Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-18
BASE BALL GOSSIP.

Dn the subject of coaching. He saws
THE greater the ball team the less
coaching necessary" is an old and true
Saw among clever baseball people, and
Vet a team not we'll coached has a Door
chance for a good position i'm the league
race, this season more than ever. There
are two departments to the coaching of
n team, even while IN the field, while in
action, the man who sits on the bench
and directs the changing of PLAYERS. and
the man ON the lines guiding the base
runners. Then there is the man sent
up for no either purpose thar to try and
n~lsconcelt or arttle the pitcher The en-
tel taining Coacher who can iolly a.
crowd and at the same time look out
for his men is the style of coacher the
Cincinnati club has secured in Arlie
latham.
The real work of coaching a base rum
ner should be confined to third base
al any other point on the round Of the
bases is not fit for a position ON a league
team. The only necessity for a coacfler
Us when a player is turning third base
way to coach is by signaling with the
cap. as Harry Wright's boys did early
in the came of baseball.
Tom Tucker was about the first player
TO rant and run about like an insane man
ITO attract the attention of the pitcher.
Latham while with ST. Louis helped his
team by coaching from the lines, but,
unlike Tucker, Latham had private sig
mails with the base runners and was al
ways an fnsade player, while just the re-
verse was the case with Fucker, who
had little or no idea of the value of base
running. With the Holyoke man it was
simply a case of trying out a pair of
Y I'D lungs, With the aid of a cut lemon
"a d an applsciative crowd. Tucker gave
no advice to the runner, simply roaring:
Look out there! Now, now! Ah!" Mr..
4 ticker found the advertising he received
was a GCood card and he was a disap-
Pointed player when the press sat down
nn MS Int,hGds or that part of the press
That is continually trying to reform every
o II but themselves. So Tucker is nov
~nelagated to the Springfield club of the
eastern league, not appreciated, and
fast giving w his desire to liven up the
games with his great voice.
One of the most original coachers I
ever heard was a fellow named Connolly,
who with Syracuse a few years ago, now
dead. l went to Providence to see this
player perform, and was we'll paid for
my trip. Connolly was a clever player,
and had good N of good English.
He would stand on the lines and coach
the runner and batsman, running up
and down the lines like a Gagged lion, call
fns out the name of some river one day
and the next day changing to the names
Of mountains, or names of countries. He
would watch the pitcher, and, as If he
had fatllomed the style of bah he was
about to deliver, he would run up the line
with two fingers raised, calling Up the
Yang tse Kiang." Again he would raise
three fingers and call out to the runner,
Down the Mississippi" The next IN
ring it might be Across the Amazon"
pr Over the Hoang Ho.' This style of
reaching must have given Connolly a
rJlendid chance to study geography.
''Get in your box there" sang out
Some one from the bleachers, and the
next minute Connolly was trying to
etand in a cigar box, to the delight of
rhe crowd. Connolly was, like Latham,
anxious to Win the " of the CROWD
and usually succeeded.
Arlie Latham captained the Cincinnati
team in 1884,, and did his own coaching.
Arlie evidently allowed his newspaper
friends into his secrets, for they were
having a good laugh at Latham's clev-
erness one day in the press box while
the Eoston club was playing in that city.
A Boston newspaper man travelling with
tie team overheard the conversation
how Latham would call out something
connected with three when he wanted
hts man start from first to second. The
Boston scribe wrote a note explaining
Iatham's campaign tied 1T around a
knife, and called Tom Tucker over to
the grand stand. He was ON the coach
ing lines at the time. Tucker picked
up the little package and tossed 1T over
to Latham, who discovered Captain
Nash's name and sent it to the Boston
bench, where Nash opened 1T, read and
then nodded all right. Now for a
tn~ree-base hit" sang out Coacher La
than, and away went the base runner
for second On the next ball pitched. Gam
zal was catching, and, taking the ball IN
front of the plate, threw his man out by
yards. This occurred several times up
to the sixth inning, allowing Boston to
hold a sli:rht lead. Finally one of the
Cincinnati scribes discovered the secret
was out, and tipped Latham to change
the signs, but it was too late, as Boston
had received too big a handicap and Won
THE game.
Ban johnson, now president of the
American league, was one of the Gin
cinnati newspaper men and genial Harry
Weldon the other. The same season La
than was playing third for Cincinnati
End grounds, when Tom Tucker threw
up his hands and blocked one of La
tham's throws. Arlie was angry and,
walking up to Umpire Hurst, asked If ne
saw what Tucker did. The umpire
wouldn't give Latham the satisfaction
he looked for, so, turning to the people
in the grand stand, Latham commenced
ITO yell: 1--WE found the man who robbed
the Northampton bank, and l am IN
500, 600! Thare is the mani pointing
to Hurst. He repeated the charge, to
the delight of the crowd, and refused to
PLAY in the ans any longer.
Time has taken the silver ring out OF
I.atham's voice and he is not as funny
as when die was drawing $loo per week
but then he is still quite a card, and the
crowd fully enjoy him where the players
object, for ball players, as a rule, hav
little or no sympathy for unfortunate
brothers, while in this case, at least,
atagnate John T. Brush did a kind act
when he gave the old player a chance
ITO make an honest dollar.
II hear Latham is broke one player.
"What did he do with his coin?' asked
another.
you've got met chimed in the third
man.
The impression GEMS to be that Latham
has spent most of his earnings fOr