Waterbury Democrat., 1901-01-28


 the National league for another con ference.
 Tt is a comman thing to issue rain checks at ball games, but I'll wager that | -'npired the only game ever played at Itch smoke checks were given spectatols' aid Charley INilpat- rick, the one-legged bicyclist, in Gin cinnati last summer. Have you been smoking?' queried Frank Bancroft. ''No but there was smoke that day" was the reply. ''The game was in Butte City. Mon, on q Sunday. There must have been at least 40O0 people present. In the audience were miners who had wagers up on the game. In those days there was great rivalry be- tween Helena and Butte. Tony Null lane. who had kicked over the traces while with Cincinnat ii, was in the box for Butte, and Clark Griffith. now of Chicago, was twirling for Helena. In the third inning the score was a tie, and the crowd was worked up to q high pitch. It was AIullane's first game and bets were freely offered that he would outpitch Griffith. Jud Smith was playing third base for Butte. All at once the wind changed and the field was filled with sulphur smoke from the Boston-AIontana shelter. The smoke was almost stifiing. and everyone was compelled to leave the lot. The smoke nuisance kept up for the rest of the day. I lost no time in calling the game, and the management gave out smoke checks.'
 The fact that Frank Chance, the Chicago catcher, was quite seriously injured in California recently by be- ing struck on the head with a swiftly pitched ball brings to mind other in cidents of this kind, which, in view of the number of men who handle bat during a single playing season, are comparatively few. It was only last season that James Rogers. the second baseman who played with Baltimore, Washington. Louisville and .Provi- dence. died because of such an injury. He was knocked senseless but appar- entIy recovered. After a year he be- gan to sink rapidly and the physicians declared that blood clot had formed on the brain. Pitchers have habit of cutting their speed loose every now and then and driving ball so close to the batsman's head that if the bat ter is at all timid he will pull away from the plate, thereby making him. self an easy mark for the box man. But in carrying out this trick pitchers often hit batsmen either in the head or somewhere else. Then again q pitcher that has no control is liable to hit a batsman anyway. It was not very long ago that Amos Rusie in q game at the Polo grounds let out a fast ball that struck Hugh, Jennings sauarely on the side of the head. Jen- nings fell to the ground and had to be l ;cto To hi hotel yVhppn hn inceherent for a couple of days. Bob Allen, who managed the Cincinnati team last year, was compelled to stop ball playin@ for two years While member of the Philadelphias., Elton Chamberlain was pitching and with a high fast ball he struck Allen in the cheek. breaking the bone. Billy Nash. once the kingpin third baseman. was
 knocked out with a pitched ball in Louisville during the season of 1896, and was so seriously hurt that he was unconscious for two days. This mis- hap is said to have hastened his retire ment Veteran cranks probably, re- member the time that Tim Keefe. then the star pitcher of the New Yorks. struck John BurdociS, Boston's second baseman. in the temple with an in shoot. Burdock was believed to have been instantly killed and the specta- | tros were dlnnbfounded. He was talk | en to a hospital and was unable to | play for a long time. Nobody felt worse about the accident than Keefe. who not only paid all of Burdock's s ex- l penses, but visited him frequently. l Players often have narrow escapes by ducking. or lodging away from swift ] curves. but most of them do not real ize the danger thus avoided.