The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-15

likes and swings. and it is likely that
hit goes down on the scorers book to
his credit.
When pressed further cit just came
naturally to me. I couldn't help but
do anything else. No matter where /
played and ] have been in quite a
number of places, the faculty of get
ting safe ones has not deserted me-"
Way back in the days beyond recall,
but not very far back either, for La
zotte is only 81. he began playing ball
was in the New England league. His
brother Joe was on the same team.
During the season Abe got % home
runs. Joe could not have hit a balloon
hay suspended from the same place.
One day a game was lost because Joe
did not make a hit in the last inning
with men on second and third, but on
the contrary struck out, retiring the
side. The next morning the Lewiston
Dispatch, in commenting on the game.
said: I'VE lost because Joe Lazotte
could not make the necessary hit, but
then Joe isn't Abel
Lazotte was once a National Lacquer
with Pittsburg. He has played first
base, has caught, and has taken care
of the outer gardens. Il
His active professional career after
leaving Lewiston, began at Wilkes
barre in the Eastern league in 1895,
where he batted .404. The Pittsburg
National league team s'got wise" to
him. and bought him for $1,000. He
finished the same season with the
Pirates and then was farmed out to
Syracuse in the Eastern league He
remained there three years. His best
to Montreal in the Eastern league and
played a year. Sickness took him out
of the game much of the time.
The year 1901 saw him in Grand
Rapids. when that town was still in
the Western league. In 1923 he
went to Peoria. also while that town
was in the Western league. In 1904
he went to st. Joe from which town
Topeka secured him this year on
Lazotte left. St Joe because they are
cutting salaries there. The Western
League is on its last pins. When a bali
is knocked over the fence, the players
yell: There go the gate receipts" That
is about the truth. Percy Chamberlain
informed Abe that a slice would have
to come off his pay check. Wont
stand it, said Lazotte. The slice was
made and Lazotte quit, as he had
right to do.
He stayed about st. Joe couple of
days and was just packing up his per-
sonal belongings to go back east The
climate there agrees better with his
of this year. Blackburn had just taken
charge of the White Sox. In days gone
by, back at Wilkesbarre, Lazotte had
caught Big Felix. while the latter was
in his pitching prime. He knew what
Lazotte could do and brought him here.
Topeka will not have the crack hitter
again next year. He is getting $3.50 per
month from Sheard. NO he said, 81
leave anytime. I will simply stay until
the season is over and then go back
east. These fellows here cannot pay me
the money can get back there. 1 have
no particular place in view. but can
hang on with faster company, know,
where the pay check Is bigger"
Strange to say, though Lazotte is hit
ting at higher average today than
many of the so-called stars whose
names appear daily as head-Iiners in
the sporting sheets of the metropolitan
dailies, he is not a drawing card as they
are.
Managers like McGraw, Selee, Kelly
and others, famous in baseball, realize
the value of having Lajoie, a Keeler.
Rube Waddell or some such genius in
their teams, for the gate receipts are
materially swelIed thereby. Hardly a
consistent follower of the sport but
Thinks that one of these men, whom he
has made his hero. is the greatest ball
player ever produced. But it is not so
with Lazotte. His name but infrequent-
ly passes the mouths of the fans in the
grandStand. Occasionally whenever a
hit means run and he picks up the
willow, a cheer goes forth. He seldom
is disappointment and he doesn't fuss
with the umpire.
There is a reason probably why La
zotte is not such a favorite or draw
ing card. He is quiet, unassuming, re-
ticent, says little, and is in a sense a
recluse on the baseball field. Where
other men of a great deal less ability
attract attention by their noisiness,
their idiosyncracies, or by some par
ticular stellar way of performing their
work LaZotte goes quietly by unnoticed.
He never runs into the field when the
team goes out. neither does he rush
back. Such ideas as turning somer-
sauIts on the diamond. or walking
along the bleachers and chatting with
the patrons is not Lazotte's style. He
comes in SO quietly and unobtrusively
that he is not noticed. Frequently he
does not come to the bench but goes to
the right foul line, and remains there
during the inning if not called on to
bat. This caused one fan to yell the
other day: Tom Sheard, you ought to
put in an electric line and send out and
get LaZotte.''
But nevertheless, Abe's modesty at
tracts attention among the saner de-
voices of the game. They know that
he is taking the thing seriously, that it
is a business to him. and not just a
diversion.
WESTERN ASSOCIATION.