The San Francisco call., 1909-01-17

the a t zszsz 8 ekAf1Ike Essszz II
score of '1aS>
years.
will find that they all had personality
In superlative degree.
Going back the small matter OF a
couple of decades, Mike Kelly. the S1O,-
GOO beauty. was the bright particular
star Of baseball. Not in good truth
because he was the greatest player OF
the day, though he was marvellous
man OF baseball at that. but because
MiSe nae gmhns hs Rs5snaifg tfas f5s
game and made them stand second to
him.
Those who remember the game of 20
years ago will readily recall William
Buckingham Ewing. famous catcher OF
the New York Giants. Ewing was a
master of BASEBALL He knew the art
of playing, as well as the mechanical
end of the sport. great hitter was
this same Buck" Ewing. As a catcher
he was easily the superior of King"
Kelly. Baseball has yet to produce the
man who could follow Ewing in throw
ing to bases, and he knew all the little
tricks and refnements that make
catcher great Yet where one man
has heard of Buck Ewing 20 have
heard OF King" Kelly. And when the
name of Ewing will have reached OBJ
livion in baseball there will still be
yarns of Kelly the king. And KellyS
lame is largely due TO the great spirit
If the man.
KELLY AN APOLLO
L tdSIlOQSQ along uneS approaching
physical perfection Kelly attracted the
eye of the casual spectator at games.
n great outstanding fellow, shoulders
vide as barn door. with a supple
ness and grace OF limb equaling that
of the ballet dancers of the Folies
6ergeres. King Mike was man to
attract the eye of men and women
alike And be it said that while Kelly
ruled king of the ball players and the
IDOL OF the fan heart, he never allowed
MS clown to press too heavily on his
prn IL Xa1l xrfaf Al A
Kind word for everybody, encourage
Ment for players less favored than
limself. and a man whose purse was
Kelly had absolutely no regard for
money, except TO spend it. Money
foiled through Mixes hand like water
through sieve. and although he made
respectable fortune playing baseball.
II is not of record that his heirs went
elamoring 10 law courts to divide what
Also Mike had touch OF dramatic
power. and he worked it we'll Let
John l. Sullivan drop into a ball game
and Mike was always In the picture.
Let a governor Of a state attempt to
.year away the ennui of Office with an
afternoon at a ball game. and Mike
was on the job to have chat with
nim- Even president OF these United
states was not too big for Mike TO
entertain and it is known OF him that
he addressed BENJAMIN Harrison as his
Old friend Benny Kelly was the
Prince Charming Of the old timers. and
that is one reason that his fame will
live as long as the game Of baseball
endures. though be IL said in Mikes
favor that he was a "Woundy" man with
the bat, a deerfoot on the bases. and
an ocean for any ball that was ever
lit into the air.
BROWNING A GREAT HITTER
Peter Browning was another berseck
among the old timers. Louisville, KY.
owns the glory Of producing Peter
learning as a frog is OF feathers, but
when it came to hitting baseball on
the visage Peter was OF the Pundit
caste. Those who remember frolicsome
Peter claim for him that he was the
hardest hitter the game ever. knew
they say OF him that he was the great
est scholar OF wagon tongue bats that
ever faced a pitcher.
Recent day baseball is not without
its players Of great personality La
joie banks a deal on his elegant man
ner He is all Of the three graces In
baseball At bat he is a picture of
grace. In the field he is graceful
picture, and on the paths he is a very
graceful runner. One scribe once said
of Lajoie that his every motion was
its Larry as true as a trivet
Wagner. who is probably the great
est ball player Of modern times, II not
Of all times. is your baseball sloven.
He has no more Of personality than an
asphalt pavement. In physique he ts
big and gorilla like. with arms a mate
outang that ever tossed friendly cocoa
nut at his tree neighbor. In the field
Wagner hurtles after a baseball like
an elephant trained at Waltzing. But
Wagner gets nearly everything he goes
after in those spacious paws OF his.
At the bat Wagner is the best hitter Of
modern times. though wonderfully
awkward fellow. He swings at the ball
like Dutch housemaid swings her
duster at a cObweb. But Wagner can
hit No kind of pitching is too diff
cult for him, and be is liable at any
time to turn a seeming wild pitch into
home run On the bases Wagner
as steam roller. but for all OF his
aWEWardneSS he is the best fielder.
best batter and best base runner IN the
National league Were Wagner az
graceful a player as Lajoie, he is so
much a better one that the name OF
Lajoie would never be mentioned in
the same breath with the Flying Dutch =
man of Carnegie, Pa
THE ECCENTRIC wADDELL
The most eccentric man the game
has ever known is George Edward
WaddeIl of Butler. Pa. who pitched for
St Louis last year. They say prima
snal1<matter Of eccentricities no prima
donna ever equaled Waddell. Rube has
a penchant for doing the thing his
manager does not want him to do. and
he Is absolutely the hardest man base
ball has ever known for manager to
handle. He even broke the Joblike pa
thence of Connie Mack, and for the
peace OF his mind Connie had to turn
Reuben adrift-
Generally when Rube is down to
pitch an important game. he wants to
go fishing. and goes When the Reuben
has little run in with his manager
he usually doffs his baseball tOgs and
dons a bar tenders apron. Rube likes
the limelight. and he would rather have
a crowd of bugs" around him than
win a worlds championship series, and
Rube is as good at gathering crowd
as barrel of molasses Is at gathering
flies.
WaddelTs one beauty is his domes-
tfcity and his love of family life. One
time Rube had little dispute with his
dutiful spouse and settled the argu-