The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-07-23
THEY PLAYED THE GAME . . NO. AZ
Mack Half Of Shadow Battery;
Got Most Out Of What He Had;
Was An Expert At Bot Tipping
Forty-second of a series
By HARRY GRAYSON
(NEA Sports Editor

Cornelius McGillicuddy will go
down in baseball history as the
granddaddy of managers. People
forget that he was quite catcher
who got the most out of what he
had.
Connie Mack - the name was
shortened SO that it would fit on
a scorecard-stepped out OF a shoe
factory when the East Brookfeld
team, with which he played, won
the championship of central Massa-
chusetts in 1883.
He was % when he signed his
first professional contract, stood
six feet four-weighed no more
than $50 pounds. They called him
Stats"
Old Hoss Radbourne was the
great pitcher the year Mack began.
In those days, the pitcher stood only
As feet from the plate and the
catcher stood far behind until the
last strike
He didn't wear chest protector.
The chest protector came in when
Mack moved from Hartford of the
Eastern league to the Washington
Nationals in '86. The catcher'S mitt
was an ordinary kid glove with the
fingers amputated. He was the only
man on the club who wore anything
on his hand.
Pitchers were allowed eight balls
and the batter five strikes. The
batter was out if a foul ball was
caught on the bounce. At first the
pitcher had to throw underhand,
release the ball below the waist.
The batter could ask for either a
high or low ball. 1t made for big
scores. When the pitcher was per-
mitted to change his delivery, he
began to throw overland and the
box was moved back to 60 feet.
GILMORE AND MACK
Then the pitcher began trying to
fool the batter by soiling the ball,
splitting on it or rubbing one side
of it with emery paper, which made
it take unexpected curves. That
gave the pitcher the ulge. They
had to put stop to such practices
or games would have gone on
forever with strings of goose eggs.
Clubs didn't own their own fields.
Players cut the grass around their
positions with mowers.
There were no regular umpires.
Those who acted as such were al
most afraid to open their mouths
Mack saw umpires chased off the
field beaten up.
Gilmore and Mack gained fame
as the Hartford Battery. Gilmore
refused to sign with Washington
unless his catcher accompanied
him. Gilmore famed more than
300 batters in the Eastern league
where Mack also played the in
field. Mack hit timely and was the
finest fielding catcher in the circuit
They were both so tall and thin
that Manager Mike Scanlon dubbed
them the Shadow Battery, and the
monicker stuck. Pitching to Mack
Gilmore struck out II in shutting
out Kansas City, 10, with one hit
and lost So, although he struck
out 16 members of the st. Louis
club, September %, SO.
They finished up with Washing
ton that year. Mack hit SO in II
games. Never was there battery
which launched a big league career
in such dazzling fashion. While
with Washington, Mack also caught
Hank O'Day.
HIGH FOR COMPLETE GAMES
Tall and gentlemanly Mack was
an expert at bat tipping when his
pitcher was in a hole. He was al
ways apologizing in that soft way
He was a smart backStop.
Mack was assigned to the But
falo club of the Brotherhood Play
ers' league in go, setting a record
for the time by working in lis
complete contests.
In "a, he succeeded AL Bucken-
berger as the Pittsburgh manager
and has been at it ever since. A
brogen leg, suffered when Herman
ongf plunged into him at the plate
in 93, hastened the end of his ca
reer as an active combatant. He
caught his last game-for Pitts
| burgh, in '96.
In 664 games he caught in the
majors, he had 842 assists. He
| had a remarkable arm.
Connie Mack's record doesn't look
too impressive on paper, but he was
the kind of a ball player he's been
seeking ever since.
NEXT: Jimmy Collins set the
style for third basemen.