Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-15
EARNEST FANS
ARE PLAYERS
DIAMOND ARTISTS PROVIDE
HOT ARGUMENTS
story Of How Tim Donohue and Bszzaz
KiIroy Debated for Two Days,
After Which Kilroy Fell
Asleep

Bail players are ball cranks. The
man in the bleachers may be a crank
or fan. or almost anything wild, but the
widest of them seem tame compared
with ball player. They talk, eat anc
sleep baseball, and the tanning bees
that go on while a team is travelling
would make n barroom discussion of
1 to 0 24-inning game seem tame.
Tim Donohue was one of the worst
fans that ever played the game. His
heart was in baseball and he was
ready to talk or play at any time. Bull
Head Dahlen and l tried 1t out a hun
dred times on the road, and never failed
to get discussion out of Tim.
Bull and had a habit of riding out
of the cheerless, wicked cities, to spend
the evenings together in some sylvan
solitude, communing with nature and
cold stems, and we were prominent
among the passengers on the last car.
Reaching the hotel in the wee sma'
hours Bull would say:
Lets go up and wake Tim"
This was the procedure: Bang, bang,
bang on the door.
who's there?" from the sleepy and
suddenly awakened Tim.
"It's u.s.
well go on away and let a fellow
sleep What do you mean by waking
me UP at this hour of the morning.?
1--WE had an argument we want you
to decide"
"Get away from that door with your
arguments. This is no time to wake
up decent man."
well, we've bet IS on it, and left it
to you
Il amt going to decide any argu-
ments for you"
Decide it through the door and We'll
go away
"Why, Bull says Jim Clements is the
best catcher in the league, and l say
Jack Warner is"
"Well (sounds of creaking bed), I'll
tell you about that (sound of Tim get
ting out of bed). Clements is great
but them lefthanders-" and SO on until
daylight.
Donohue and Griffith Argue
One of the finest baseball arguments
ever started was fought out by Dono-
hue and Griffith in front of the old
Carrolton hotel in Baltimore years ago.
Grif was, and is, great admirer of
Nap Lajoie, and Donohue was even
Keeler. So on that night they began
discussing the relative merits of their
men. and within short time the issue
was: Gould a team composed of nine
Keelers beat a team composed of nine
Lajoies?"
Donohue drew a graphic picture of
what the nine fast, fleet brainy little
men would do, bunt, running bases,
fielding and throwing, while Grif por-
trayed in vivid language what the
Lajoies would do.
He pictured the Keeler pitcher, the
Keeler infield crippled and wounded,
with broken arms, legs and ribs before
the sixth inning. Grif had the crowd
with him, but the question never really
has been decided, for, unfortunately for
the game, there never was but one
Keeler and one Lajoie.
Malachi Kittridge, the little Senator.
who has just survived half dozen
generations of major league ball play
ers is one of the best fans in the world,
and during his long term of service he
holds record of never having lost an
argument.
Kit can play three old games over
blindfolded, and against three different
men, and hold up his end in each. He
has a remarkable memory, backed up
by a marvellous Imagination, and the
way he makes memory and imagina-
ton fit together to win an argument is
amazing.
He won an argument from Buck
Ewing in New York one night that he
might have lost, except that his point
was made so suddenly that Buck was
dazed until it was too late to get gack
and by that time Kit was safely out
of reach. The question was as to the
figure which luck cuts in catching foul
tips. Buck was arguing that it was all
luck, while Kit maintained it was not,
that the catcher was guided by instinct,
and that, in some instances, he actually
has time to think and direct the mo-
tions of his hands.
Buck Ewing Gives In
WELL" said Buck, himself perhaps
the greatest catcher that ever lived. 1T
may be so, but l never yet thought quick
enough to think between the time the
ball tipped the bat and the time 1t hit
me, or went past. If it isn't luck, how
do you account for the catch Elm Gross
made at Providence, when the ball
struck him, doubling him up, and in so
doing he was so bent over that he held
the ball?"
THAT exactly is the case that proves
my point" said Kit, triumphantly.
Gross told me about the catch himself,
He knew the wind was escaping from
his breast protector, and, when the foul
was hit, he realized in a fash that be-
ing unable to move his hands quick
enough to get the ball he must catch
Il otherwise, so he doubled over, let
the ball strike the crease in the pad,
and bending further held IL there until
L. Ii - .