Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-20
R Y
BLACKLISTED
Some Inside Stuff Learned by Mr. Bggs and the Situation IN
Leooue-JVith Incidental Remarks About one Jin,mv
Dougherty the "FIea"
BY CHARLES E. VAN LOAN

writer OF Baseball Fiction.
! was a left-hander, and the weakest i
ter that ever nollered on a strike hs,
HIS hating average for the season NJ.
ABOUT as big as his collar-fourteen an
three-quarters. Any time he eot n y
II was customary TO give three obeas.
Here is where the TitusvilIe taa.
was strong-they were every lac, S
OF 'em fielders, and they could run tl
bases. Their fielding held our saosl u
down, and they could go out and ~.
runs on nothing. The way those b,s,
would hang around the plate and yrni
and wait for four balls was enough ,
give you the willies. All tbev a
asked was chance to get on arst ~
and they didn't give a hoot how ,bs
got there, either. Even the Mn CI,,
boys could outhit EN-, but Won ~.
always tell by a clubs batting nvos.n
where It will finish in the race ~
those Titusville burglars had tho t,aa,
of getting runs over tine plate. It's ~,
runs that count, no matter how theysr
made. ''
The best man they had, and the On,
who made 'em dangerous and tonek y
beat. was Jimmy Dougherty-"the ETsa
| claim that Jimmy would be a star +,
any club In the country, and tho nti,
thing that keeps him out of tho bi.
league is his size-that and the siza y
his batting average. He's little. Jinro,
ls-about the littlest man that svs,
played ball, / reckon. He weighs aronni
a hundred pounds. There amt anvthin,
to him but his nerve and his slldln,
pads Yes, and his tongue. He's go
line of conversation thatm bllsfs,
fresh paint.
Jimmy led Off in the batting orAer
and because he was so darned little h,
was hard man to pitch to. He ,nad,
1t a heap harder by using a crouch ana
crowding on top of the plate. A ma,
might as well try to pitch to mosauito
Jimmy Dougherty was the shortest mar
between the shoulders and the knee,
that you most ever saw.
He'd work you for a base on hall.
every other time up, and If he couldn,,
do that he would manage to get himsel,
hit by a pitched ball. I've soaked thai
little devil hard enough to up-end 4
cigar-store Indian; 1t never had no a..
feet on him whatever except maybe "a
loosen UP his tongue some Then. Il
he couldn't seem to do anything elsa
he'd dump the ball down in front of the
plate, and beat 1t to first base by 4
nose. That's how he come to have bat
ting average of two-thirteen last season.
infield 10 times all year.
It was when the little rat got down
to first base that the real circus began.
Everybody called him the Flea, and a
mighty good name for him, too You
can't outguess flea, can you? And you
never know how to go about double.
crossing one. Most generally all YOU
know about a flea is that he's on his
way somewhere, biting you at every
jump, and jumping when you don't ex.
pect him to.
anu 80 a.
and nail him at first with throw to Ike
Small-bless you, that was just wha.
Jimmy wanted you to do. He'd monkey
around there with his petty larceny lead
until you'd make a low throw. or Ike
would let one through him, and then
zingi you couldn't see him for dust.
Then there was only one thing left to do
to get the ball and heave 1t one base
ahead of where you'd think he rightly
ought to stop and pray for luck.
CONTINUED TOMORROW,