The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-04
head or in the ribs usually had the de-
When Rusie Jolted Jennings

one of the most famous and fearful of
head hitting was that of Hugh Jennings,
now manager of the Detroit club, by
Amos Rusie, the most wonderful of all
men that ever curved a baseball. Jen-
nings, with Baltimore then, was noted for
his close hugging of the plate and his
Willingness to accept a base by being hit
By the pitcher. He relied upon his quick
ness of eye to minimize the effect of the
blow.
Rusie had a fearful curve ball. Jen-
nings was willing to turn his shoulder,
accept a DETECTING blow or let it hit his
shirt front or the slack of his knicker-
bockers He could do this with pitchers
of average curve, but Rusies curve was
too sharp in the break and too fast for
him to avoid. Jennings stood close and
got one full in the head.
He fell fiat. For four days his life was
despaired of, but a powerful constitution
pulled him through. though he never was
the same nervy man again at the plate
and it was months before he could play
Jennings. by the way, Is something like
Katisha, the character woman in Gilbert
and Sullivans famous opera, 1.-The Mika-
do" He has a "caricature of a face"
When coach Of Cornell baseball team he
dived face first against the concrete bot
tom of an empty swimming tank. 1t Is
not easy to imagine anything more trying
on the face than this. No wonder the
crack hustler of baseball has a patched
put-together and made-over visage The
man is marvel of vitality and energy
He sustained two shocks that would have
killed the averaU man. yet he is as full
of energy as a dynamo today
Hit In the Head
Roderiek Wallace, the famous infelder
of the Browns, had his batting efficiency
seriously and permanently impaired IL
years ago when he was hit in the head
by a ball thrown by Chick Frazer, who
was then with the Louisville club. Wal
lace was laid out for dead and it was
many days before he went to bat again
constitution of iron enabled him to
Withstand the shock, but he never was
quite the same hitter afterward.
Dan Hoffman, the center fielder Of the
Browns, was the victim of a fearful blow
at the hand of Jesse Tannehil, then with
Boston, some years ago. Hoffman was at
the time deemed the most promising
young player in the American league
He was having his first season. and a
most brilliant one 1t was. One day he
made triple. a double and single off
Tannehill In three trips to the plate. The
fourth time UP Tannehill hit him a fear
full blow over the right eye. The optic
was driven out on the cheek. 1t almost
killed the trained and muscular young
athlete Hoffman lay as II dead, and
it was four days before he recovered con-
seriousness. Then his nerves were ruined.
From 40 pounds he declined to 128. He
could not sleep or eat for six months, and
the following season saw him play with
but one eye to see. Hoffman says that
ii has taken him six years to get back his
full strength. He has never been able
to hit left-handed pitchers since that aw-
full day Now, six years after, Hoffman
Is at the mercy of the average left
handed pitcher. That fearful blow for
ever has ruined him of his value as a
baseball player. From a man who hit
left-handed pitchers with freedom and
ease he is usually taken out of the game
when a left-hander is pitching against
his team. Tannehill, who hit him, is a
left-hander.
Hoffman has never forgiven Tannehill
for hitting him. He says 1t was done
with malice aforethought. because he had
been hitting the pitcher hard during the
game.
Johnnie Lush, the star pitcher of the
Cardinals, was hit by Andy Coakey on
the neck and all but killed. His neck has
never been straight since that time and
for years his health was so impaired by
the awful shock that he felt that he was
degenerating into a consumptive.
Bresnahan Of the Cardinals was hit and
severely hurt by Jack Taylor, in 1904. For
a long time after this injury Bresnahan