The sun., 1908-05-17

FAT FAN TELLS or THE LONG
b INST or BAsEnALL GAMES Y

k --------.-- flifl NA nf
which q rirsny Dselded Afser the Ump,re
J Mad Nuisd Against wseden Leg Piay
-+i7tfcat o. she Mingtnfi R0arers ny
N ssaS issassssssstt 1.ss!!s--'ne sears. \ 70 o.
The thin man had come almost m hour
before the same wan called In order TO
SECURE bis favoFits seat on tho right field
blsaohsrs, The fat man with the crooked
fingers was already there. u if@
~ see youshers almcst syery day. 'rs-
marked the thin man. S 800
The fat man looked the speaker critically
up and down.
'Yes.' he answered, apparently satisfied
with his inspection, you couldn't make
mo miss game n ! had TO watch IL through
knot hole In tho fence
-sThst reminds me, said the thin man,
sof funny thing that heppened up in my
Old home last summer. There's a man
with glass eye zip In our town who 10 one
Of our most ardent rooters. He Is very
absentminded, though. and they say that
one day he stood with his glass eye glued
to knot hole In tho ball park fence for
eight whole innings wondering why in the
name Of Pop Anson the game didn't start
and whore In Schenectady all the people,
were.' .t4
Ths fat fan swallowed hard q couple Of
tsass and puFed furiously at his cigar. 10
that 1t soon degenerated into q red hot race
between wrapper and filler.
Say he remarked to the thin man az
| soon a. he had mastered his emotion. have
you noticed that this ysar's oficial base
ball records give the longest contest on
record 40 the thirty inning game out in
Cleveland lest Fourth Of July between the
Brooklyn A. G. and the E. e. All Stars?
Funny. isn't IT. that publication 90 aoou-
rate In every other respect should make
such palpable blunderS"
well, then, what was the longest game
ever playsdf' asked tho thin man sus-
pioiously.
The fat fan regarded him with contempt
DO you mean to tell me you've never
heard Of tho great fifty-seven inning con-
test between tho famous Lightfoot Lilies
and tho fsdoubtable Ringtail Roarers3
Well, we'll, wsli!
However, it's never too late to- learn.
It's hak an hour before they'll be out for
practice, % here's q chance TO complete
your education.
rIt was the final game for the champion
ship OF Jones county. Eacn team had won
on It's own grounds and tie deciding contest
was to be played on the diamond OF the
Jones County Eye, Ear and Tongue In
firmary.
Every man, woman and child for miles
around had crowded through the gates, so
that-well, il one more had managed TO
squeeze In man wouldn't have been able
to tell whereshis vest stopped and the next
mans back began.
4The inyineibie EEy Priest was IN the box
for the Ringtail Roarers. No hope, then,
for the Lightfoot Lilies, you might nati-
rally suppose. But you must remember the
batsmen who were to face him. Capt.
s|ugger Burrows, the mighty Bull Thomp-
son, Home Run Hankins and others of the
same ilk. II was the old case Of an i'm
psnetrabls body stacking up against an ir-
resistible force. s3
-.Weil. the game seesawed back and forth,
with the rooters of the respective teams
howiing continuously like Bedlam let loose
In Q boiler factory. The brass band that
the Lilies brought with them, when playing
lie loudest producsd about as much sound
as the dropping of q ria n stamp mill.
aIn the sixth the Roarers almost scored.
With two out and man on third Pegleg
Woodruff got hit just below the knee with a
pitched ball. The Lilies all crowded around
the umpire and protested that it was his
wooden leg that had been hit and that that
didn't count. The umpire. however. ruled
that legs . leg whether it's wood or flesh
and gave Peglsg his base.
The next man up for the Roarers was
Cy Priest. and Hike most great pitchers he
was about as much use ut the bat as a pair
OF ear tabs would be In Hades.
sRsalizing this Pegleg hobbled off for q
big lead toward second and purposely
got caught between bases 20 a. to give the
nas on third = chance to score. As luck
would have 1t. though, he slipped and fell
just - the runner Was starting home.
Before they touched him. however, he
managed 70 yank his wooden pin OF and
gave It an accurate fling that landed it
square on first base.
How about thatr he demanded Of the
umpire as they touched him with the
ball. I've got one foot on the basel
THE umpire shook his head. The Roarers
rushed upon the hald arguing heatedly
that II Pegleg's wooden pin was Leg enough
for dead ball It ought to be leg enough
to touch base with.
But all to NO purpose. The umpire was
Arm.
AT the end Of the seventeenth inning
the light began TO fail and the umpire
seemed about TO call the game. The two
captains rushed toward him to protest
and the opposing rooters united in howls
Of Play balll'
Suddenly Capt. slugger Burrows Of the
Lilies began 10 gestioulate wildly as though
struck with a brilliant idea. Capt. Cy
Priest Of the Rosrers slapped his knee with
delight at the Slngeer's> suggestion. Lut
the umpire seemed doubtful. He drew o
book OF rules II IN his pocket and began
to thunib its pages.
AFinally he too seemed convinced ri
the feasibility Of the slugger's scheme,
whatever 1t might be, and approached the
grand stand, Motoring for attention he
made trumpet Of his hands and bawled:
Is there any gentleman present with
fast horse who 10 willing to drive three
miles to the Mesmer Polytechnic Institute
ON an erTand2 II 30. think this contest
can be carried on TO definite conclusion.
.~k p