The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-06-24
HOME RUN HAGGERTY R Wn fFQRf BArrv

AN the Reds. an the Pirates, an
Chances Cubs, an the Wife Stockin's,
an the Atletics2 Didn't you never hear
o Matty, the premier pitcher
Hickory Hank-him with the leather
paws-he shakes his head.
Premier pitcher?' says he; can he
pitch the gimlet2'
The what?' says T.
The gimlet ball 1t winds around the
batters head three times before it tips
over the pan into the ketcher's hands
Never heard Of it, says T.
I guess them Giants amt much,- says
Hank Kin they throw the goose egg?''
Here was more mystery. What's the
gOose-egg?' says I.
oh, it amt no curve. But our steel
arm pitchers IS so strong an put such
pressure on the ball that it goes up to
the batter shaped like an egg. It's very
Well. we had somethin' to eat. and
then Reacher RUfe he sets down an tells
Us talk that we can understand
-Ihls IS Strechlt County you are In,
says he Nobody knows what makes
il. but its the greatest ball playing place
in the world From earliest youth our lit
tie boys who promise quickness an speed
are trained to stretch their arms. while
feilers with pluck get their hands tanned
into leather an becomes ketchers or first
basemen. an the fast runners get their
legs made rubbery for speed. Those who
can pitch have their arms made into
cast iron at 10 years of age, cast steel
az 10 an HarVeyiZed at 20, so they re
] Il DlECnln
or till they get stiff-fingered.
I've heard OSthe two men you're after
No one IN our league ever went out to
Arkansaw that / know Of"
Pinch an I couldn't sleep all night but
Just talked over the marvellous adventure.
what would Josh HapgOOd say2 What
would the CorndrOppers' Circuit say
when we told them there was a whole
league OF rubber-aTmed an leather
handed an steel-Winged an rubber-Ieg-
ged marvels in existence. There was to
be a game the next day between the Go
Josh and GumbOot mines In this Strechit
County circuit. an we determined to halt
I in our rush to the railroad an see If.
They had fine ball ground, an the
way them Tubber-armed fellers passesd
/ the ball around would have made the
| best infield in the world hang their heads.
/ They were everywhere. scOOping up
/ drives. pulling down liners fifteen feet
| in the air without jumping, and if they
did muff they could snap their arms
| back quick and ketch the ball before Il
hit the ground.
And the steeI-armed pitchers. The
balls came over the plate so you couldn {
see EN- any more than the time Pinch
| made-belieTe pitch and didn't throw any
at tai an but snapped them up his sleeve
That score went nuthin' to nuthin' for
/ thirty-twO innin's. neither side able to
get a man to first base.
In Sile last half of the thirty-third
/ Hickory Hank comes to me an SAYS:
DO You want to bat for me an see
what a steel-armed tWirleT'll do to your
What do you want says 1, "a home
run?''
He laughed There's been one home
run made here in five years" SAYS he.
/ and that because a ball got lost in a
players shoe Just hit the ball"
/ didn't say anything. j got bat,
went to the plate and got a strike called
/ on me on the gimlet on the first ball.
! Then he threw goose egg, an let II
go, for I knew Hickory Hank had told
me about not bein' able to hit it safe.
! That was two strikes.
/ Then the pitcher. thinkin' I was easy,
/ c'ncluded to put all the force of his steel
arm in the ball an flash one over that ]
/ wouldn't see. But ] was ready He
/ hadn't brought his arm down when
| started to swing and the ball an bat
I met with crash like a thousand brick
/ Three pairs @ hands on the ends o.
/ elastic arms In that infield shot UP in the
/ air, grabbin' at that sphere: three pairs
/ tWenty-threein' back toward the fence
/ a leather-handed ketcher on first base
1 cussed. an a steel-armed pitcher looked
/ disguised. and Hickory Hank and his
/ gang yelled like Indians as 7 busted
/ round the bags IN that last half of the
thirty-third inniR' and won the game
! The ball went so far they had to get 2
] search warrant to find it. As we went
home with Hickory Hank and Reachei
Rufe I seen Pinch stuffin' rope in his
pocket.
/ Ssh" says he. That's to bind to-
/ gether two pairs y handsome rubber an
/ the other leather Then back to the
/ Corndroppers
/ You - amt - E0in'-to-steal-ther p
| says I. a wife light breakin' on me-
I 'As If were" says Pinch. THE pail
/ we have sought for so long are here
/ FIick'ry Hank an Turf Finn are svnon-
/ vmous. so are Reacher Rufe and Grab
/ Der Cachook."
"Si-nonuy-whst was that last. Pineh2'
The same. They stretched the trutt
ike they stretch their arms wen they
said tbev'd never been in Arkansaw We
! carry them back tonight"