Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-04-30

put 1t in a body about FIVE feet tall
and four wide. He was the limit
for fairness of any ball player l ever
set eyes on. But nature had also
endowed Club with several pounds Of
grit, sixteen ounces to the pound,
and a lantern jaw. When he made
up his mind to do a thing he did it
or they had to show him why not,
And one of his high resolves was that
he'd be a pitcher.
Early in life Club had learned to
pitch curves. And such curvesl He
had a wide, sweepy out, a sneaky,
jumping inshoot, a three-foot drop, a
rise that'd lift your hair, and different
combinations of the four ~rudimentary
bends that made him appear to be
the bright and morning star when the
managers tried him out.
He would have been all that in
fact but for two things-his shortness
and his fairness. His arms were so
short he couldn't get his bends up to
the plate with any speed, and after
he'd fooled a nine about two innings,
they'd wait and gauge the slow bend
ers and hammer the ball to a paste.
He was fast being recognized as a
prize easy mark by the other clubs
in the Corndropper circuit, of which
Hayville was a part, when Peleg
Rodney took charge of the outfit.
Peleg was a scientist in baseball,
a scientist in billiards, a scientist at
draw poker and stud, and a scientist
in natural, every day life. AS soon
as he saw Club Pudgely and his case
explained to him he was right there
with scientific advice.
Cant get any speed on 'em. Ell?
Your arms and legs are so short, my
man that you don't get leverage in
everything. A tall, thin man can run
EASTERN a short, fat man, 'cause he's
got more leverage in his legs. He
can reach farther cause he's got
more leverage in his arms, He can't
eat so much, because the short, fat
man has got him on a stomach lever
age.
Now, IL you were six feet tall, and
your arms and legs in proportion,
you'd be an ideal speed merchant.
Then you'd get the swifticity into
those benders of yours that'd make
those heavy hitters grope for the
ball like a fellow looking for baby's
bottle under the bed at 2 a. m. And
by thunder! I've an idea-the very
/ cream OF science! You shall have IT,
All that speed, that graceful, long
armed swing, that fawn.like, long
legged ambling, shall be yours"
by the new stretching method"
replied the scientific Peleg. They
put you in a machine and turn on the
clamps, and by gentle force and so
forth every bone and muscle in your
body is stretched to It's natural length.
Instead Of pulling n leg they pull
'em both, and your arms too.
That's a go! I'll send you up to
Chicago to the professor tomorrow
have him put you through their
course Of sprouts up there, have the
fat boiled, baked. stew,d and stretched
out Of you, and youll come back here
a graceful, a%ttenuated guy with a
throw on you like 81 Seymour and
ready TO go in the box to win the pen
nant for us from the Alfalfas. III
do It or my name amt Peleg Rodney"
And do II he did. Club Pudgely
was put on a train for Chicago and
duly tagged for the professors place
where they stretch people, and here
was where his nerve came In.
A man with less grit would have
thrown up his resolve TO be a pitcher
at the idea OF having his bones and
ligaments and spinal column w%renehed
but hub never turned a hair. He said
he'd go through anything 10 be a
pitcher. so he took the treatment
He was away about three weeks, and
we thought he'd gone with a dime
museum.
lie surprised the natives one day
by coming out on the held to pitch
against us at Hayville. and we rubbed
our eyes. Was that the fat and beefy
Club Pudgely who so recently had
excited our mirth at his efforts 10
pass curves fast enough TO keep US
from hattering the fences down? Was
that tall, graceful form that gailoped
after hunts and scooped up grOunders.
and did other contortions. the old
form Of Club Pudgely, which had
never did a comfort In his life? There
was certainly Clubs lantern jaw, and
his straw-eolored hair. and his mild
blue eyes; but We had to be told about
rest