Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-14
COLUMBIA BASE BA
LITTLE STORIES OF THE BASE BALL PLAYERS
By Revere Rodgers.

big Mike Grady strobe up to the plate and
laced one down the third base line that
was SO hot it scorched the grass
At the crack of the bat Mike O'Neil
scurried for third. and was almost there
when he saw Casey make a scoop at the
ground. and as he went into the bag he
| felt himself tagged. and so. without
thinking. and believing himself out. he
| started to stroll leisurely home. when the
| shouts of his teammates showed him the
ball just being fielded in by the left field
er. When O'Neil tried to get back to the
bag he was tagged easily by Casey.
| O'Neirs run would have put his team
ahead, and Grady might have come home
extra innings and the Cubs finally won
out. and solely on account of the quick
thinking of DR.. Jimmy Casey.
Merry Nick Altrock.
| OF all the hilarious base ball players
before or since, none of them can exceed
the effervescent Nick Aitrock of the
White Sox when it comes to enjoying
life and spreading sunshine along the
path of his fellows. The merry Nicholas
gets up in the morning singing and goes
to bed whistling. and in his waking hours
he has as much pure. unadulterated fun
out of life as the healthest schoolboy in
America.
NolHlHS, says ANlCh, Is OH Ills iIlllu DUl
his hat, and he wears the lightest SOM
brero that can be bought for the money;
generally he doesn't wear hat or cap,
and so. from his own standpoint he is
pretty nearly care-free all the time.
Altrock. being a good fellow, likes to
| see everybody in the same class with
himself. and nothing arouses his ire more
that to hear some one "knocking an
l other
One day he and Harry White, the clev-
o. nit nh nr of ho( hun Cit
ting on the players bench during a game
between the DetrOits and the SoX, when
White happened to mention the name of
| one of the Detroit men, when Nick but
ted in with:
Il don't like that guy, Doc; he's got a
regular automobile tongue"
| What makes you say that?' cried the
| puzzled dentist ball player.
Because he's always running some one
down." shot back Nick as he started to-
ward the coaching line.
Jimmy Ryan's Clever Play.
| A quick-thinking player in the older
generation Of ball players was no less
| parsonage than Mr.. James Ryan, the
blond outfielder of the Chicago club in
| the days when old Cap Arson had
world-beating team that was the talk OF
America. Ryan was a peerless fielder.
swell batsman, and as a base runner he
had few equals. 1t WIS a stand-Of be-
tween him and Johnny Ward of the New
York club as to who carried off the palm
when it came to gray matter and how to
use it.
Ryan made good use of his wits one
afternoon when his club and the Giants
were having a battle royal. 1t vas the
most warmly contested game of the year.
and it went up to the twelfth inning,
with the score to .; but in their turn
at the bat the Chcagos managed to push
a run over the rubber and naturally felt
jubilant. Still, the Giants had a turn at
bat. and as 1t was getting rather dark
the boys from the Windy city We're not
dead certain of taking the much-coveted
game. They would not have taken it,
either, had it not been for the quick
thinking of Jimmy Ryan.
Charley Farrell, of beloved memory in
this city, was the first man to take his
position at the bat for New York and
t he first ball Hutchinson pitched Charley
smote on the nose and was standing or
second base when the leather was fielded
in. The next two men up were moved
down by Hutch, and then came Amos
Rusie to the bat A sigh of relief went
up from the Chicago men, for Rusie
hadn't hit ball in month. and they
certainly did not think that this prince Of
pitchers was due for a swat just then.
But base ball, like life. is full of sur
prises, and Amos bore out this old say
ing when he leaned against a fast out
shoot and drove it far out into center
field
At the crack of the bat Charley Far