The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1943-08-20
Josh Deuore:s Skill
in Bunting; Dragging
ConMsedHa Chase
BY HARRY GRAYSON
NEA Sports Editor

JONllud H. DtNOIt was llhNlS
man who made a little pay rich
dividends in a jiffy.
The Giants were never out of
the first division with him. won
two pennants and then kicked
him upstairs smack dab into an
other World Series.
Josh Devore should be re-
membered if for no other rea-
son than that he once confused
the daddy of all first basemen,
Hal Chase. Few could bunt and
drag the ball like Devore, and
in a city series between the Gil
ants and Yankees there were &C.
casions when Prince Hal didn't
know whether to field the pei
let and let the pitcher cover or
to leave the pill to the pitcher
and glue his foot 10 the bag,
Devore, the rabbit type. flew
TO first base and after he got
there. He stole 81 bases in 1911,
when the Giants practically
swiped the flag.
Josh was a gambler on and
off the field He always ended
the season flat broke. He d
gamble with all the players and
they always beat him. He loved
TO gamble, but wasn't lucky at
it, He was only lucky as ball
player with hunts and bases on
balls.
Devore was a pert, chirpy,
good-looking little chap with
sandy hair and happy disposi-
ton. He was a lot of fun.
GIANTS LIKED LITTLE RUDE
When the Giants recalled De-
wore from Newark in 1908, the
players regarded him as RUDE,
probably because Of his name,
Joshua, but they liked him, con-
Sldered him a nice little kid.
They resented the fact that John
T. Brush, owner of the Giants,
paid him only Sl75 a month.
Devore got into only one
game with the Giants in 1908 as
a pinch-runner. and was picked
off first base before the umpire
had a chance to announce him.
This was unconstitutional, UNI
fair and illegal because under
the rules he wasn't officially in
the game until he was announc-
ed. Hence he could not have
been put out. He was out, new
ertheleSs.
Josh, out OF Chillicothe, o.,
where he still resides, was the
ideal leadoff man. He was ag-
gressiVe. A left-hand hitter
standing no more than five feet
six. he had the eye of an expert
rifleman, was difficult 10 pitch
to, drew many bases on balls.
He covered the outfield like a
circus tent.
Devore broke into baseball in
1906 at the age of IL He was
working with his brother, Bill,
at Burnett, Ind, when the lat
ter saw an advertisement in a
Terre Haute newspaper that
Guy Sample, manager Of the
Meridian, Miss, club, needed a
sWife left-hand hitting outfield-
or. Sample interviewed the
Devores, but baked at Josh 5
lack of size
His brother put up 500 as a
guarantee that Josh would make
good. Two weeks later, Sample
advised him that he could take
the money down.
Devore played regularly in
two losing World Series with
the Giants-against the Athlet-
les in IL. He struck out eight
times in the II set.
Devore holds one unbroken
record, stealing four bases in
one inning II happened June
II, II, while playing with the
Giants against the Braves. The
Giants scored 10 runs in the
round, Josh singing twice and
stealing second and third both
times. He stole five bases in
that game.
CATCH SAVES SERIES GAME
Josh's biggest thrill came in a
World Series game between the
Giants and Red Sox in IL. The
Giants we're leading, 81, in the
last of the ninth. There were
two down and Red Sox runners
were on second and third. For
est Cady drove a hard line drive
% ,.,r,t cOntor