Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-04


beat our team out. No. the horse didn't
break into the lot and run us to our
bench But he was running somewhere,
and when he got through running our
pitchers pay day fin was as foppy as the
night wing of a dead reed bird At the
critical minute in that game our pitcher
couldn't have found the plate with shot
gun hltched TO a Lick telescope If he'd been
standing right over 1t. He blew the game
owing to nervousness because he thought he
and his horse had been running for the
end book, and when he found out the diff
ference he was the sorest butcher that
ever forgot to weigh In two pounds of bone
and suet with a three-pound steak.
This pitcher was and is a crack, at that,
and noted for his steadiness in the box at
times when It's a chuck of the dice which
teams going to win. But the pony thing
will put even the fellows with nerves made
OF whalebone in the jumpy class. and. the
way he had 1t framed up on himself, this
pitcher had a kind of license TO kerfium
at the tight part of the game.
He didn't bet on EN- right along. but
de fell for tip once in a while, like most
of the bunch. His regular bug was that
he could beat the market. Somebody had
slipped him Copper of those worth
while and-set-out-again things a few
days before the thing happened that caused
him to blow the game I'm talking about
He'd gulped the tip and bought $500 worth
of Copper when 1t wasn't buy. and this
stack had been yanked down by the buck
cter while the pitcher was lighting a stogie
before taking a peek at the board. This
was the jolt that about chased him back
of the dead line. Some Sugar that he'd
bought only a little while before hadn't
behaved for another five hundred dollars
worth. that he'd got into the habit of
getting off into the hotel corners and NUT
Iering to himself.
During the forenoon of the day of this
game the head telegrapher out at the ball
park showed UP in the hotel lobby of the
house at which we were staying He had one
of those good gee-gee things in his nam
keens. 1t was a couldn't-lose 'thout fall
ing down. 1t was in, number out red
board down. horse cooled out and munching
carrots. 1t was all paid off on already
This telegrapher had had one of that KIND
tor u.s. hot OFF the griddle, every time we'G
hit the town. None of 'em had tipped.
The telegrapher was always there with
reason why they hadn't caught the judges
eye first, but. according to our dope these
reasons hadn't got US anything.
so when the head telegra pher of the
grounds broke through the swinging doors
that forenoon with his Brush Up pipesky-
Brush Up was the name of the thing-au
OF US, except the pitcher who was ready
TO grab al straws. told him to brush by.
But it's grease in the skillet fellers,-
ihat head key-puncher argued. It's done
win. It's not a gamble. It's stealing
But we told him to beat IL for the open
while his shoes remained good
Coy reception l get from you fellers
for busting eight blood vessels rushing
down here to slip you something said the
ielegrapher. 1 tell you it's sizzling right
on the broiler. The wires to the right
folks only got in about it twenty minutes
ago, and they're going to eat 1t up alive.
/ dropped into the pool room on the way
here. There's 40 TO / against Brush Up
in the house betting, and if that isn't hit
ting somebody out of the Home for De-
cayed Genuewomen with a coal maui
90 ~ .l,a
can take it from me-
One of the crowd who kept a sort of
line on EN- observed that Brush Up had
finished dead last about nine straight
times
e" That's the answer said the optimistic
telegrapher. Her people have been wait
ing. Now they've got her in with a bunch
of terrapins thatu never find out which
way Brush Up goes. I'm only telling YOU.
that's ALL
The best he got, though, was some more
o. Of be long tidderino, and he started for
the door 'kind of grouchy. Before he
reached the door, though. the pitcher joined
him. The pitcher had been biting his nails
hard while listening to the teIegraphers
south breeze and when that 40 to l price
was mentioned he looked like a castaway in
1nid-sea that's just grabbed hold of chick
en- coop. We all set up the long whoop
when we saw the pitcher tagging after the
telegrapher.- The tosser heard u.s. and he
turned and staked US to a sckly grin. Then
lie went outside the hotel and he and the
telegrapher cuggermuggered for a few min
utes Then the two of them beat it to the
pool room. They found that the morning
price against Brush Up still held at 40 to
J. The mare hadn't done anything for a
long time. and, as there real good
ones in the sprint the pool room folks were
nearsighted about that Brush Up thing.
The pitcher got down $50 straight on Brush
Up at the 40 TO l figure, and then the pool
room manager chopped the price to 20 to
!. The new figures were hardly up be-
fore a crew of dead-wises began to stink
in with Brush Up duff They were the
people who had got the Brush Up wires.
and they kept the ticket writer so busy
scribbllng them 20 to l tickets that amer a
few minutes the pool room manager, begin
ming to sniff something, shook Brush Up
down TO 10 10 /. New ones creeping along
who were willing to go TO the 10 TO 1 price,
the pool room man, long before the first
TaCe-and Brush Up was in the last race
rubbed the house price against that one
altogether and announced that he didn't
want any more OF IT.
None of the rest of us knew for sure
until afterward that our tosser. who was
scheduled to put 'em over in the game
that day, had gone to the Brush Up tip.
When he showed up at the lunch table we
handed him a few Jibes for the hasty
chase he had made after the telegrapher,
but he only grnned ki:i of sheepishy and
said nothing.
The club we were playing that day then
led the league, and, for that matter,
didn't hit the tobog for a month or SO
going strong, and the clouters In the team
were putting 1t out OF the lot day after
day. one of their toppest pitchers was
slated to go In that afternoon. But
were figuring some our tosser with the
falling for-tips habit. He'd been pretty
successful In fooling the sluggers of the
team We were pItted against and we were
roofing that he'd hold 'em down.
He delivered the goods all right He
held 'em down TO four hits in eight in
nngs, and at the end of our half of the
ninth the score was L to /. Our tosser had
been going steady cobber working
overtime by lamplght. You see he was
waiting and hoping for something. The
telegraphers het-up afr had impressed him.
lie believed in that Brush Up thing. He
heap guileless man for a base ball
pitcher who'd been hiking the circuit for
four or FIVE years. And his belief In that
Brush Up thing that he had a-going with
fifty bucks worth at 40 to l buoyed him
mp and put the steam in his wing The two
thousand that he might win would Just
about hunk him up on his Copper and Sugar
Jab-ins and some other punk shots that he
had made at the ticker thing. Moreover,
he was expecting something of domestic