Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-03-13
Some Stories Told to the
Enthusiastic Fans.
How the Black Art Drove a
Ball Out for Keeps.
Mike Films Yarn About Jim DeIehaniy
al Little Rock.

a good bunter. :Fhen the groans had
subsidized one of the chair warmers told
the following tall:
"The color line was not drawn in
baseball some years ago when that
dusky diamond expert. Frank Grant,
played second base for Buffalo, Higgins
pitched for Syracuse AMI StOvey and
Walker Were the New1ri;'s famous
coon bait. r5 Each one OF that col
ored quarfct W;t- u Lsod bail PLAYER.
ard were or material aid 20 their
teams. Stoyey AMI Higgin. were fine
pitchers ami rrrsni Grant WAS won
der In both ficid.ng ami batting. The
Buffalo bai' rark vvas In Richmond
avenue, corner Sumnsr street. At that
time l was iiving directly opposite the
left Held side of tie grounds. Grant,
who was a mighty litter, seemed to
hold some sort of crudSe against my
domicile IS it frequently suffered bonn
bardment from his hands. One day 1
was detained o,, business long after
the Usual ditin,l hour. not reaching
home until ilc,triy 8 . clock. My folks
were cleanirG house and eveiy win
dow was wide open. Ny wife, daughter
and myself we're sitting at the table
ABOUT To Itsif lne tGliltu lCI1
we were s,artled by a terrific commo-
ton in the larlor. followed by a crash
In the sitting room nd the instantane-
Gus disaJi,,' arance Of our roast lamb
through the GLlinS room window.
Jumping I'D i'll astonishment l rushed
to the window only 10 observe a neigh
boris dog scoot:ng around he CorEcr of
the house with our roast IN his mouth.
Glancing downward discovered 4 base
ball. The mystery was explained. The
sphere had been driven over the ball
ground fance. had rebounded into our
parlor, demolished a motto on the wall
banged into the sitting room and broke
a vase, then travelled into the dining
room and knocked the roast through
the window. l tell you that ball had
terrific power behind it,
"It must have been due to black art, -
said a chair warmer, was it Grant,"
you're next" said the barber.
"Clark Griffith, of the New York
Americans. is the hardest working
manager In the game" said Peter r.
Dunn. deputy supply commissioner, the
other day. II saw him turn a trick at
Sportsman's Park one day that earned
my everlasting respect and admiration
for him as a baseball genius.
"The Browns and Highlanders had
been batting nine innings. and the
score stood 0 to O. Doc. Newton was
pitching for the New Yorks. He start
ed the ninth inning by passing the
first two men up. Griffith pranced up
and down the side lines like a crazy
man. while Newton was handing out
free passes to first base like a philan-
thropist. Then George Stone waltzed
to the plate for the Browns. Griffith
yanked Newton out of the box and
picked up the sphere himself. Clark,
you know. was the best pitcher in the
country 10 years ago. He passed
Stone to first. filling the sacks. and
things looked squally for the High
landers.
THE next man up nearly broke his
back reaching for one Of Griffith's slow
floGters and rolled a dinky grounder to
Yeager who threw one of our men out
at the plate. BY this time Clark had OBJ
tained a firm grip on his curve ball.
The next Brownie made three ineffect-
ual attempts to connect with the little
1eather-covered globe and sat down
looking very she epish With two out
the bases filled Il i only one run need
ed to win the game, thesncXt ST. Louis
batsman hinged at one Of Cirifith's out
shoots and lit her Il mile-but il went
the wrong way--lIp in the air and il
landed safely in Wild Ccnroy'S big
mitt. New York won the game in the
tenth inning aud Griffith wrs carrie |
off the field on thr shuuUe.s of his
loyal mel.
Mike Finn, now manager or the
Nashville teAuI. WIS in charge at Lit
tie Rock Whom jim iNCl"haa'v played
third base thrr, three >>asons ago.
the year before he was drafted 10y Bos-
ton. Mike thinks q wL"le lot or Del.
He regards him = nt,, If the hradirst
and most aggtcsSiN" players in the
business.
Mike WAS talking about Del during
the NatiouAl Association meeting in
Chicago y CouCIo 0f V Teeks ago. He
had noticed th;t nclrhanty would
probably be signed by the Reds, and H..
took occasion 10 say: u hope Cincin-
natl CTS ni.n. for he 's Just the kind
or man WHO liz do well under Ned
Hanlon. Dt is one of the hardest
losers and most earnest winners that
ever worked Tor me. While never a
rowdy. he was always up TO turning
any trick that would result to the ad-
vantage of his team.
II remember one Spring when the st
Louis team stopped IT our place Gu its
way North. Pat Donovan vas the man