The Washington herald., 1920-10-07


tapping overcoats. Some of these
men are doubtless staid business
men of the borough of Brooklyn.
forgetting their business cares for
an afternoon.
They catch up to Zack Wheat, the
Brooklyn lefthelder, and several
other players, and slap them on
their backs, and yell in their ears.
Baseball is very intimate AFFAIR
in Brooklyn. 1t is like baseball in
a small town. The Brooklyn fans
know the Brooklyn players person
ally. and call them by their f1rst
names, and are very familiar with
them generally.
The Brooklyn fan esteems it his
privilege to deride his home town
ball players when they make mis-
takes. but the Brooklyn fan bitterly
resents an outsider saying anything
about them.
Near Fight is Seen.
\ scuffle which might be a fight
but for the presence of 4 stalwart
roIicrman in the seats back of the
press stand between an excited
airUUkIyn man wearing spectacles
and a Cleveland rOOter with PEN
nant on cane.
IT'S 4 cheese club, is it," bawls
IN" Brooklyn man. mis- spectacies
slipping far down on his nose.
- said so Yesterday
Sixteen year old Walter Curley.
=Ja uT Eddie Curley, the sporting
writer. who occupies his fathers
seat today. gazes Indignantly at the
Cleveland man.
Walter is Brooklyn reared. and
the hearts Of all Brooklyn boys areS
h11 n
NiousIy. il is a species Of heresy IN
walters mind to refer slightingly
TO the Dodgers.
The Clevelander disappears.
There are not many Clevelanders
here but they carry pennants and
make much noise. One of them
a brOker-IOOking man in soft nat
and horn speCs-has megaphone
which devastates silence for yards
around him.
Brooklyn Fan GlOats-
The crowd behind him has lot
of fun deriding him today. Yes
terday. with Cleveland winning. his
voice was heard in the land.
shut up. you're dead hOwled
a BrookIvn roOter when the Cleve-
land citizen endeavOTs to shout
parting message OF sympathy to
the cleveland ball players.
o The vanguard of the rush across
the field tries to reach Burleigh
Grimes. He is the Brooklyn pitch
.er whose artfUl work today is the
4chief contribution to BrOOklyn's
triumph.
Grimes is stopped by the jam at
the hatchway y special policeman
,ruthIessly shOves small boys and
Nr,rD alike back and the pitcher gets
ArOugh.
tGrimeA is a town hero just now.
These baseball series make and un-
make heroes of baseball kind
Very rapidly The people just now
IRE anxious to shake his hand and
tell him he is a great pitcher.
OF course pitcher, however
great. cannot alone and unaided
win a baseball game. Yet without
"a good pitcher a ball club can
rarely win. 1t is the combination
of effort that makes success In
baseball as in nearly everything
else.
wheat and Griffith, Also Heroes.
Wheat. a Missourian. with Indian
Blood in his veins, and Tom Grit
nth. a stOdgy OhiOan. slow Of foot
hut mighty with a baseball bat, hit
in the runs behind Grimes pitch
ing today. They. too, are town
heroes.
The beat James Bagby, the
cleveland pitcher, and a star in the
American League, as any small
boy can tell you.
Grimes is a bulky fellow, not tall.
His opponent today, Bagby, is lonS
and sinewy. like an Indian runner.
Grimes has big. thick legs like
piano.
N~He is a spitball pitcher. He moist
ems the ball with saliva before de-
iivering it. Or at least he always
putS the ball to his mouth. shield
ing il with his gloved hand. Base
ball people say he hides it thus to
keep the batter from knowing
whether he is wetting the ball or
not.
Burleigh Grimes is one of the
exempted spitbaII pitchers. He won
many games for Wilbert Robinson
and the Brooklyn club this season.
Baseball men say his reputation is
secure if it rests only on his ac-
'compIishments this afternoon.
Crowds Humor Changes.
Certainly he sends this crowd
away in a different humor from yes
these premises chilled and silent.
Now they go with much shouting.
1t is a different day all around,
anyway. There is more enthusiasm
from the start 1t is still a little
cold. But the sun comes out in the
second inning and lights up the field
as if some one had run up a win
dow shade in a dark room.
Tommy Connolly, the American
League umpire. goes behind the
plate, his chest protector tucked
under his chin. and the straps criss-
crossed his back like adhesive tape
Hank ODay, the National League
umpire, and dour man. is sta
toned at first. KLEIN, the shrin
voiced. at third. and Dineen, big
and silent. back of second.
The game starts.
Grimes is a swaggery fellow in
the box. He bitches his trousers
frequently. and swings his arms
wide as he pitches. Nothing of i'm
portance happens in the Cleveland
side of the hrst inning. The Brook |
lyn club now comes to bat, and the |
story Of this inning is the story of
the game, so far as the final result !
Is concerned.
Ivan Olson is first From high
up in the stand back of third base |
comes a shrek that is familiar to |
all Brooklyn fans:
Hit i'm on the nose, Ivy"'
Olson is an easy out, on a pop