The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-11-09
A. LIVE NEWS OF THE SPORTING WORLD / ==~
With The Baseball Players out of Season

! hours. OF course this refers to the
men who keep their wives in the city
| of the club with which they're playing
! during the playing season. But the
! Ball players, almost as a rule, are
! from the little towns, and keep their
wives and families, generally speaking,
| in their home towns. There are many
| of the married players who never see
| their wives and families at all from
the beginning of the training season
in the early spring until the wind
| up of the playing season in October
| These are the men whose wives and
| families live in out Of the way places,
| too far for little offside Jumps while
the team is travelling; so that it may
be easily imagined how keen these
fellows are to pick up and dust for
home when Taps has been sounded
over the final game of the season.
Very few of these men, with wives
and families waiting for them, indulge
| in that Whiz thing that has been adj
verified to; they are paving the ground
too eagerly to get back to the little old
plant where the folks nearest to em
are looking out of the window 10 see
them hOtfOOt it down the path.
[ have known of many instances in
which ball players have been terrifi-
cally eager for the season to wind up
so that they could beat it at top
speed back home to see their babies
| that had been born during their alb
sence on tour, l know one poor chap,
for instance, in the American league,
whose wife, living in remote Califor-
nia-where the player halls from
presented him with a son, his first
young one. just two weeks after ne
had to hike across the Rockies to this
side to take up his spring training.
This fellow is perfect bug over chill
dren anyhow, and every time he sees
a baby on the street, in a baby car
riage or in the arms of a woman, in
any city on the circuit, he invariably
stops to chatter to the kidlet and
shake it's foolish little hand in his huge
hairy one, and he's always a huge
hit with the babies that he thus frat
ernizes with at that.
Well this fellow sure has been on
pins and needles to see that infant of
his throughout the last playing season.
He was so keen to see the baby that
only a week after it had been born,
he wired his wife asking her if there
was any chance that she'd pack up the
kid and hike east with it SOS he could
have a peek. That, of course was all
he knew about it-pick up and travel
about three thousand miles! But he
did it thoUghtlessly and in the eager
ness of his heart to Sc his offspring.
for this fellow is a regular man-all
man. His wife, of course wired back
to him that such a thing couldn't be
done, and he'd found out from his
married teammates before he got her
reply that he ought to be in the BOBBY
hatch for asking her to do any such
thing and he wired her that he
was crazy and all that stuff for asking
it-but, gosh, he did want to see that
young hOdcarrier mighty bad!
And so he's been dancing around all
season waiting for October, to prance
along SOS he could hitch on with the
fastest caravan bound for the slope. /!
closed, and there was hectic spot on
each of his cheeks and an anticipatory
glitter in his lamps.
We'll" said I, you'll be out yOnder
!ookin' that young piano-mover of
yours over, pretty soon now, eh?"
Gee, don't mention it, will you?" the !
poor chap gasped. I'm trying to hold |
myself in till we get the last man out
in the last game, but say, every time
| see a railroad train or every time /
f Tn and look to the west / feel like
letting the hull thing slide and beating |
it to where that red-haired snoOZer is |
waiting for me. He's red-headed, like |
his mother, you know" and then the |
good fellows eyes sort of filmed, and
burned if | didn't have a kind of 6 |
lump somewhere around the neckband |
I have noticed right along, by the |
way, that ball players, just like all |
ather rugged men of the athletic type, |
are exceptionally fond of children. |
and when these baseball men |
Lounging around the hotel when they |
are on tour they're always spying some
kiddie through the window and talk |
ing over the young 'un's points in an
appreciative way. Not infrequently |
they'll pick up some tyke near the
hotel and haul him around to the lob
by and toss him in the air and play |
with him like a gang of OvergroWn |
boys to the keen delight and satisfac-
ton Of the young 'un-for there are
none of 'em so young in this broad
land that they don't know when
they're in the presence of heroes, and |
of course. baseball players stand at
the top of their list of heroes.
\ lot of heroes-like Tenney Of the /
Giants, for one example-havc large
families OF quite well grown children, !
and these men are solicitOuS for the !
education OF their progeny.
Il have not had much of g whack at ,
the education thing myself one OF
the players-a man who has been in |
the game for many years-said to me
one day last summer. But I've got /
three daughters and a son. the Oldest |
girl getting on toward Is now; and |
don't you ever believe for a minute /
that I'm not going to give them all