, 1891-01-18

Than KEEL"
The query was made to me the other
day, who IS the trickiest catcher In the
baseball business" The answer. led to a
long discussion, and there was much in It
which may prove quite As interesting to
Others as 1t did to us. Probably no two
men who meet casually will agree on the
subject OF tricky catchcrs. / named Ewing,
and my friend stood out that Mike Kelly
WAS entitled TO the houors. Now, both
men are pretty fast, but there are other
catchers who can do certain tricks aud get
away with them easier than either Buck
or KeL For instance, they seldom get a
strike by pulling in the ball, while Glenn
ents, thinner and Bennett will get lots Of
them, because they do 1t slicker than the
two great stars and are not watched half
50 closely. Let a catcher once get a reputa-
ton as a trickster, and every umpire
watches him with a kecnnes- that quieter
men seldom experience.
Ewing will do anything to make a point.
Il has frequently been s5dd that GLu,sCoCk
is so tricky that he must be watched all
The time. but GtTssCGCk docs not uUrd- hHff
As much watching as Ewing and Kelly.
The difference is that Glasscnck does his
tricks when carried away with excitement
and it is anything TO win, while Ewing and
Kelly are perfectly aware Of what they are
doing, and they do it so slick that they sell
dom get a call down and hardy ever get a
fine, and II they do it never goes. This
may be due 20 the fact that umpires fear
to fine them, but, whatever the reason. it
remains that they seldom do.
Ewing does most Of his tricks-aud many
Of them are very trying even 70 his friends
sometimes-under cover Of a cloak which
appears 70 be good nature to the crowd,
and 1t generally is. which make amends
for many shortcomings, and Kelly apes
him AS far a. he can Blu Mike has not
got 50 sweet "A disposition as Ewing. and il
somewhat at "A disadvantage In conse-
quence. Ewing's success with his tricks
behind the bat largely depends upon his
7nccess in getting the umpire slightly rat
tied, and in a condition where TO save him
self from complete bewilderment he l. apt
TO favor Buck as much as he can in order
to keep that eNnsperatinR individual ~
quiet as possible. There are no catcher.
IN the business who are dreaded worse
than Ewing and Kelly, and when both
men are in the same game they make the
umpire's lot distinctly unhappy. Both
men are very annoying 10 the umpire, and
when either is in n losing game they are
querulous and go as near to the verge Of
insulting the unfortunate who is the IN
pire for the time being as they dare, and
frequently make no bones about doing IL.
II depends largely on who the official Is,
l think there are but two men in the
Empirical business who eau manage Ewing
and Kelly, and both OF them are hot
bloodei Irishmen, and always come out Of
n game where either Ewing or Kelly are
in a high state OF excitement best
described a. warm under the collar"
seen the two umpires referred to lose
their temper to such hu extent AS to i'm
pair their work in a marked degree. One
would think that Ewing would. by reason
Of his acts, always get the worst OF IL, but
he seldom does at home, and really gets
frequently better treatment away from
home than one would expect Once in n
while a long suffering official will run
across Buck in the west and bring him up
a round turn. Buck tries to sweeten
his cracks at the officials by excessive good
nature and a free use Of blarney, and man
generally to keep on pretty good terms
the corps Of umpires. Kelly uses
the same kin Of Establishments. but not
the success that attends Bucks efforts
10 square himself.
Ewing keeps up n constant fire Of com
ment, generally directed at the umpire,
not always TO him. Frequently
takes the grand stand, or the lower
OF the ~bleachrries, into his conf
ArArNH ~ ~ ~ AeAAAb AAAAAkF NANNA IL
bringing a storm Of abuse on the poor UNI
pire by the process known as getting the
onto him" Bucks foot Is always
In the wal Of the incoming base runner IL
anything is 10 be gained by II, and II is his
in~vRriable custom TO throw his mask down
the line so rs 10 cause the man running
to slow up or be impeded and 70 dis
courage any ATTEMPT at sliding home.
Is probably the only catcher in the
business who eau drop a ball purposely
and then throw "A runner out ut second
base. II will be noticed that he seldom
his net with any other pitchers than
or Welch. lie will be able 10 do it
with little Sharrott next season, As that
rising younEster watches the bases like "A
lynx.
The only man ever in the business who
could get more sore fingers or lame backs
Buck, intended TO give pitchers q
rest. was that retired veteran, silver"
Flint. Buck can get hurt to order on the
slightest provocntiou, and hs can manage
to delay n game by stubborn kicks longer
than any other captain or catcher, except
possibly Arson, and, as a rule, Anson's
kicks have more real basis in them than
those OF Ewing Ewing is very successful
in making bluf plays to cover his real OBJ
Iect, aud in this he is greatly aided by his
ability 20 throw quick and hard, which Is
not sxcelled by any. aud only equaled by a
sew. Kelly il daring in his throws, but he
Isn't In il with Ewing on that point.
Mike Kelly can do all the tricks that
Ewing does, and some Of them were origi-
nally his inventions, but he cannot get
away with the umpire so we'll Rs Buck, and
II is that which makes me class Buck above
him. Kelly was the inventor Of the mask
trick, but he rarely resorts to it since the
great hue and cry against II made by the
press last summer. and In this respect
Ewing might learn a lesson from him.
There Is one kind OF trickery, however,
where Kelly leads Ewing and that Is on
the base lines.
One reason is that Kelly Is utterly reCk-
less, while Ewing, unless spurred up to
concert pitch, As he was In q game played
in New York some years ago, which WAS
won By the Giants, l TO q, where buck
stole home from third and scored the win
ming run, is too apt TO consider the safety
of number one. Bennett, Cancel, thinner,
Buckley and other stars as a rule never
do any but what are known as legitimate
tricks. Clements goes a little further. and
were il not that be has not been blessed
with so much intelligence and summing as
Ewing and Kelly he would come nearer
being a rival 70 them in trickery than any
other catcher now in active harness.
A. z. Roedel. druggist. desires TO IL.
Torn the public that he Is agent for the
mos: successful preparation that has ye
been produced for coughs, colds o
Group. IL will loosen and relieve a ever
cid ~ less time bar any other treat
mani The aEFi,la rafarraA ., IL Tham