The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-10-21
BASEBALL YARNS
BY Fullerton
ComlSkey Signs Player for Six
Bits and he Makes
Goou.
BY HUGH S. FULLERTON.


Conliskey has the record OF Signing the
cheapest bali player that ever wore
major league uniform He got him FOR
70 cen;s.
II happened that the st. Louis Browns
were scheduled to play an exhibition
game a Potosi Mo. and as usual. one
o. uie players missed train. and 1CoTnis-
h hes arrived at the scene Of battle with
eut eight mer-nile Including GeorSe
M1unson, who absolutely refused. TO PLAY.
Dinner was served and the time for PLAY
e ai''l SO Comny chased out e.
ny. tommy can find ball players IN tkc
middle OF the Sahara desert when thez-
are needed. All his mana ger has TO do -
- VIE Somny in the fifth inning a.
oasennan and Commy has him on the
grounds IN time TO bat in the ninth But
ms us cay ne was up against il. He strolisd
over toward the station and found 2 tail
lanky fellow attired in hickory hat a
par OF overalls and ''wamus, waiting
fOT way train. s%
..Rsf oP PLAY ball. BALI 30 9usried Commy
like to play ball. nm a pretty COED
Dan player You town fellers goin' To
This team is the ST. Louis team said
Commy- We need man VIII YOU play
+ I'D like 10. but I'm goin' orr chucsin
corn s.I5 an cant afford to lay Off
How much do YOU get -
Ihirty-five cents an hour =.
Il give you 30 cents an hour to play
..All right
That afternoon the left fielder Of tho
Browns made two long drives and hauled
down a hard-hit fly. Commy paid him
20 cents and gave him supper at the hotel
The sequel to the story is interesting
me corn shucker got. all broke out with
baseball. and the next spring broke iDtn
me me Iexas league and graduated into the
Southern- he might have been a major
league star if his father hadn't died and
left him the farm
The player Commy found was Bill I.ud-
Wig Farmer Bill they called him At
them high up and far away
Story OF Lost Ball.
Somewhere out on the West Side ball
park IN Chicago, if it has not decayed.
there is a baseball with mystery at
tached 10 ii, and behind that bali is the
story Of one of the queerest things and
one Of the strangest decisions ever given
in baseball.
In the middle of a hot game between
Louisville and Chicago. on May IL 1893
II my score book dates are correct, this
ball disappeared-and so far az any one
knows never yet has been found
The score was to in the seventh in
nlng. with Chicago at bat, when Arthur
Nichols. the little catcher. came ND with
one man out He whange0 into the ball
and drove it safe to right. Charlie Dex-
ter threw to second and Nichols slid safe
just as the ball arrived. Tommy Leach
was covering second base. and as Nichols
slid he lost sight of the ball. He said II
struck his forearm and fell to tfe ground
and when he started to pick il I'D II
wasn't there He thought il was under
Nichols and waited until the runner
arose. The bali was not there Nichols
waited and held the base, fearing the ball
was hidden and he would be tagged out
Ritchey and Leach were busy hunting
for it. Everybody Joined in. Still Mich
OILS feared a trick and stuck TO the ba g
After five minutes Umpire Smith VINO
was working on the bases. called the
Louisville players down. and after ac-
cusing them of hiding the ball threw
new one into play Chicago Kicked ard
Nichols was ordered to run home He
ran. but Smith sent him back to second
and ordered play begun with new ball.
A moment later Taylor doubled to right
and Nichols was nipped at the plate.
Leach, Nichols and Ritchey. the only
men near the bali, vowed they never saw
it. What. really became Of it no one
seems to know.