The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-31
IT'S ODD ABOUT CATCHERS.
Great Men With the Lishtioot illics
Team Who All Had Their !'aiiin2S.

There are n good many good catchers
If: the baseball business" the tat ma"
who was formerly mascot for the l-lsh'-
foot lilies remarked the otner =. put
have Won ever noticed how few o1 them
a,a really what you'd call stars? no mat
Ter how good a man may be behlnd she
bat 1t seems he always has some one laul'
that offsets his good qualities.
..Take Dinkey Dooley, Of the LiShlloot
Lilies, for example. He was one OIL tite
best backstops that ever Wore a hlu%Zie'
but his accursed foppishness caused ms
downfall On more than one OCCASION ne
got into trouble with Dean Braey, lhe
nitcher because Braley, 50 he said. ln;cl-
tionallv rubbed dirt on the ban before eacn
delivery Dooley's finish came one fourtn
of July game against the iiingtaiI NoaFerS.
Ii was the hottest day ever known n Jones
county. and Jones county IS ABOUT lhe
hottest place l know of except one.
Everybody was peevish and out OF sorts
but things ran along ali right untll the
Roarers' half OF the seventh. The bases
were fun, two were out, and the batter
had three balls and two strikes called on
him. Rralev gave his trousers hitch and
was just about to pitch the deciding pan
when he noticed that Dooley was acting
strangely. Dinkey was shifting with ms
nose in the air.
whats the matter hurt asked Cap
tain Slugger Burrows, running IN from
short.
Really, captain YOU know never co'lid
stand the smell of burning rubber ant
phew!-I really think the sun Is melting
the home plate. PaCw,
Now wouldn't that scald You? iheE
had to take the ice out of the oatmeal
water and put ii on the plate before DIN
KEY would consent to finish the game oH--
Well. as YOU can imagine. SlusSer sur
rows wouldn't stand for that sort OF bust
ness and next day Dooley got his release
'Foxey Flenner. the next catcher we
tried, was all right While he lasted. put
he came to grief through one of his own
tricks He had a habit of stretching ms
hands out in front of the plate and nab
bling the ball before it reached the batter
That worked all right until one day ne
tried to gobble in a straight one that the
batter had picked out fer home run.
Foxey broke seven fingers. dislocated MS
right thumb. and was charged with an
error by the scorer for dropping the ball
He seemed to lose his sand after that,
and soon quit the game for good.
Bull Thompson was the next man 10
try for the position. and he turned out
TO be wonder. He could stop anything
from cable car down with one hand; he
he hit; his lamps were always lit when
he was on base while for throwing to
second he was the best ever His one
fault. when he first joined us, was his
forgetfuness. lie had the worst memory
of any man I ever knew. Sometimes he
used to forget TO run after he had hit the
ball. and had 10 tie string on his
finger TO make him remember.
"Once he forgot which way the bases
went, and ran TO third instead of first
After that we tied two strings on his
finger But the worst of ali was in one
game against the Roarers when he tried
to throw TO second. He brought his arm
forward with terrific force hut forgot to
let so of the ball. II carried him clear off
his feet and he landed, face down. five
yards in front Of the plate. He nursed a
broken nose for almost three weeks. and
after that was able TO remember without
even the aid of strings
every great artist seems to have some
falling. Funny isn't it? I suppose lis
what they call the ecc&tricity of genius. >
New York Sun.