The Connecticut labor news. (New Haven, Conn.) 1921-1925, 1921-04-15
A Ball of Yarn
It's UnwindinB
By ROBERT RUDD WHITING
THE BRAWNY BATSMAN.

" x x * But as | was about to re-
mark" said Landlord Little of the Man
sion House, when I played on the
famous Lightfoot Lilies, we had
catcher that | think would have made
mighty good football player. He was
the strongest man [ ever laid eyes on.
And, unlike the ordinary circus man, he
combined his Drawn with brains
Continuing the landlord unWound the
yarn of the Brawny Batsman:
Il can see Bull Thompson as if he
we're standing behind the plate now. AS
the batter would face the pitcher, the Bull
would straighten UP and draw in his
breath until he was red in the face.
Then, pop! would go the top button
off his shirt, and while the batter was
rubbing the back of his neck and Won
dering what in Jones County had struck
him, Dean Braley, our pitcher, would
shoot the bali over for as pretty strike
as ever split the plate. Some chest ex-
pansion had big Bull Thompson.
And bat? Why, say, that man used
to hit so everlastingly far, that if the
people over the State line hadn't been
jealous of our nine, they'd have made
our opponents take out extradition papers
before they'd let em field the ball back.
But the Bulls smuggling wasn't as
advantageous to the Lilies as you might
suppose. He soon acquired such a repu
tatiOn with teams throughout that part
of the country that the instant the bats
man preceding him had been disposed of,
! the outhelders would take it on the run
for the Furthermore ruff1es on the out
skirts of the city In that way, with
slow pitcher and good start. they were
,ust as apt as not to get there in time
to nab the Bulls hits.
"Sometimes the Buff tried to vary his
herculean sWipes with an occasional
well-placed bunt to center-feld. Such
restraint of muscle, however, was little
to his liking, and he sought for other
to stand waist deep in the horizon await
ing his long ones.
AT last he solved the problem. In
stead of driving the ball out over the
diamond, he hit upon the plan of swing
ing his bat down on it and driving it
onto the home plate.
"When he did this, the ball, under the
impetus of his mighty blow, would re-
bound from the plate to such a height
that before it came to earth again he'd
have ample time to reach first base and
sometimes even second.
That was a stunt for you! They
couldn't field him out, because the ball
was in the air, and they couldn't hope to
catch him out because it had got there
on first bounce.
iii never as long as I live forget the
way he foxed the redoubtable Ringtail
ROarers with that stunt
"A mean, drilling rain that had been
falling all morning made the diamond
Soggy and slow when the big game, was
called but the thousands that had driven
in from every corner of the State put
postpOnement out of the question.
The first time at bat, the Bull let
drive for one of his long ones over cen
ter Old Doc Quackenbush, who was
umpiring, trained his fie1d-glasses on it
and finally diagnosed the runner out, 20
seconds after the ball had left his bat.
'In the fourth, with Slugger Burrows,
the Lily captain, on third, the Bull re-
sorted to his new trick and basted the
ball down against the plate with force
that bounced it high enough to enable
the Slugger to score.
In the seventh, a similar plate bound
er, only higher, brought in two runs.
The Roarers' outhelders were still
playing deep, as there was no telling
when the Bull would take it into his
head to shift tactics and WallOp out one
Of his long shots.
On fact, it took them so long to get
III from their positions after the Bull
had been at bat that the game was de-
layed considerably.
"When Bull Thompson came to bat
in the last half Of the ninth you could
have heard a snowflake fall. The score
stood 6-3 in favor Of the Roarers, the
Lilies had the bases full, and two were
out.
'What would the Bull do? Driving
the ball against the plate for 5O-foot
bounce was sure to be good for a hit,
but that would only bring in two men
at the most, which would leave the Roar
ers still one run to the good, and Jim
Timpson, the next man up, was almost
sure out.
"On the other hand, the Roarers' field
crs were back beyond the town limits
waiting expectantly for one of the Bulls
long ones What would the Bull do?
ICY Priest, the Roarers' pitcher, drew
his arm back, and a second later the ball
was sailing square over the plate.
"DoWn Whizzed the Bulls bat on it
like a maternal slipper descending upon
a Wayward son, and-Wlack!
The Bull was off like a flash for
first and the man on third was tearing
home,