The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-08-15

ROle VI tudithS " Tic IIlhlI WHO lIlNSll-
| ted chest protectors, all right, all
fright"
You refer to Esau Sampson, I sup
pose" suggested the fat man in the
next seat. "He didn't exactly invent
the catcher's protector, though. It just
came natural with him. Sort OF a
growth, " might say.
ut was back in the early sos, the
year that Bull Thompson, the Lightfoot
Lilies star catcher, got laid up. The
Bull had fayorite trick, you remem-
her, Of biting the bat and holding it
with his teeth when the batsman drew
back to hit the ball. He had 'em all
Guessing with that stunt until he tried
LIT on the terrible Swede Of the Beaver
Dam (Wis.l Invincibles, and got four Of
his front teeth extracted for three
base hit,
For a while after Bulls accident the
lSlugger Burrows was securing the
country high and low for some one to
| I'LL his shoes. M
Twas down In Kansas somewhere,
lthink, that he finally landed on Esau
Sampson. At any rate, Esau looked
like an orthodox Kansas, all right.
"Whiskers? Why say, that mans
face looked like an eastern view OF the
seventh Sutherland sister going west
with her hair down. Honest, he had
| the most fertile facet ever trained my
lockers on. His beard was enough to
make the most hayward OF swallows
homesick to nesting 1t was SO long
that when he yawned he had to stop
walking to keep from stepping on 1t.
did it bother him when he was play
| ing ball? Never, but once On all 9TH
er occasions those whiskers were the
greatest help in the world to him.
"You remember what catchers had to
stack up against in the foul tip line be-
fore the days Of the chest protector?
If twas nothing worse than the wreck
of floating rib or vacuum in the air
tank, backstop could consider himself
lucky. 1911.
"But that was where Esau used to
show up strong. The bali couldn't hurt
him. When foul tip shot through his
hands there'd be slight lowering of
| the jaw, q sharp rustling sound, and
we'd know that another ball was safe
~ resting in Esau's wondrous facial TO-
Iliage.
1.-THE only time he came to grief
Through his hirsute chin crop was In a
practice game with the Jones County
Eye Ear and Tongue infirmary team
the Wednesday before the big champi-
Ionship contest with the Ringtaii Roar
lers. III
Twas in the last half of the ninth,
land the game looked a lead pipe cinch
lfor the Lilies. The Infirmaries had
1.-TWO men on them, but the score stood
leight to six against them. two were out,
land there were two strikes and no balls
lon the batter.
But you uever can tell in baseball.
Who'd ever have thought that Just be-
cause Dean Braley. the Lilies pitcher,
but q little chewing gum on the ball to
lgive 1t. an extra twist for the third
Istrilse that that would have turned the
tide Of victory?
at did, though. The third strike
Icame low and Esau missed it, The
Igum on the ball caught his beard and
lyanked it between his legs with such
lterriflc force that he turned a complete
tsomersault.
1.-THE Lilies rushed in from the field
to his assistance, but before they could
disentangle the ball from Esau's Kan
lsas ramblers the three Infirmaries had
Icrossed the plate with the runs that
won the game. f
"That put the Lilies in a quandary.
They didn't so much mind losing a
lmere practice game, but what was to
lprevent the same thing from happen
ling in the big championship contest
with the Ringtail Roarers? Dean Bra
Hey said he couldn't give up the occa-
sional use of chewing gum on the ball
at that late stage; it would simply ruin
the effectiveness of his delivery.
1T was Esau himself who finally
lsolved the problem. He appeared on
the field in the Roarers game with his
lwhiskers snugly encased in a freshly
llaundered FELLOWSHIP, and so successful
did this continuance prove as a safe
Iguard against foul tips that before the
season was out every catcher in that
lpart of the country had adopted it in
lone form or another.
"And that, SIR, to the best Of my
knowledge, is the origin of the present
iday catcher's protector. AT any rate,
I've never heard it disputed. New
York Sun.