The Washington times., 1905-05-21
Home Run Haggerty
Tells OF Stop Ball
It Worked Like a Charm for Three Days
When Punch Hobbs Got Wise to It,
Elag. Lost the Game.

/ night, an | got about two fingers O
sleep Long about four in the raornin'
he climbed out an dressed up an began
maxim little circles an things on some
paper. l woke up, an lie says:
'Hag, we got to do SOM thin with this
here Stebbins article this afternoon or
We may as well hoof it for the Water
melon League and oblivion"
'fYes2" says 1.
Yes" says he. sadly. AN it's got
TO be done quick, too. 1 set 1T straight
that he is experimenting now SO s t
he can put bigger draw onto that
ball that'l pull it back to him after the
batter hits it and let him do all the
fjeldin' and do away with the ketcher. -
Sure enough, Stop Ball Stebbins put a
draw onto that ball that afternoon that
pulled every one of 'em back to his
hands. Some came on the fly, and them
was put outs for him, and some came
on the ground, and he just leaned over
and picked EN- up and snapped 'em to
the first baseman. 1t was so easy the
crowd fell asleep after the first couple
O innins.
All that night Pinch Hobbs fggered
and figgered till his eyes looked like an
owls.
Team at Circus.
The next day Tim MeGinnis heaped
insult after injury onto us. for he let all
his players go to the circus after the
first innin', when they got two runs,
except Stop Ball Stebbins an Clem
Dixon, his first baseman. and the ketch
Ell. And 1t was the same way again.
Stebbins, he got most o the put outs
with that wonderful draw, an the first
our fellows was so aggravated at the
idea o somebody goin' to the circus
when they had TO work that prob'iy
they couldn't hit bum pitcher It's
awful aggravatin to knowt you can't
hit a pitcher and be made TO get up
and go through the motions. l got dis
gusted early and just got up and swiped
the ball and sat down. But Nc matter
how hard / swiped the durnd Eail'd jest
hang in the air minute after the bat
hit 1t and then slowly gravitate back TO
the grinnin' Stebbins in the bog.
To make matters worse, the crowd
guyed US and patted Stebbins on the
back. People came from all over the
State to see the famous wizard o the
several big league teams asking FOR
terms. and we heard that two mana
gers was racing on special trains from
Chicago to get him first
StEDOiit5 "StS QtliSu Gtii Nln6Q, Wills
all the women fought for a shake O.
the fist which executed the stop ball
We was lucky to get can o beer to
wash down our pigs knuekIes, cabbage,
and so forth.
Never mind. IIag," SAYS Pinch Hobbs,
as he lit the lamp for a third night o.
lingering "Tae morning of our ven
geance dawneth. If can only find the
cosine of two tangents and the perry
meter o biseeted arc tonight I'll be
all 10 the good
Any relation TO Noah's Ark?"
Just Geography
Forget it," says Pinch That's
matter o. geography. This is business.
You go to Sleep"
When / woke up in the morning Pinch
was sleepin' the first he'd slept in three
nights, and [ knew the problem was
solved.
Well, everybody was at the game that
day to attend the triumph of Stor. Ball
Stebbins. McGinnis let his first base
man go off with the other players to
runs IN the first innin' only keeuina The
ketcher. for he saw from the day before
that even though Stebbfns didn't draw
: ne balls back to him on the fly he could
oeat out any batter to first that hap
pened TO bounce 'em to the ground
KEEP Iookin. at Pinch Hobbs for
signal TO wade in an begin 10 slaughter
but none came. AS the innfn's sIiDned
along l thought mebbe he'd forget ir
but when the sixth innin' come Pinef.
walks up to bat an rubs his hands ia
eile dirt. Ihat seemed to tickle the
crowd and Stebbins immensely.
| Con to hit IL real hard, Pinch?'' saws
Steppins, and the crowd laughed like
IL was the bi""est joke you ever see.
loilypopped the ball up. an Pinch Iaf
II go most past the plate before he stuck
ms DAT out. The ball stopped, hung
there for an instant, and
BIN! Pine swung back his club after
toueh'n the bah. an the way he laced
tnat poor, defenseiess sphere hangini
theTe IN the air was a shame. The baE
fairly shriegpu as 1t went sailin' ont 70
center. an he got homer.
And now. as the story books saw LET
| US transplant ourselves to the ringside
the balance O. the Cloyerdafe team was
eatin' peanuts an kiddin the clown an
gettln' kldded back. The tent was set
up In a field on the opposite side o the
town M the ball grounds. an they
was runnin' matinee performance for
the benefit o. the win1men an children
As said, the fun was goin fast an
furious, ar the Cloyerdale bunch was
thanking their stars for hayin' a pitcher
like Sile Stebbins SOS they didn't have
10 stand out In the hot sun an watch
us Aifaltas dc club swingin' act. when
there come a terrible crash over. their
heads, an as they looked up they seen
a grass-stained league ball drop through
the hole at the top o. the tent an roll
INTO the sawdust at the clowns feet.
To say that the sight o. that ball
slung CONSERVATION into them Clover
oaies is too mild. Worse'n that.
Hard Luck.
"One o Hag's homersm they yelled
with one breath
Nonsense" says Glenn Dixon, who
was new On their nine an never seen
me RELY let myself out Nonsense;
the ball grounds mile away. No livin'
man could knock a ball that far
No Twin man but Hag kin knock a
pan three-cornered." yelled their short
stop. Cash Tofrey Back TO the ban
grounds, Cloverdalesi Hag has dis
covered way TO hit the stop bail. an
we are needed
They rushed out an back to the ball
grounds TO find McGinnis wringin' his
hands an me receivin' the applause of
the popuiace an Sam Merritt tIp To hal
That was what beat u.s. If i hadn't
tried to show 1ff after Pinch made the
homer an been hoggish an tried TO hlt
the circus flag on the other side o. the
village they'd never a known am never
q got back. an we'd Won but thew mi
a new pitcher in an held us down an
they Won. 10 2. We lost the cham