
and five runs came in before he could head
the last man of. Following is the score:
AT SAN FRANCISCO. JULY IL. 1891.
oAKLASDs. r. II. sB. 70. A. T.
Cantlliou. A