The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-07-29
Odd Baseball Experience.

q swallow.
Odd Baseball Experience.
Tom Corcoran had one of the oldest
baseball experiences in the history OF
Park grounds in Brooklyn years ago,
in game against Boston. The game was
played on the morning of Labor Day.
and there had been hard rain the night
before. In the early part of The same
Corcoran, going after ground ball,
felt his foot slip, and his ankle turn,
and, half falling, he stopped the ball
and then fell He turned to pick up the
ball to throw out his man, and saw no
ball-although there was hole six
inches across, into which his foot had
plunged. The runner, reaching first.
stopped and saw Corcoran with his arm
plunged to the elbow in the ground,
and after hestating a moment he ran
on down to second.
Corcoran, meantime, had been think
ing His fingers were clutched around
the ball, and yet he waited. pretending
to be cropping for the ball The runner
started on and as he passed, Corcoran
dragged the ball out and touched him
out
One queer thing happened to Eddie
Mcfarland when he was catching for
the Philadelphia American League team.
The game was a close one, and late in
the battle, with a runner on third,
Chicago batsman hit up tall foul fly
back OF the plate.
Mcfarland ran back almost against
the stand and stood waiting for the ball
to fall into his mitt. Suddenly however,
the ball took a queer shoot. and landed
on the ground nearly 10 feet from where
the catcher was standing. AS the ball
was falling one of the young reporters
had playfully thrown half an apple at IT,
and to his establishment, had hit the
ball squarely, and caused 1t to shoot side
ways.
A hit followed and Chicago tied up the
game-only TO lose it in the final inning.
Tim Donohue, of lamented memory.
was the victim of another case similar
to that of Mcfarland, and to his dying
day he never fully recovered his temper
over that affair
The game was in Cincinnati, early in
the season of 1897 and the act of cold
booded rowdy under the grand stand
came near costing Chicago a game. The
score was large. and both teams were
hitting freely, when, late in the game,
two Reds were on bases with two men
out.
Looked Easy.
Danny Friend, / believe, was pitching
the game. and in the pinch he forced the
batter. who. as I recall 1t, was Heiny
PETIT, to poke up tall foul. Tim, gloat-
ing and grinnlng. chased back to the
stand to get the ball, his face wreathed
with grins and his arms extended. He
ran up almost under the balcony of the
stand, and for an instant it appeared as
. ,a l,o1I fol Int ha ~
self.
1t came down almost against the side
of the stand, and just as 1t was about to
strike Donohue's glove the nervy fan I'M
der the stand dashed the contents of
schooner of beer into Donohue's face.
The ball struck Tim on the arms and
rolled away, while Tim. wild with anger
started under the stand to whip the beer
thrower
One of the funniest plays l ever wit
messed was pulled off on the old Baltl-
more grounds along in 1896, and It was
was Good-natured. Happy Wilbur Robin
son who made the blunder that resulted in
The defeat of the Orioles when they
might have won the game.
The struggle was between Chicago and
Baltimore and 1t went into extra innings.
In the eleventh. with Chicagoan on
second, Doctor Jimmy McJames made
wild pitch the ball shooting crooked
and bounding around back of the visit
tors bench with Robby in hot pursuit.
The ball rolled back of the water cask
and disappeared Robby made one fran
tic grab back of the eask and then.
Strengthening up. hurled a sponge full
of water al McJames, who was covering
the plate. The doctor grabbed It, and
as the water flew all over him. he tagged
Jimmy Ryan with the sponge at the