The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-06
By HANS WAGNER

tering. l had no desire to rob poor Tom of the comfort of dry shirt but
 here was the chance of a lifetime to
 put one over on Hank. I called for the
 ball. walked over to second and tagged Clarke, at the same time calling this
 to the attention of Klem.
 Hank at first did not know what
 was wrong, but I quoted the rule that
 says every player shall be uniformly clad; that uniforms must be identically
 alike as to style, color and lettering
 It was a stumper for Klem and O'Day
 but the out was not called. But made
 them form a circle around second base
 and allow Clarke to change his shirt
 again before he could advance.
 Yet I saw Hank O'Day many years
 before invoke that very rule. Pitts
 burg and New York were playing at
 the old Exposition park in a hard rain.
 Beaumont stood in water above his an-
 kles in center field and we were in our V half of the fifth, a run ahead and Phil lippe pitching.
 The Giants were for calling the
 game, but Hank was disposed to finish
 it if possible. Dummy" Taylor, who
 was working that day, slipped back
 to the clubhouse and borrowed the
 groundkeeper's gum boots. In these
 he appeared on the coaching lines to
 the wild amusement of the sheltered
 crowds, but Hank ran him clear off the
 field.
 |, Umpires hold aloof from ball players
 when not on the field, but they fra
 ternize well in pairs and stop at diff
 ferent hotels from the tosSers. Charley
 Rigler and the veteran Billy Hart were
 a chummy pair, and Rigler had lot
 of fun at the expense of Harts in
 nocence and frugality. It often has
 been a question in my mind whether
 Hart really quit umpiring because of trouble with players or because Of the
 practical jokes played on him by Rig Ter.
 It was Hart's policy to eat his noon
 day lunch in q high stool emporium, !, and one day Rigler told him he might
 just as well eat at the hotel in Pitts burg, as clam chowder and toast was being served that day for 10 cents.
 Hart gladly accepted the tip, but re-
 gretted his proflgate rashness when the waiter slipped him check for 60 1 cents
 Bill was wary of Rigler from that
 time on, but he fell for another of Rig l ler's wiles short time later. Turning to Hart one day in Cincinnati, the Mas l sillon strong man said: Bill ] know good way to save
 money on the trip from New York to , Pittsburg."
 Hart's eyes rolled No squarer or more honorable fellow ever lived, but Bill was for economy first last and 1 all Iue IlIne..
 q can buy the tickets from fellow for $5 and I'll see if I can get you in
 on it."
 "Oh, thanks, Charley" replied Hart. [ Gee, have been paying $14 all along. Rigler mad the groundwork all laid
 before he reached New York. A con , federate came into the hotel and called
 Rigler aside from conversation with his unsuspecting partner,
 MT. Rigler, here is your ticket" said , the bogus railroad man. Five dollars, , please.s aF
 Rigler took the ticket and slipped :, the confederate a S5 bill that pre- viously had been handed Rigler by the stranger. Then they walked to the
 door, leaving Hart staring after them
 In a moment Rigler reappeared fold
 ing the ticket and placing it in the en- i velope.
 Did you attend to me?" asked Hart
 I am,' remarked Rigler Do you . know, I clean forgot about you and that fellows gone back to Jersey City,
 Hart never used cuss words in his
 life, but as he turned and started for
 the elevator he shouted disgustedly: By heck, Charley. you certainly are
 a bum partner"
 ANOTHER RICH ONE Pat flaherty, the veteran left-handed } pitcher, once told me of a rich umpir ing incident that happened in China ' during a world baseball tour about 15 years ago. So as to maintain strict
 neutrality, the two teams picked on , an English editor for umpiring duties. This scribe knew enough about the American game to officiate. and he had written some slowing articles about | preceding contests. F1aherty had pitched several of them and had sent clippings containing the glowing &C.,
 counts to his family in old Carnegie, U. S. A.
 This particular game with the com | bination scribe official scorer umpire } officiating went 15 innings to a 0-0
 score when the players themselves quit l on account of darkness. Flaherty pro- cured the Englishmans paper the next ; morning, prepared to mail the write-up of his greatest achievement of the trip. But there wasn't a line to be found on any of the pages
 That afternoon Flaherty accosted the
 editor and demanded why he had not } published an account of the game. Game, nothin'," sneered the Briton.
 Why, there wasn't any game, since 5 you didn't score any runs. What was there to print?"
 7 Empires are not perfect, but they
 often are objects of silly charges. Sim : ply because Hank O'Day is native uI the west sue, tnefe nave often been
 foolish accusations made that he fa- . vored Chicago. But I am going to cite , at least one instance which disproves s that kind of talk and establishes
 Hanks fearlessness right in his home f stronghold.
 One Sunday early in 1909, our cham , p1onship year, we were a run behind l with two men out in the ninth and
 runners on third and second. Miner $ Brown was pitching and he had me two g and two. A beautiful curve ball al- I most cut the plate and, though not quite over it, could have been called f the third strike and ended the game. . It flashed across my mind in an in 9 stant that Brownie had fooled me- But : O'Day, amid the wild din from his
 West Side friends, called it a ball. I : hit the next one for two bases and won
 the game
 That game was important for us, as
 1t gave us the "break'' in the series
 and, in fact, during the rest of the
 season. We won the series, and
 think that the Cubs won only one game
 from us on the home grounds that year
 Drawing the line strictly, O'Day did not
 make mistake But Brownies curve
 was beauty, and took its course
 where he had intended Had it been
 called a strike. I would have accepted