The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-11-12

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Difficulties That 6eset Players.
John Nj. Ward. the well known
base ball player. contributed an mr..
ticle to the New York journal OF
Monday which Is OF interest to read.
ers OF this paper 1t tells of Judge
Harold VI. Mcclure, of Lewisburr.
formerly of Sunbury, when he was
one of the star catchers of the base
ball world. The following is the ar.
ticle:
Wards Base Hall Gossip.
a recent event, most enjoyable TO
mo, was visit from my old catcher.
Harold Mcclure. Regulations in
base ball are short lived, and to the
younger generation Of fang Me.
Ciures = name may scarcely even be
known, yet it is not 40 many years
since he was known from one end
OF the country to the other. 1t is a
dozen years now since "Mac,r at tho
height OF his skill and popularity.
withdrew from the game to take up
the study Of law, and to-day he is a
sedate Judge presiding over the
courts of three Pennsylvania coun-
ties, elected for term OF ton years,
hve OF which he has already served.
1 a
As an honorable Judge he is entitled
to the most digniiied and respectful
reference, but as these recollections
go back to the days when we were
PLAYERS together, he is still affection
ately and simply "SIuc". His frank
and cheerful face brought viyidly
back to me the days when l was a
scared kid, struggling to hold my
end up as pitcher in the profes-
sional ranks, and Mcclure, the
grandest Gather in the country, help.
ed me to achieve whatever success I
then gained and gave me my first
foothold in the business.
We had played together as ANA.
teurs up in Pennsylvania. and when
chance cast my lot within the pro-
fesslonal ranks my first effort was to
induce Mac to come on and catch
me. With some reluctance he final.
ly consented, and during the month
we played together on the Athletics.
of Philadelphia. Macs" reputation
was firmly established. The follow
ing ycnr we managed to get tC gether
on the Crickets, of Binghampton, n.
u, where his splendid work won
him added laurels.
There were no pads, masks. gloves
or chest protectors in those days,
and catching was not the compara-
lively easy thing il has since be-
come. A catcher simply stood up
and took his medicine, aud if a foul
tip hit him in the face he got up as
soon as he was able and went on
with the game A club that had one
substitute catcher was supposed to
be sufficiently fortified against nc
cidents, though it often happened
that both were seriously hurt at the
same time. Many a game have seen
ieer old Mac" catch with his hands
swollen and bleeding and the tears
rolling down his cheeks. He devised
a scheme of wearing kid glove on
the left hand with strip of sheet
lead across to protect the knuckle
joints, and at the end of the game
the lead would be pounded out as
thin as paper.
"Mac" was much the same in ap-
pearance then as now, over six feet
tall, straight as m arrow. of about
1876 pounds in weight, and built on
the lines of typical athlete. Not.
withstanding his size, he could run
like deer, aud as thrower he Just
handed" them down TO second.
and as hitter, too, he was terror,
q record Of his one day on the Re.
creation grounds in San Francisco,
against "The Only" Nolan, being
still one of the noteworthy feats in
this line.
But what endeared Mcclure to
every one with whom he ever came
in contact was his thorough manli.
ness. He differed from some of us
in that he never drank any intoxi-
cants. never used tobacco and never
made use of q profane word. And
yet he was the best of good fel.
lows" There was no cant about