The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-05-29
0tDINcH HoBBs. The creates

HfnINCH HOBBS: the Greatest
Shortstop That Ever Lived
THAT is TO be the title of a
DOCK VIII bring out some day when
the public gets tired-If that IS possi-
bie-of bearing of the deeds of Home
Kun Haggerty. the greatest batter thar
ever lived.
As 1 have often said. Pinch Hobbs
was IN a class by himself when it came
20 snortstopping- He was a blue-rib-
Don bali player. George Davis IS slow.
D a bungleF, Hans WAGNER q
frost, Tommy CorcOran a boy ia the
lots, and Parent Elberfeld Monte
cross, Hughey Jennings, Herman
Long d the rest of the gang OF pres
e1t~Qay stars mere amateurs COMPARED
10 that peerless little innelder. Be
tween second and third. nothing got
Dy hlm or over him less than ffteen
teeL ni8n. No matter Row fast or how
slow, or how close the score was, he
was on the spot and delivered the
goods Nothing I'll ratified him. no
heavy hitter ever scared him. no high
fouls this sid of the bleachers or
grandstand ever phased him. He went
after everything. and what he went
after be- brought back And his motto
ever was; Always Try to set more
than p man out
"A schemer. a tricky BAN player. on
70 al the nne points of the game and
ready 10 play 'em. all these he was.
"ul ueEet a dirty player. and ned
Ialner lose "a scientifically played game
tAfH win % through luck.
Add go am this that he was. as his
nickname tells, the greatest pinch hit
tel 10 me business, TiEht there with a
SdLe aIlFe when an seemed Loss, and
sou nave the great Pinch. Always
cool calm and caIcuiatin'. and alWays
READY Go throw dIsnay into the ranks
or his opponents with some uuex-
prcteo Play, he was feared and loved
uy friend and fOe. il was his DrOud
boast that he never drank a drop of
LqUpf or smoked q cigarette I'M his life.
ana yet 1 remember one time that he
look the count ON just one drink of
cordial water and made a fool of him-
ser and an the rest of us and near
olJhe up winning combination. I'll
teli sou The story.
9 ID tamou AlfaIfas. Joseph Hap
Bo9d, manager, u me catcher. were
PiatlH5 the hfst series of the season
with the ClOverdales. who had won
me championship the season before.
Ihey had the same team, all good bali
players DO as we were DIaving on
the CloVerdale diamond nob5dv
feared AS much We were then iust
getting together the famous bunch
lnal won the peunant In that league
Tor three seasons. and they didn't
know about as. And that's the gIori-
Gus uncertainty of baseball. You set
d champion team, with all kinds of
spectacular players, and just when
you least expect il you so $50 against
d team OF uubS and they lam The
me out OF you. That's what we did
IN the nrst game with the Clover
dates.
They had the champion pitcher of
the league i'm the box. and when we
went on the field we could see they
thought Dr. was all over but packing
up the pats Things wen along evel-
ly TIL the fourth inning. Pinch Hobbs
had d on several runs by electrical
ohe-nand stops and lightning throws. 1
ana he had the audience with him 90 !
a man. And when he cracked out 2 Z
double Oh me fourth, as a starter. the
tioNefdale president and treasurer ana
manager who were in the -gFandstand. {
declared they'd set him on their team
II " took $4,000.
Pete Brown doubled; I made a hom- [
en-, the Harrison brothers made hits.
reggie got first ON ala error. and Hem
ltessey. our left fielder, tripIed. When 4
The dust haa cleared away we had
the champs on the run.
Wen, we WoD that game, 6 to 5. 4
-hr} made q desperate rally in the 4
ninth. buJ Pinch made a O~ne-handed I
catch of a uer for one out. sc0Oped uD
q bunt and caught e. man at the plate .
Tor another, and then ran over and
jumped the bieacher fence so get a foul 4
Iy, with the bases UIL He got it. too. /
81 though the crowd was diSappOiut- 4
there vas q unanimous demand for F.
the Al1alfas' suubuTned, authenticated .
alDrtstOp for the ClOVerdale team. D