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Diamond Days, Bologna (2025)

11/11/2025

A Baseball Biography from SABR BioProject

Introducing Stan Musial, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals! What? Hall of Famer Stan Musial began his professional baseball career as a 17-year-old pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, going 6-6 in 1938 with the Class-D Williamson (West Virginia) Colts in the Mountain State League. Two years later, having graduated from high school, he played his first full season, posting a stellar 18-5 record with a robust 2.62 ERA in 223 while also playing in the outfield, batting .311, but with just one home run in 405 at-bats with Dayton Beach, a class-D club in the Florida State League. In early August of that season, he suffered a career-altering injury to his shoulder while fielding a fly ball in the outfield. That injury ended his career as a pitcher, but provided a new opportunity. After batting a combined .359 and slugging .626 on the class-D and then AA levels in 1941, the 21-year-old Musial was a September call-up with the Cardinals, batting .426 on 20 hits. The following season he finished third in the NL in batting (.315) and fourth in slugging (.490), helping the Redbirds to their first of three straight pennants and establishing himself as one of the best players in baseball.

11/11/2025

Featured Story by Author Ronald T. Waldo

Throughout the first 14 years of the twentieth century, two baseball powerhouses exhibited animosity at times toward one another as they battled for diamond supremacy in the National League. Antagonistic behavior certainly happened during the Deadball Era when the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants competed against each other. During that time, the Pirates, managed by outfielder Fred Clarke, claimed National League flags in 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1909. Under skipper John McGraw’s leadership, New York won the league’s pennant in 1904, 1905, and from 1911 through 1913. Of course, Frank Chance’s Chicago Cubs also deserve mention for capturing the bunting four times during that period.

Success happened to be cluttered at times with pitfalls for Clarke and McGraw. Although both managers could be taskmasters, they also possessed an instinctive ability to get across a point using sardonic wit and a sarcastic approach. In 1912, Pittsburgh finished second in the race behind the Giants. One day that season, prior to a contest on Forbes Field’s home grounds, Fred lamented the excessive wildness of his pitchers. Joining in the conversation, Pirates outfielder Max Carey mentioned that Cubs outer gardener Samuel James “Jimmy” Sheckard had led the National League by drawing 147 walks in 1911.

“Yes,” replied Fred Clarke, “and I’ll bet a hat that he made 100 off our pitchers.”

During this discussion, one of Forbes Field’s groundskeepers walked near the dugout to examine a wooden post at one end of the concrete bench. Nervous Pittsburgh players had chopped the post into an unsightly shape due to smacking it with their bats.

“Mr. Clarke,” asked the groundskeeper politely, “can you tell me how that post got in such condition?”

“Why, yes,” replied Clarke. “Every time these pitchers give a base on balls I bite a chunk out of it.”

Oh, those bases on balls have driven manager’s crazy for more than a century. This also happened to be the case for Giants manager John McGraw in 1913. On May 22 of that year, McGraw swung a deal with Cincinnati, shipping hurler Leon “Red” Ames, third baseman Henry “Heinie” Groh, and outfielder Joshua “Josh” Devore, to the Reds for pitcher Arthur “Art” Fromme. Upon joining New York, Art suffered from a minor problem with his feet.

Unfortunately, Fromme’s feet became yellow and calloused. Each day, after dressing in his uniform before walking out to the diamond, Art liberally painted his pedes with iodine. One afternoon, the Giants’ skipper was in a bind when it came to needing an available starter for that game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. When Fromme looked sharp warming up during practice, John asked the hurler what he thought about working in the contest.

“Me?” replied Fromme. “Why, say, I’ll hold these guys to two hits today.”

Art pitched very well in the first few innings before he imploded. In an ensuing frame, Fromme issued two walks and plunked one of Pittsburgh’s batters to load the bases. Pirates’ shortstop John “Honus” Wagner stepped up to the plate and promptly blasted Art’s first offering for a double. Seeing enough, John McGraw frantically rushed out to the baseline and motioned Fromme to leave the mound for another Giants’ pitcher. When Art reached the bench, McGraw turned toward his player and offered a sarcastic remark.

“So you paint your feet to keep then from getting yellow, do you?” gruffly asked McGraw. “Say, go in the clubhouse and paint a ring of iodine around your neck.”

Classic lines from Fred Clarke and John McGraw, two of the biggest icons that performed during baseball’s Deadball Era. Pitchers, issuing those nasty bases-on-balls, certainly drove managers to make interesting comments during their time of mental anguish.

-Author Ronald T. Waldo

11/11/2025

How Times Have Changed!

Stan Musial Insists the Cardinals Cut His Salary From $100,000 to $80,000!

"Stan Musial is a better player than Joe DiMaggio was in his prime." -Ty Cobb speaking of Stan Musial in 1952.

"Cobb is baseball's greatest. I don't want to contradict him, but I can't say that I was ever as good as Joe DiMaggio." - Stan Musial replying to Ty Cobb's compliment, with his usual modesty.

Here's one I could categorize a couple different ways. It could go into "It'll Never Happen Again," or even "My...How the Game Has Changed!"

I discovered yesterday that back on January 21, 1960, 63 years ago yesterday, in the era before high-powered agents, the great Stan Musial actually voluntarily requested that the Cardinals cut his salary for the upcoming season from $100,000 to $80,000! After all, the 39-year-old Redbird star hit only .255 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs in 1959, admittedly an off-year for him, and he felt he hadn't lived up to his end of the bargain. But requesting a pay cut? Unheard of! Stan was undoubtedly at the tail end of his great career, but he was far from done. After a couple more mediocre (for him) seasons, he bounced back with a .330/19/82 season in 1962.

Can you even imagine any of today's multi-millionaire prima donnas doing something similar? Don't forget we're in an era where the Cubs recently offered a $17 million contract to a player who hit .210 last year! (OK...admittedly he was injured).

Of course, this gives me a chance to say a few words about one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.

Stan Highly Underrated!

Some think Frank Robinson was the most underrated player in baseball history. That may be true, but if so, then Stan Musial must be a close second. His career stats are staggering. A couple years ago I featured Stan Musial’s 1946 season as one of the best ever. Thanks to one of our readers for pointing out that his 1948 season may have even been better. Both were "off the charts," but I'll let you decide for yourself which was the best.

(In the featured photo above, we see Stan at the plate in a beautiful colorization by our resident baseball artist, Don Stokes)

Stan Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals (1941-’45) and (1946–’63) Over his career, he hit .331, currently twenty-fifth all-time. At the time of his retirement, Stan held National League records for career hits (3,630, currently fourth all-time, with 1815 at home and 1815 on the road); RBIs (1,951, sixth all-time); runs (1,949, ninth all-time); doubles (725, third all-time), total bases (6,134, second all-time), and extra-base hits (1,277, third all-time). His 475 career home runs at retirement ranked second in National League history behind Mel Ott (511). Had his career not been interrupted by military service, he probably would be a member of the 500 Home Run club.

Stan won seven National League batting titles and two RBI titles. He had a .417 career on-base percentage, and a .599 slugging average. His 159 OPS+ mark places him among the all-time greats. He won three National League MVP awards and led the Cardinals to three World Series championships (1942, ’44, and ’46). He shares the major league record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

Stan's Great 1946 Season...

In 1946, Musial led the National League in most offensive categories, including batting average (.365) runs (124), hits (228), doubles (50), triples (20), total bases (366), OBP (.434), and slugging (.587), to go with 16 home runs and 103 RBIs, winning his second National League MVP award. He led the Cardinals to their third pennant in five years and the 1946 World Series championship. It would be hard to top a season like this. However...
..Could 1948 Have Been Even Better?

In 1948, Musial again led the National League in virtually every offensive category. But what made this season so historically significant was that his lead in most of the categories was by huge margins: Batting average (.376, 43 points higher than second-place finisher), hits (230, 40 higher), runs (135, 18 higher), doubles (46, six higher), triples (18, six higher), RBIs (131, six higher), OBP (.450, 27 points higher), slugging average (.702, 138 points higher), extra-base hits (103, 28 higher), and total bases (429, 113 higher). In 611 at-bats, Musial struck out only 34 times. His 39 home runs, a career-high, left him just one short of league-leaders Johnny Mize and Ralph Kiner, and thus one home run short of the Triple Crown.

Stan Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. He was also selected for the Major League All-Century team, and to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame. His #6 has been retired by the Cardinals.

So today we gladly shine our baseball spotlight on the great Stan Musial, who reminds us in no uncertain terms that...yes...the game has definitely changed!

Gary Livacari

11/11/2025

Cincinnati, OH, April 1902 - Reds ballpark Palace of the Fans, just days after it opened, was a breathtaking but flawed structure. Section below seen here with the chain-linked fence, was called "Rooters Row" and held the rowdiest of Reds fans. Having a bar in there probably played a hand in their unruly and wild ways,

This majestic looking ballpark with its 22 hand-carved Corinthian columns was home to the Reds for only ten years, mostly because as beautiful as she looked she was not built to be sturdy and cracks racked girders, decayed supports and unsafe floors and a fire that damaged most of it led to her demise.

By opening day in 1912 the Reds would move into a new ballpark named Redland Field, who would eventually be renamed Crosley Field.

- Ron A. Bolton

11/11/2025

League Park, Cincinnati, OH, ca 1895 - A wonderful action shot taken at Cincinnati's League Park. This 3,000-seat ballpark was built in 1884 and originally went by the name American Park. It was home to the Cincinnati Reds, who played in the American Association up to 1890 when they returned to the National League and the ballpark was renamed League Park.

Originally the dimensions of right field were extremely short and balls hit over the fence were counted only as doubles until the additional land was bought enabling the extension of the right field wall 50 more feet.

After a fire in 1900 charred the grandstand, a new ballpark was built on the same location and renamed Palace of the Fans, a majestic looking ballpark with 22 hand-carved Corinthian columns, where it stood until another fire severely damaged the structure and yet another new ballpark, Redland Field, was built on the same grounds.

Redland Fields would go through a name change in 1934 and became known as Crosley Field, where the name and ballpark stood till 1972.

- Ron A. Bolton

11/11/2025

A Baseball Biography from SABR BioProject

A testimony of courage.

Curt Flood, born in 1938, was a seven-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove centerfielder, who helped the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and two World Series titles in the 1960s. Standing 5-foot-9 and weighing just 165 pounds, Flood wielded a big stick, batting at least .300 six times in an eight-year stretch (1961-1969) and collected 200+ hits twice, including an NL-best 211 for the ’64 Redbirds. However, Flood is not remembered for his fielding, hitting, or winning, but rather his courage to challenge major league baseball’s reserve clause following his trade to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1969 season. His sacrifices and legal proceedings, supported by Marvin Miller, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, paved the way for free agency several years later.

11/11/2025

I Never Get Tired of Talking About Willie!

For those of us weaned on baseball in the 50s and 60s, we never seem to get enough of Willie Mays. Of course, the reason is simple: To those of us who saw him play, he was an absolutely dynamic player, possibly the greatest all-around player we had ever seen. As a Cub fan back then, I can tell you that the Cubs of that era were no match for the Giants whenever Willie and his Giant teammates rolled into town.

Yesterday while glancing through the This Day in Baseball History website, I stumbled onto this little gem. Back on January 15, 1964—59 years ago today—Willie Mays, already the highest player in baseball, signed the contract offered to him by the Giants for the unheard-of sum of $105,000.

As I read this, I knew right away this would give me another excuse to write about the great “Say-Hey Kid.” It would also give me a chance to recall one of my favorite scenes in all of baseball: the day in 1951 when Leo Durocher consoled a weeping rookie named Willie Mays in the Giants’ clubhouse after his disastrous 0-for-16 start.

The Giants Got Their Money’s Worth!

Anyway, going back to the contract. I’d have to say the Giants got their money’s worth. He responded with another terrific year, hitting .308, with 40 home runs, and 123 RBIs. Of course, this begs the question: Just how much would Willie would be worth in today’s market? It’s always fun to look over the salaries of players like Willie and compare those numbers to the mega-millions thrown around like manhole covers in today’s game. Consider that the Cubs just signed a player who hit .216 last year to a one-year contract worth $17 million.

So to start off this little essay about Willie, let’s recall his career stats, with the question always in mind, was he the best ever?

Willie's Great Career

Over his 22 years in the majors (1951-1973), Willie hit .302 with 3,283 hits (11th all-time), 1903 RBIs (12th all-time), 660 home runs (sixth all-time), a .557 slugging percentage, a lifetime .384 on-base percentage, and 338 stolen bases. Willie hit over 35 homers in 10 seasons, hit 40 homers six times, and won five slugging crowns. He’s one of the few players with 300 steals and 500 home runs. His defensive skills won him 12 Gold Gloves (the award wasn’t even started until he was six years into his career).

Willie is one of only five National League players to have had eight consecutive 100 RBI seasons. In addition, he won four stolen base and three triples titles, six top-three finishes in National League batting races, and he played in a whopping 24 All-Star games, tied for the most ever. He won two MVP Awards and was a two-time All-Star game MVP. His lifetime total of 7,095 outfield putouts remains the major league record.

Willie Howard Mays was so athletically advanced by age 14 that he was competing with the men on his father’s steel mill team. He played semipro ball at age 16 and was on the Birmingham Black Barons by 1947. He was one of the last players – and likely the best – to come from the Negro Leagues. In 1950, the Giants signed him and sent him to the minors. In 1951 he was batting .477 with the Minneapolis Millers when he got the call to go up to the Giants…thanks to Leo Durocher.

My Favorite Baseball Scene: Leo and Willie, 1951

This also got me thinking about Leo Durocher and Willie Mays, and how Leo acted as a mentor and father-figure for Willie during his rookie year of 1951 as the youngster made his difficult transition to the major leagues, just a few years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's odious color barrier.

Leo had his faults…lots of them. As many players hated his guts as loved him. But, as I’ve been saying for a long time, in spite of what you might think about him, his greatest and most lasting contribution to baseball was taking a young, homesick Willie Mays under his wing and guiding him during his difficult period. In doing so, Leo allowed Mays to blossom into arguably the greatest player in the history of the game. I don’t know if there was anyone else around at the time besides Durocher who could have done this.

Durocher demanded Mays be promoted after the Giants’ 6-20 start in 1951. I always love to think about the wonderful scene in the Giants’ clubhouse after rookie Willie Mays got off to his disastrous 0-12 start (which eventually extended to 1-26). Giants’ coach Freddie Fitzsimmons saw Willie sitting alone in front of his locker crying. “Leo,” Freddie said, “I think you better have a talk with your boy over there.”

What would have become of Willie Mays if Leo wasn’t there to console him at this crucial time? I still get goose-bumps whenever I think about it. Leo went over to Willie and asked him, “What’s the matter, son?”

Willie turned to his manager and with tears streaming down his cheeks, replied:

“I don’t belong up here…I can’t play here…I can’t help you Missa’ Leo. Send me back to the minors.”

Leo smiled, patted Willie on the back, and simply said:

“Look son, I brought you up here to do one thing. That’s to play center field. You’re the best center fielder I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around a long time. As long as I’m here, you’re going to play center field. Tomorrow, next week, next month. As long as Leo Durocher’s manager of this team you will be on this club because you’re the best ballplayer I’ve ever seen.”

The rest, as they say, is history. On his 13th at-bat, Willie hit a homer over the left-field fence off Warren Spahn who later joked, “I’ll never forgive myself. We might have gotten rid of Willie forever if I’d only struck him out.”

Years later, Willie was asked in an interview to expand on his relationship with Leo:

“I had such a good time with Leo. I met so many good people in Hollywood. Jeff Chandler used to come to spring training with me, Pat O’Brien, all the movie stars. Leo was like my father away from home. When I went to California I stayed with Leo in his house. His kid, Chris Durocher, was my roommate on the road. Chris would go to the black areas and stay with me. Leo trusted me. He knew that if his kid was going to stay with me, nothing was going to happen to that kid."

Yes, Leo Durocher had his faults. He was “the All-American Out” as Babe Ruth so famously branded him. He was a scrappy, marginal player who couldn’t hit, but won three pennants and a World Series championship as a manager. So you can debate back and forth whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame. To me, he’s a Hall of Famer just for the way he took under his wing a frightened, homesick rookie named Willie Mays.

Was Willie the Greatest Ever?

When Willie retired, he held all-time records for games, putouts, and chances for center fielders. His career statistics and longevity in the pre-PED era have led to a growing opinion that Mays was possibly the greatest all-around baseball player in the history of the game. In 1970, the Sporting News named Willie as the 1960s “Player of the Decade.” He placed second on The Sporting News’s “List of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.” He was a near-unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame in 1979. His number 24 has been retired by the Giants.

Was Willie the greatest ever? You'll get no argument from me!

Gary Livacari

11/11/2025

Fenway Park, Boston, MA, August 24, 1940 - Already losing 11-1 and heading into the eighth inning with still another game to play that day, Red Sox skipper Joe Cronin decides that instead of wasting another arm he would put on the mound a young 21-year-old left fielder by the name of Ted Williams to finish the game.

Thanks to the Detroit Tigers slugger Rudy York's home run and driving in five runs, the Tigers, as the Associated Press would write in the next day’s papers, raked three “classified” moundsmen for thirteen hits. Those Red Sox “moundsmen” that the AP derided were Joe Heving, Yank Terry and Herb Hash. With the latter, and the starter that day, taking the brunt of the Tigers bats giving up eight hits and seven earned runs in just 2.1 innings of work.

Williams would work the final two innings with relative success giving up just one run on three hits and would strike out one Tiger batter in the 12-1 loss. It would be the only pitching appearance for the legendary Hall of Famer's career.

And Cronin’s decision to start his budding star outfielder seems to pay off in the nightcap, for the Tigers bats were once again on fire and Boston would need reliever Emerson Dickman to work the final inning to squeeze out an 8-7 win. An arm Cronin might have had to use in the opener but was able to preserve if it wasn't for the Splendid Splinters arm.

-Ron A. Bolton

11/11/2025

A Baseball Biography from SABR BioProject

Schoolboy Rowe, born on this day in 1910, displaced Babe Ruth as baseball’s biggest drawing card for a brief time in the 1930s.

Right-hander Schoolboy Rowe’s folksy personality and his success appealed to baseball fans’ imagination during the hardships of the Great Depression. One of the tallest pitchers in baseball, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Rowe possessed glamorous good looks, with dark hair and eyes and a square jaw. He was a colorful and superstitious player, carried talismans, amulets, and tokens for good luck while pitching, and always picked up his glove with his left hand. Long before another Tigers pitcher — Mark “The Bird” Fidrych” — captured the attention of fans for his animated antics on the mound, Rowe was known for talking to the baseball, which he often called Edna in honor of Edna Mary Skinner, whom he married after the 1934 World Series. He once described his preparation for pitching: “Just eat a lot of vittles, climb the mound, wrap my fingers around the ball and say to it, ‘Edna, honey, let’s go.’” During a nationally broadcast interview, Rowe famously asked his bride-to-be, “How am I doin’, Edna?” The question, which captured both Rowe’s charm and eccentricity, was as recognizable at the time as his nickname.

Rowe endured chronic, career-threatening shoulder pain to win 158 games in his big-league career from 1933 to1949. In his second season, he won 24 games, including an AL-record-tying 16 consecutive victories to help lead the Detroit Tigers to their first pennant since 1909. The next season, 1935, he won 19 games as the Tigers captured their elusive world championship, while Rowe further cemented his reputation as one of the most popular players of his era. A 19-game winner again in 1936, Rowe won only one game over the next two seasons, his career derailed by shoulder miseries. The three-time All-Star made an unexpected comeback to help lead the Tigers to a surprising pennant in 1940. He was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942 and optioned to the minors later that season, but the Lazarus of baseball returned from the dead again, in 1943, as a member of the lowly Philadelphia Phillies for whom he won 52 games in his last five seasons.

11/11/2025

Frank Chance Takes the Yankees' Managerial Helm!

"There is one thing I will never believe, and that is that the Sox are better than the Cubs" -Frank Chance, after the Cubs lost to the "HItless Wonder" White Sox in the 1906 World Series

"These are the saddest of possible words: 'Tinker to Evers to Chance.' " -Franklin Pierce Adams, from Baseball's Sad Lexicon

We all know that Frank Chance was a Hall of Fame manager. Under his leadership, the Cubs won four pennants in five years and two World Championships. The team is recognized as one of the first great dynasties from the early twentieth century. So highly valued was Frank Chance that by 1910 he became the highest-paid player in baseball, earning as much as $25,000 ($672,232 in current dollars).

The Cubs didn’t win another World Series until the arrival of Joe Maddon on Chicago’s North Side, 108 years later. But how many baseball fans are aware that “The Peerless Leader” also managed the Yankees?

That’s right…on January 8, 1913, one hundred ten years ago today, Chance started his less-than-successful tenure at the helm of a lowly New York Yankees team (formerly known as the Highlanders). He signed a three-year contract worth the astronomical sum at the time of $120,000 ($3,042,020 in current dollars).

No Success in New York

It was wildly speculated that American League President Ban Johnson was responsible for Chance arriving in New York. He hoped the highly regarded Chance would turn the franchise around and serve as a counter to John McGraw's Giants for the city's affection. Frank entered into his new job with plenty of bravado, saying at the time:

“I will win the pennant for you before I get through in New York. That may sound like a bold statement to make at this time, but I ask you to remember my promise.”

Unfortunately, two years later, he resigned. Johnson was quoted as saying, "Frank Chance stands forth as the biggest individual failure in the history of the American League." In case you missed his meaning, he then elaborated on how he really felt:

“Chance had the material in New York and I think any other man would have made a success of the venture. Surely no one could have done any worse. Of all the players that were on the New York roster in 1913 and 1914, and there were any number of likely-looking recruits, Chance failed to develop even one man of class. Why, it was an outrage. And then when he made up his mind that he was a failure, or at least when he was ready to step down and out, he had the unmitigated nerve to ask for pay for services that he had not performed. That surely was gall, to say the least.”

11/11/2025

A Baseball Biography from SABR BioProject

Rest in peace Nate Colbert, who passed away this week at the age of 76. Colbert was the expansion Padres' first star. The three-time All-Star averaged 30 home runs per season with a OPS+132 over five-year span (1969-73).

He is perhaps most well-known for hitting five home runs with 13 RBIs in a doubleheader. His 163 dingers are still a Padres club record.

11/11/2025

Featured Story by Author Ronald T. Waldo

It is time for the first historical baseball perspective of 2023. On this warmer than usual Tuesday for January here in Pittsburgh, I share two gems from the vault of umpire Timothy “Tim” Hurst, who never took any abuse from players and always was prepared to fight a battle or subdue a critic with a quip. Hurst received his start handling the indicator at the big-league level in the 1890s. Tim took a break from that occupation to manage the St. Louis Browns in 1898. A last place finish in the National League with a 39-111 record may explain why Hurst did not resume his umpiring duties until 1900.

In August 1905, Tim started handling duties as an arbitrator in the American League. When this campaign concluded, Hurst possessed a cornucopia of tales to share during fanning bees with fans and sportswriters. Today’s first story was related to one of Tim’s toughest games of the year, a 16-inning affair that occurred at League Park on August 18, 1905, between the St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics. Hurst stopped the proceedings with the score tied, 3-3. The time for the game came in at five minutes under three hours.

Because American League officials had hurriedly summoned Tim to officiate this series in St. Louis, he showed up at the ballpark without a mask or chest protector. He umpired the entire game this way quite well until the ninth inning. When the Browns put some runners on base and appeared ready to grab a victory, Athletics manager Connie Mack summoned George Edward “Rube” Waddell to come in and relieve starting pitcher Weldon Henley. Since Rube entered the contest, Mack replaced catcher Harry Barton with Rube’s personal backstop and friend, Freeman Osee Schrecongost, who was also known as “Schreck.”

The skies were grey on this day, and Waddell possessed blazing speed. Rube was shooting the baseball across home plate with so much velocity that it looked like a blur to St. Louis’s batters. Schreck, equally as eccentric as Rube, was nabbing the ball with one hand, catching it behind the back, at one side, and then the other. Tim Hurst was standing right behind Osee as this exquisite battery entertained fans with their diamond exploits. Each time that Schreck caught the baseball with one hand, Hurst winced. Finally, Tim tapped Philadelphia’s catcher on the shoulder.

“Mr. Schreck,” said the umpire softly, “are you absolutely certain to catch all of those?”

“Why, yes,” replied Schreck, rather dazed. “I’ll get ‘em all.”

“All right,” said Tim. “I feel better now. You see I am back here without any mask or breast protector.”

Before the following afternoon’s game, veteran Browns catcher Joseph “Joe” Sugden made a kind gesture by offering Hurst one of his masks and chest protectors. Although St. Louis defeated Philadelphia, 1-0, in ten innnings on August 19, Joe was not happy with Tim’s umpiring. As a result, each time Sugden passed Hurst from the coaching lines where the catcher stood when his team batted, he offered the same remark to the arbitrator.

“Tim, don’t forget that is my mask and chest protector you’re wearing,” repeated Joe.

This same comment became monotonous for Tim Hurst inning after inning. When the seventh frame concluded Tim, having heard enough, turned toward Sugden after he once again repeated his remark.

“Certain persons won’t be needing chest protectors and masks much longer,” replied Hurst.

A good deed only went so far, when criticizing Tim Hurst’s work as an umpire. I am sure if he could, Rube Waddell would have offered Tim a mask and chest protector without strings attached. Of course, one could never underestimate Rube’s ability to do something odd or unique, under any set of circumstances.

- Author Ronald T. Waldo

Photo - The 1905 Philadelphia Athletics. Rube Waddell is kneeling to the left of Connie Mack, while Osee Schrecongost is kneeling to the right of the manager

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