Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-05
JIMMY RYAN THE
GREAT "KIDDER. "
BY HUGH s. FULLERTON.

Jimmy Ryan. ball player, politician, dia-
mond merchant and manager, probably was
the greatest kidder that ever broke into
base ball. besides being the grandest right
fielder that ever caught ball. Fast a
good hitter, left-handed thrower, as ac-
curate as rifle. he got to the bail faster
and got 1t away from him quicker than
any outfielder 1 ever saw.
He always was a quiet, gentlemanly sort
of fellow and a good dresser. and was
known in the profession as a;'.wise fowl"
which signified that he was far above the
average in intelligence. He was at Holy
Cross so long that people have forgotten
he college man; he played a couple
of years with Holyoke and then Joined the
famous old Chicago White Stockings pitch
ing and playing the outfield His record
until he fell out with Arson and grew care
less was a marvellous one-and now. IS
manager of the Evansville team, he is
making good again in his new capacity.
There never was any doubt that Ryan
should have been the manager of the Chi
cago National League team. He earned
the post by his long service, and deserved
it in many ways, but he was unpopular
with the players, and his unpopularity caus-
ed him to be rejected as managerial pos
sibiity.
And Ryan's lack of popularity was the
result of his kidding propensities. No one
was safe from him, and he could hand out
the greatest line of stuff with the straight
est face of any one in the busness-poss-
bly, excepting Tom LOTUS
l heard Ryan at work at Hot Springs one
spring training trip There was a new
reporter named Dixon with the team who
did not know a three-base hit from sac
rifice. and he was legitimate prey for Ryan.
Every afternoon Gentle James got the
young fellow into a corner and pumped him
full of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the .guise of
inside tips. One day he told the young
fellow that Tim Donohue had fought twelve
To- k,,t;e xt,D
happened to be at the springs. He fur
nished a graphic description of the fight,
and it was duly wired to Chicago.
The joke reacted on me, for the editor
wired to me demanding an explanation of
why I wasn't getting the good stories that
the rival sheet was printing.
A Favorite Trick.
One of Ryan's favorite tricks was to
send kilograms to other players. We were
in Kansas City one spring and Tim Dono-
hue, who had played there the previous
season. was talking for days about the re-
ception he would get. The day we played
the first game we kidded Tim until he went
all to pieces, and finally had a quarrel with
Arson that resulted in cap" ordering him
out of the game.
Tim was heartbroken and sore at Arson;
so after supper that evening Ryan request
ed me to secure receiving blank from
telegram was written saying:
Mr.. Timothy Donohue: You are hereby
served with ten days notice of your re-
lease. James A. Hart
Tim was wild. For an hour after he re-
ceiyed the message he was waiting for
chance to slug Arson. And ten whole days
passed before he realized that he was the
victim of a joke.
Another time a man In Louisville who
knew Tim Donohue's old father gave Tim
a two-gallon jug of whisky to take down
TO Taunton, Mass. TO the father. Tim
treasured that jug and carried 1t half
around the circuit
One day in Philadelphia we were sched-
uled to play double header.
A few days before that Tim got what he
called "a snort full" and. in explaining
why he did not play, l wrote in the paper
saying "Donohue was indisposed" Some
one told Tim that '.indisposed' meant
drunk. and he was mad
On the morning of the double-header we
were playing cards In the room occupied
by Donohue and Callahan 1t was raining
and the prospect for game were bad.
Finally Tim ordered UP milk punch.
When IL came he had stepped out of the
room, and Ryan. pouring out half the stuff.
filled the glass with whisky from Tins
jug.
Three times that same thing was re-
peated. and when we went to lunch at noon
Tim was dead to the world.
The rain continued to pour. Both games
were called OF. We were loafing around
the on Sohtiiehtai hooking Tor amuse-
ment. when Ryan suddenly was seized with
an idea. He got piece of paper and wrote:
Mr.. Douohue: / hear you are indis-
posed again. T. Burns, Manager"
A boy carried the note to the room and
after long effort, succeeded In waking
Tim. About o'clock. with the rain still
pouring, Tim, with his full uniform on,
carrying mask mitt and chest protector
came down the elevator and. approaching
Burns, remarked. Indignantly:
II don't want you to be accusing me of
getting drunk. I'm here. ready TO catch
both games"
Fell Into Trap.
Benny Mccutcheon. whose brothers are
famous as cartoonists and noyelists, once
fell into Ryan's trap. Benny. who was
extremely young In those days. was doing
base bah and making his first trip with the
team. We landed in Boston one morning.
and Benny. never having been in Boston