Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-06-26

N Y FATHER, who Is close to 60,
W4 used to play baseball when he
was youngster," said St. Louis fan
to several of his friends as they sat
talking about the game of the day, so
when he came to the city to visit US
recently I took him out to see the
Cardinals play the Pirates.
II bowed myself for couple Of box
seats right down in front and we sat
down to enjoy the game. Dad was
quiet at first and showed little inter-
ct az I pointed o9t Hans Wagner,
Pred Clarke. Tommy Leach, Roger
Breanahan and some of the other celeb
rites. Finally Bresnahan came near
our box TO warm up one Of the pitch
ers. As he took his position and
caught the first ball thrown dad gave
grunt Of disgust.
Whats that thing he's got on his
left hand?' asked the old gentleman, a
look of contempt on his face
why that's the catcher's mit,' !
told him.
"'Catcher's NIT, eh. Well, we didn't
war any such things as that when we
played ball In my day. remarked ia.
Their. Look at my two little fingers
now. I got those broken. and had my
others out of joint many time when
l was a catcher The governors fin-
gers sure did loolF as if they'd been
through the mill"
And this reminds US that it was in
1883 that Arthur Irwin, playing short
stop for Providence, broke the third
and fourth fingers Of his left hand and
revolutionized the fielding game.
Then a club was team, not two or
three teams. They entered the strug-
gle with ten, or, at the most, eleven
men-a full team and one or two sub
stitutes. If there were two pitchers
the one not in the box served as an
outflelder.
A man took day OF only for Sc
rlous cause. so irwin, star fnfielder,
had to devise some way of beating his
injuries. He consulted a glover. They
took a buckskin driving glove, many
sizes too large, padded it, made fas-
tening at the back and sewed the
third and fourth fingers together to
make room for bandages. The crowd,
Irwin knew, would forgive him be-
cause of his mangled condition.
From the first time he took a
grounder with that glove he noticed
that he could meet" the ball solidly.
He did not have to lease off, and he
could get away his throw quicker
than any other man on the infield.
John Montgomery Ward of the New
York team observed this. With monu-
mental moral courage he got a glove
like Twins and used 1t in a game. No
one hooted him for his cowardice.
Within two weeks after Irwin and
Ward first took their gloves around
the circuit a sporting goods firm had
order from professionals for a hun
dred like them.
In one respect the improvement
came in the very nick of time. In
1891, after long years of experiment
and argument, the pitchers had got
their liberty. They could now throw
the ball overland and free-armed.
Having q box to get running start
and shorter line to the plate than at
present, they developed unprecedented
speed. It needed more catchers than
pitchers for f1rst-class team, so hard
was this delivery on hands. The
catchers took up the newfangled glove
with enthusiasm. Manufacturers made
them larger and larger; but still the
fingered glove did not quite serve the
purpose.
Bill Burns. late of the Chicago Sox.
now with the Cincinnati Reds, is a
globe trotter. He lives in Central
Texas and he has Played ball in Cali.