The Washington times., 1912-07-15
Climbers Have Both Ex-
tremes-Quiet, Nervous,
and Humorous.
By SENATOR"

What kind of a fellow is Kid Foster
off the field?"
What sort of a chap is Danny
Moeller?"
is Bob Groom a joker among his
fellow w-players?"
These questions, and many similar,
have been shot at the writer ever since
his friends have found that he knew
the Climbers. Indeed, 1t seems that all
fans are interested in the characteris-
tics of their baseball heroes off the
field. 1t Is the "off the field stun that
holds the greatest interest for the fan.
There Is no type If baseball player.
In the old days football players were
supposed to wear their hair long, ito
protect their brains in the s 'r!mmage."
Professional baseball players were SUP
posed to be a little rough. showing o
snght swagger IN thei: gait. a la Mique
DonIn. But those old-time beliefs have
vanished. There IS 10 type for either
line OF athletic ei;dcavor.
Have Both Extremes.
The Climbers have both extremes
soft-speaking Dan Moeller and the nerv-
Gus. energetic. loud-voiced E. "Dorf"
Ainsmith. There is the quantity hum
orous Eddie Foster, laughing at the
back of his eyes all the time, There is
the boyish. virile lad from Baltimore,
Ray Morgan. care less and happy. There
Is the serious s-minded Alva Williams,
thinking of the future. There is the
lover OF the country, its growing fields
or corn. the sound of cows in the pas
ture, OF prize chickens in the yard and
the creaklng of the pump handle, in
other words, Walter Johnson. Then
there Is the lover OF the city with its
q de. -
and its rush. or Herman Schaefer apd
Tom Hughes
Indeed, baseball has caught in its net
healthy young men from everywhere,
Doys from the country and boys from
the city, some from the colleges and
some from the farm, and the Climbers
are just ordinary baseball players,
young Americans filled to the brim with
the love OF an outdoor life and yet diff
fering from each other in subtle ways
not Immediately seen on the surface.
Moeller the Silent.
Seldom is Danny Moeller heard to
speak out loud. His stolid German char
acterlstlcs stick out all over him. He
likes a game of billiards, but he prefers
TO play with single partner in an
otherwise empty billiard hall He likes
to take short strolls in the cities visited
py the team, just looking at things, be-
ing great believer in the good resu''s
OF observa tion. He is always cnr--. and
self Vi "''ii
Eddie Foster is another quiet member
OF the Climbers When the team is on
Lhe ROAD he is seldom seen about the
notel; he browses around among his
tTlenos, Just arriving home to escape the
Srltnth wrath for being late. He likes
TO play sly little jokes on his teammates,
especially Tom Hughes and "TilIie"
walker. Usually he Is camped behind a
cigar as big as himself. blowing torna-
does OF smoke into the air. He's a Pc
cuIlar little cuss, is "Fateem"
Barney Pelty Is another silent member
OF the team usually spending his spare
moments deep in the realms of 1nance
as practlced In Missouri. his home State.
The Nervous Lads.
The lively, energetic, nervous lads are
+. "Dorf' Ainsmith, "TilIie" Walker,
and Ray Morgan. Always moving
around, general making a noise, these
youngsters are generally the life of the
bunch when the team is on the road.
Ainsmith likes to hammer one on the
back to see him lose his chewing gum.
Morgan likes to sing and do a jig~step
walker likes to make a noise and run
around and run around again. And
when Il. ''Dorf" starts one of his roar
Ing ditties picked up fresh from the lat
est .muSic hall-well, nobody stays
around that place any longer than abso-
lutely necessary.
Walter johnson and his soulmate,
Leo' Milan, are of the quiet, self ef-
facing type. They are generally to-