Evening star., 1925-10-13
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES z. TRACEWELL.

Those who attend q world series via
radio get a great kick out Of the
names and nicknames of the players
especially If the listeners are interest
ed in the English language as she is
writ" and spoke"
This is q special attra ction, it seems
to me. that cannot be realized by the
out-and-out base ball Fan" the man
who knows every detail In the per
sOnal histories Of the contenders, and
always speaks Of them by their first
name.
Such Il man, while missing nothing
in q base ball sense. Is apt to lose
something Of the flavor of name.
through his very familiarity with
them.
To the man or woman, however
who has a greater interest In our in
comparable language than he has IL
our great national sport, the monick
ers given base ball players have &
felicity that Is part Of our tongue.
"Stuffy" McInnis.
There is IA mouthful for you, /.
there ever was one, There Is genius
In that first name. Just what "Stuf
fy" means. or how he got 1t, perhap
any l2year-old boy can tell you, bu
1t is beyond Inc. / only know it !.
picturesque to degree.
When "Stuffy" McInnis came to tn.
bat we had visions of great doings
and If they did not come about. surely
1t was no fault of the veteran frs
sacker OF the Pirates, who has par.
tictpated In six or seven world series
"Stuffy" McInnis ought to be In a
least n dozen world championship
contests, II for no other reason than
that he carries around with him tha
wonderful name.
Y =
The fan" on The field is wholly en-
crossed with the game. but the fan
at home takes In the delicious flavor
OF names with full gusto. He may al
low his mind TO wander from the dia
mond while he thinks for a few sec
onds of the dire day when he mus:
start the furnace
Goose Goslin is coming TO bat,
hurls out OF the so-called ether.
There you have another stroke OF
genius. II Is safe bet that only
our own American language could
evolve such a combination as that
The very name Goslin has in II some
thing of magic, but the placing OF
Goose" in front Of II was sheer bril-
lance.
Goose Goslin' is perfect in It's way
as II combines ALTERATION, which, de
spite the sneers of the critics, still
holds a tremendous kick" for all Eng
disappearing peoples. Write some
thing with every word in 1t beginning
with ''h" and you will win d prize
The very ordinary name Of Joe
Judge, for instance. becomes something
20 conjure with on account Of tho
rhyming qualities or those two "J's.
Washington's popular first basemar
owes something Of his popularity. un
doubtedly. to the fetching colnbina
ton Of joe and Judge"
Words are things. and exert an ap
peal only appreciahle to those who
have worked with them, and who love
them. \ rose by any other name
might be as sweet. but a base bal
player-never.
What d vision of power We get wher
the name Pic" Traynor skips into
our ears. Most Of the papers print II
Pie although some use 'Pi." II
the former is correct, we. who are not
so base ball wise think he must have
great appetite for New England
favor!te dessert.
Perhaps il was entirely unnecessary
but when that name Nsaluted US, we
Immediately thought OF a great fellow
eating whole pies at time.
On the other hand, We speculatec
with the spelling "Pi" according to tht
classic model, and were compelled &c
picture either a printer 'pi-ing" type
linking It up) or member Of a Greek