Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-26
TIM KfEFE TALKS
Of OLD TIMES
By JACOB G. MORSE.

NO pal toSser upon his retirement from
the professional game ever dropped out
of sight more completely than Tim Keefe,
one Of the cleverest pitchers OF his day.
and rated as one OF the best that ever
handled ball. He contributed in no
small measure to the triumph OF the New
York club in the days of Jim" Mutrie
and John B. Day, and helped secure the
term Of Giants for that association.
Since quitting base ball Keefe has lived
quietly In Cambridge Mass.--the uni
versfty city. There he lives and looks out
for his own property and that of his
mother.
Although few suspect it. Keefe keeps
well posted on maters connected with
the game and occasionally takes In a
game in Boston.
There are few players 1 now know per-
sonally," recently said the veteran. who
by the way, looks fine and has stood
well the ravages of time There have
been many changes but cannot see that
the players of today excel those OF the
Players League. Certainly there are no
better batsmen today than there were
then, II they are nearly as good You
do not find any better batsmen than were
Arson, Dan Brouthers and Buck Ewing.
I have not seen Buck since the time
umpired when he was the manager of the
Cincinnati club. / was very sorry to learn
OF his Illness. He was great ball player,
and would say without hesitation he
was the best all-round player the game
ever produced. He was also a fine fellow.
both on and off the field. l have known
Ewing since the latter seventies. I first
met him when he was playing in Albany.
He played wit Rochester and afterward
We Joined the Troy team. From Troy.
along with Roger Connor and Smiling
Mickey WEIGH, We went to New York. /
RI ha Mof hut orS
played with the New Yorks. In "a I
played my last game, and then was urged
to try umpirIng. Please do not say much
about that portion of my career; the less
said about 1T the better. did not like
umpiring. and cannot imagine how any
body can.
But to go back to my old friend Ew-
ing. Great as a catcher. he could do good
work as pitcher. and almost killed
Roger Connor one day, with one of his
very skillfully and was a. shortstop in
the days of Troy. In Cleveland he tried
outfielding. Though big man, he could
pretty good pitcher. Well, anybody who
was at all good ought to do well with
such man Ewing to pitch to. He
knew how to steady pitcher. was ac-
quainted with the weaknesses of the
batsmen and was in the game all the
time.
Il haven't seen my old chums for long
while. Once in a while | go to springfield,
and when do / always go to Holyoke and
pass a night with Mickey WEIGH. Ewing
and he were the warmest of friends. The
success Of the New York team was due to
the way the boys worked together-for they
liked John B. Day. the president, who was
as fine a man as one would care to meet:
Ewing, who was the captain. and Jim
Mutrie, the business manager Of the team.
| haven't been to New York for a long time
and I suppose l would scarcely be recog-
MED If l went there.
Base ball is peculiar, and player who
allows himself to be influenced by the ap-
plause of the patrons is extremely foolish,
for the one who cheers him today is liable
to be foremost in turning the morrow.
The life of the athlete, with few exceptions.
Is not long, and therefore he who Is in the
is making good Somehow, there is not the
flavor In the game there used to be. Per-
haps such a state of things is what is to be
expected with the flight of time. l never
knew such enthusiasm as there was in the
days of the old New York Giants, and when
pions with those of today am positive we
do not suffer from comparison. We had
Ewing Bill Brown and Pat Murphy as
catchers. but Buck did about all of the
Hank ODay. the National League umpire
OF today; Billy George and / did the pitch
ing; Roger Conner. Dan Richardson, Arthur
Whitney and Johnny Ward were the fnfield
and O. Rourke, Gore, Tiernan and Slattery
the outflelders. 1t was great combination.
and one very difficult to beat. The players
worked together with the utmost harmony
and enthusiasm, and would go through fire
and water for Buck, whom everybody
knew only to love. Take it from me, there
great Kelly. for that matter. in the game
TODAY"