Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-30
TELLS OF OLD
TIME P| AYFRS
FAMOUS DIAMOND VETERAN
TALKS
Great Nerve Required in Days When
No Gloves and Masks Were
Worn-A Famous
Catcher

I am often asked to compare play
ers of today with those of the past,
writes A. J. Reach. 1t is a question
that embarraSseS me a bit, for my own
playing days ceased long ago, In the
closing days of the '70s, in fact, and
when 1 advance the argument that in
that period we had men just as gooi
as now 1 make myself liable to the
charge of being prejudiced in favor OF
my own period.
But having kept in touch with the
progress and alterations of baseball as
one of the proprietors of the Phlla-
delphia National league club for two
decades, 1 think 1 ought to be able
to give an honest opinion.
There are more good players now
than there were then. None can deny
times as many men, and the big finan-
ciaI inducements have stirred every
youngster with the idea of making
his fortune out of professional sport.
Team work has also developed, with
the result of making the game more
automatic and less brilliant, to my
mind.
But men hit as hard, caught as well
and threw as accurately and strongly
thirty years ago as they do today.
Catchers threw just as we'll to sec
ond, and there were better baserunners.
The figures prove this contention. No
man of today can get the ball to Sec
ond more accurately or swiftly than
Nat Hicks, who died few days ago,
used to. Hicks was catcher on the
New York Mutuals in the early roc,
and was as good as any Killing or Sui
liVan.
1t took matchless bravery to be a
catcher in those days, for the back
q nhcn1fIfalV WirhO1I nTOteC-
ton. He had no pad, glove or mask.
Every inning he took his position he
ran the risk of life Disagreement from
the fast flying foul ball.
1 remember seeing McVey first hit
in one eye, and, knocked out, get up
and insist on playing out the game
only later in the engagement to get a
belt that half closed his other eye.
Even then, though he could barely see,
he insisted on playing out the game.
A long line of catchers, reaching
from these times down to within as
late of fifteen years ago-Mike Kelly,
Buck Ewing, Charley Bennett, Charley
Snyder, Emil Gross, Silver Flint, John
Clapp, Mike McGeary and Doug" AL
lison-must all be remembered as
strong throwers, great backstops and
splendid coachers for young pitchers.
For infield throwers there were few
and Ezra Sutton. Sutton snapped the
ball from his wrist like lightning, and
never lost an instant getting 1t away.
George Wright played as deep a short
stop as anybody on the diamond to-
day, and 1 have never seen any throw
as well. He let the ball go from any
position he happened to be in when
he got it. Andy Leonard could out
throw any outfielder ever saw.
a
twenty years ago as they do at the
present time, and without the use of
gloves. For instance, big Ed Williamson
and Fred Pfeffer of Chicago, Bid
McPhee of Cincinnati, Danny Richard
son of New York, John Burdock of
Boston, Fred Dunlap Of Detroit and
scores of others. Who could beat
Danny Richardson, bid" McPhee,
Fred Pfeffer, Fred Dunlap, John Far
rell or Joe Gerhardt on pivot work in
double play?
But there is better argument than
unaided memory to prove my conten-
ton that the ball player of the '7Os was
lust as good as the star of today.
Many men played in both periods of
baseball-the time when we had under
handed pitching, which made the ball
easier to hit and accounted for the big
scores, and then the new regime when
ball any way he wished-and thus could
avail himself of all the speed, curves
and strategy he could summon.
Men like Anson, Cuthbert, Brouthers,
O'Rourke, Sutton, Connor, Hines, Gal
vim, Matthews Riley and Manning had
been among the greatest ball players
under the old rules. When the new
code went into effect they still con-
tinued to be stars.
These men held their places long
after younger rivals, so-called exem-
plars of the new baseball, had sprung
up. In fact, 1 don't think that in the
history of basball, taking Anson as the
ideal right-hand hitter and Brouthers
the per ideal right-hand slugger, such
pair of clouters has ever been de-
veloped. Their records for twenty
years show that they never hit below
300, and sometimes went as high as
400. When a pitcher famed one OF
the pair it was hailed as an event.
This ought to show that the ball
players of the '70s have nothing to blush
for in comparison with those who shine
on the diamond today