Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-30
FANN|NG BEES
on THE ROAD
Proneness of Base Ball Players
to Hold Long Discussions o.,
Points Of the Game.
BY Hugh 8. Fullerton.

BY Auoh q Fullerton.
| Ball players are ball cranks. The man
| IN the bIearhers may be crank. or fan.
or almost anything Wild. but the widest Of
| them seem tame compared with bah
player They talk, eat and sleep base
ball. and the tanning bees that go on while
q team is travelling would make bar
room discussion of l to 0 twenty-four
inning game seem tame.
| Tim Donohue was one of the worst fans
that ever played the game His heart was
in base ball. and he was ready to talk or
play at any time. Bull Head Dahleu and
tried Il out hundred times on the road.
and never failed to get discussion out Of
Tim.
Bull and I had habit Of riding out of
| the cheerIess, wicked cities to spend the
evenings together in some sylvan solitude
communing with nature and cold stems.
and we were prominent among the passen-
gers On the last car. Reaching the hotel
in the wee sma' hours. Bull would say
Lets go up and wake Tim
ba1s on the door.
WHO'S there?'' from the sleepy and sud
denly awakened Tim.
It's US"
sleep What do you mean by waking me
up at this hour of the morning.
We had an argument we want you to
decide
Get away from that door with your ar
guments. This Is no time to wake up a
decent man.
well, we've bet 50 on 1t and left it to
you.
Il amt going to decide any arguments
for YOU
Decide 1t through the door. and Wen
go away.
why. Bull says Jim Clements Is the
best catcher in the league, and say Jack
Warner IS
you about that tsouHd of Tim getting out of
bed) Clements is great-but- And SO
on until daylight.
-
One of the finest base ball arguments
ever started was fought out by Donohue
and Griffith In front of the old CarroIIton
Hotel in Baltimore years ago. Crit was.
and ia, great admirer of Nap Lajoie, and
DonolIue was even more enthusiastic over
Wee Willie Keller. 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 team composed of nine
Iaioies?"
| Denolue drew a graphic picture of what
i the nine fast, feet, braiIy little Men would
do. bunt, running bases. fielding and throw
| ing. while Grif portrayed In vivid language
what the Laioies would do. He pictured
the Keefer pitcher. the Keeier inf1eid Grip
| pied and wounded, with broken arns. legs
and ribs before the sixth inning. Grit had
the crowd with him, but the question never
really has been decided, for. unfortunately
for the game. there never was but one
Keller and one Lajoie.
Is
Malachi kittridge. who has survived half
| dozen genera tons of ma or league ball
players. is one of the best fans In the
world, and during his long term Of service
| he holds a 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
remarkable memory, backed up by a
marvellous Imagination, and the way he
| makes memory and imagination fit to-
gether 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 back-and by that time Kit
was safely out of reach. The question was
as to the figure which luck cuts in catch
ing foul tips Buck was arguing that 1t Is
all luck while Kit maintained it was not
| that the catcher is guided by instinct. and
| that III some Instances he actually has
| time to think and direct the motions Of his
| hands.
| We'll" said Buck himself perhaps the
greatest catcher that ever lived, it may
| be so. but never yet thought quick enough
/ to think between the time the ball tipped
| the bat and the time 1t hit went
| past. II it isn't luck. how do you account
for the catch Elm Gross made at Provi-
dence. when the ball struck him, doubling
him up. and In so doing he was so bent
| over that he held the balf?'
THAT exactly is the case that proves
my point said Kit triumphantly Gross
| told me about that catch himself. He
knew the wind was escaping from his
| hit. he realized in a flash that being I'M
| able to move his hands quick enough to
get the ball he must catch it otherwise, so
| he doubled over. let the ball strike the
crease in the pad. and. bending further,
held it there until he could get his hand
to it,
| Buck sat as IL stunned, while Kit march
ed off in triumph, and then he said: That's
funny EN- never made any such catch
| and, besides, they didn't have pneumatic
| protectors In those days
Which proves, said a bystander, kits
contention that. while you may not think
fast enough to catch foul tips, some catch
| ers cam
"or that Kit has me beat lying" agreed
Buck.
Kittridge tells one OF his characteristic
stories about a tanning bee that was en-
gagged In between Tim Donohue and Bazzaz
| Kilroy in Baltimore one summer. Kit
never permits facts to hamper him. and
| possibly he exaggerates a bit-but not
much. for Tim and Matte. who roomed
| together all that season. famed base ball
twenty hours day from March to the
| middle of October.
Tim and Bazzaz were rooming together
| at Baltimore says Kit, and my room
was next to theirs. 1t rained on Sa turday
and there was no game. SO, of course, we
were forced to stay, idle until Monday.
| Tim and Bazzaz began tanning just after
| breakfast Saturday morning. / was in my
! room writing some letters and listened to
4 them until noon, when I went Down to
/ lunch. At that time Bazzaz seemed to
/ have Tim on the run and to be winning
/ the argument. They came down to lunch
/ about 2 O'Clock. and kept 1t up at the table,
| Tim gaining a slight advantage. len they
! went back to their room. and at supper
time Bazzaz was leading again, although
his voice was beginning to weaken under
punishment. When ! fell asleep about IL
/ O'clock they were still going strong with