HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1955-09-15, Page 7Tales Of The Greia
And Only "Rube"
Pagliacci, the legendary clown
mf opera, sang while his heart
was breaking, but Rube Waddell,
the legendary clown of baseball,
made diamond history while a
sports world rocked with laugh-
ter.
One would have to look far
and wide, however, to find a
player as eccentric and unpria•
dictab1e es Rube Waddell, u.,e-
time pitcher for Connie Mack
and the Philadelphia Athletics
Before turning to some of the
mad things the. Rube came up
with, it might be well to po,n1•
Out that he still holds the major
league record of 343 strike -outs
in a season bun- up with the A's
in 1904. This ability as a pitcher
lends point to the following bit •
f lunacy.
On
.a day when the St. Louis
]Browns were scheduled to meet
the A's, the Browns' pitcher,
knowing that he had to work
against the great Waddell, chal-
lenged the Rube to a contest for
a $5 bet. The Brown pitcher
claimed that he could throw a
baseball further than the Rube.
Several hours before game
time, the two pitchers went to
the empty ball park and marched
out to centerfield to start their
contest. T h e Brown pitcher
threw first and made what he
considered a pretty decent heave
towards home plate. The Rube
curled his lips in disdain.
"If that's the best you c 'i do,"
ie sneered, "give the ball. to a
wan who can really toss one "
The Rube heaved one. The
Brown hitcher voiced amaze-
ment. "That was a lucky throw,"
he protested. "You couldn't do
that again!"
The Rube merely laughed and
once again made an incredible
peg from centerfield to home
plate.
Still the St Louis pitcher pre-
tended amazement, So, for al-
most two hours, the loony Rube
kept throwing the ball from one
end of the field to the other
Finally the Browns' pitcher paid
the $5, certain that the eccentric
Waddell would be so . tired at
game time that he wouldn't have
a thing left in his arm.
All that Rube Waddell did that
afternoon was shut out the
rowns, striking out fourteen
men in the process! On the way
to the clubhouse after the game.
the Rube caught up with the de-
jected St. Louis pitcher.
"Say," grinned Waddell, "That
was swell practice you gave me
this morning. Here's a buck back
for you!"
* * *
Great pitcher that he was,
Waddell's weakness was his crav-
ing for drink. To cure him, Con-
nie Mack never paid him his
salary but doled out bare spend-
ing money and banked the rest
ANOTHER AWARD — Dorothy
Dandridge's emoting in "Car-
men Jones" won her the "best
actress of the year" award at
the Locarno Film Festival in
Switzerland.
in the Rube's name. The Rube
was ha...1 put to it to raise the
money for his benders and had
to work out a number of schemes
for getting the money he needed.
One method he used was to walk
into a bar and offer the bartender
an autographed baseball, The
ball, he solemnly told him, was
the one that he had used in some
s e OUP] with some other
great pitcher of the day There
were always duplicates, but the
recipients never found out until
Ione after the Rube had stag-
gerrd on his way to some other
bar.
in 1905 the A's won the pen-
nant and every member of the
team was presented with a dia-
mond -studded watch fob. Rube
Waddell was proud of his good -
luck piece and cherished it
highly. Then one afternoon he
came to Connie Mack on the
verge of tears.
"I've lost my fob, Mr. Mack,"
he wailed. "What'll I do?"
Mr Mack suggested an ad in
the papers offering' a ten dollar
reward for its return and when
Rube said he had no money for
the ad, Mr. Mack offered to pay
for it himself,
Shortly after midnight Connie
Mack was awakened by the tele-
phone. An excited voi-e greeted
him. "Say, Mr. Mack, my watch
fob's been found! There's a guy
here holding it. Please come
down right away and pay him
the ten bucks!"
Connie dressed a'^ i went down
to the corner sato. i where he
paid the reward and left with
the Rube, who was overwhelmed
with his good fortune. After
they'd gone a few blocks, the
big hurler suddenly stopped in
his tracks.
"Excuse me, Mr. Mack," cried
the Rube, "1 gotta find out where
that guy found my fob!" And
off he dashed.
In a few minutes, Rube was
back in the saloon, earnestly
drinking un the ten -buck reward
with the man who had pretended
to find the fob. Then the door
of the saloon swung onen and
in walked Connie Mack. He
walked over to his thirsty
nit^her. neelgd another ten -
dollar hill from his roll and
drnnned it on the bar.
"Here's another ten dollars
for the reward in advance, Rube.
Just in case you lose your fob
again!"
The story of Rube Waddell's
debut in major league baseball
is characteristically Waddell. In
the late 90's, Fred Clarke, on the
advice of a fan, signed up Rube
Waddell for the Pittsburgh Pi-
rates, sight unseen. Three nights
later, manager Clarke was awak-
ened from a deep sleep at 3.30
in the morning by heavy pound-
ing at his door.
"Who is it?" roared the sleepy
manager.
"A friend. Open up!" replied
a voice outside.
Clarke opened the door and a
big, lanky fellow rushed at him.
"Hello, Fred," he greeted the
amazed manager. "How are you,
old boy. Say, let me have two
bucks, will you?"
"Who are y o u, anyway?"
thundered the surprised man-
ager.
"I'm your new pitcher! You
know me. I'm Waddell, world's
greatest pitcher, and I need two
dollars because I'm hungry!"
To get rid of the loon, manager
Clarke said, "Look, Waddell. I'm
broke. You go down to the desk
and get the hotel room numbers
of my players. You can visit
them all. It's the custom of new
players to cal] on the old players
as soon as they get in town. I
guess some of the boys will have
two dollars left for you."
Next morning, Clarke, who
had figured that the players
would have brained Waddell for
REASON ' FOR JOY — Australia's Lew Hood ,!eft) playfully
ruffles teammate Rex Hartwig's hair .after they won the cheri-
shed Davis Cup, by defeating Tony T.rabert and Vic Seixas at
doubles.
waiting them up, got tne shock
of his hie. i,uue vva.,,LeiJ had
done exactly as ne was told. He
had awakened all the players
during the night and had suc-
ceedect in borrowing sixteen dol-
lars in two -dollar lots, the play=
ers giving up the money to get
rid of him,
Rube became a star pitcher
for the Pirates but the manager
finally had to get rid of him.
Everything the Rube did was a
classic in goofiness. One day, he
was pitching in a tight ball game.
After retiring the opposition in
the fifth inning, Rube went to
the beneb. While his team mates
were batting, he heard the clang
of fire engines just outside the
park. Fires always fascinated
the Rube, So he slipped out of
the park quietly, chased the en-
gines for about ten blocks and
saw the fire.
It was nearly dusk when the
fire was brought under control
Then, and only then, Rube Wad-
dell• reminded himself of the
game he was pitching and hur-
ried back to the ball park. He
rushed back to the field, but the
game was over and all the
players and fans as well had long
since gone home.
Pittsurgh traded the Rube
away. • He landed eventually
with Connie Mack and the Ath-
letics: Connie , spent a fortune
on detectives to locate his -wan-
dering pitching ace who, from
time to time, disappeared from
the club for days and weeks at
a time. Once, after having been
AWOL for two weeks, Rube re-
ported back to the club and acted
as though nothing had happened.
When asked by the angry Con-
nie Mack if he was ready to
pitch, Rube replied, "Mr. Mack,
I'm always ready to pitch. .I
kept in shape all the time I was
away by pitching for a team up
in the sticks and I won ten
games. Stick me in there and
see if I ain't right."
So Connie tossed him in there
and the cool and powerful Rube
proceeded to pitch himself a
two -hit shutout. And that was
after having pitched and won
ten games on the sly, making a
total of 11 victories in 11 days
but only one for the record.
* * •
In 1913. Rube Waddell's team
was in Spring training in the
little town of Hickman, Ken-
tucky, on the banks of the great
Mississippi River, Waddell was
pitching nne 'afternoon, when the
cry of "The levee has broken!"
roared through the air Panic
broke loose, Men, women and
children ran far their lives But
Waddell, the baseball elnwn, ,lir]
not run. He tore of; his baseball
shirt and, strirned to waist,
joined the many other brave
men who nitr•hed in to nil,. un
WHERE'S THE STARTER?—This is a race horse but it won't race. Even international efforts can't
make it budge. The young people w era picking fruit at an agricultural camp near Tiptree,
nEgland. When Dorothy Bottgeley, of bedham, Mass., climbed Into the saddle she thought she
was going somewhere. But the forceful ways of (left to right) Pat Gunn and John Gould, of
Cheshire, " Meier from Aachen, Germany, and Karl Am'brosiut, a student from Vienna
University, were to no avail,
a:xu..Geaes to scop the roaring
tide ue ins pain of aestruction.
abuMe W lectee! worked like a
dei,iva irons mid-arternoon till
three o'clock theio1Jowing morn -
leg. when the flood finally was
under control and the town had
been saved, Waddell returned to
his hotel room, a worn and weary
man, but happy IA the know-
ledge that he Lied helped save
lives, end property,
Rube Waddell was never the
same after that day. He came
down with a cold and never
quite recovered. He died, at 37,
a tragic victim of tuberculosis.
And the day the Great Umpire
yanked the Rube out of the box
for good, • the calendar read -
April 1, 1914. Rube Waddell, the
hilarious c l o w n of baseball,
bowed off the stage of life, as be-
fitted a clown — on April Fool's
Day!
He lies buried in a forgotten
grave at San Antonio, Texas, but
not forgotten by baseball mem-
ory. Rube Waddell may have
been a clown. But what a
pitcher he was! And what a
man!
Waste Not,
Want Not
Have you a gold mine in your
basement ' or attic? When it
comes time for a general clean-
up you may find that you have.
Take a good look to see if there's
any wood or other material that
can be salvaged from discarded
pieces of furniture. Old doors
and table tops often yield good,
straight lengths of wood that
can be stored away to emerge
later as gaily painted garden
furniture, shelves or bookcases.
Even an old broom handle can
be a diamond -in -the -rough when
you need a rod for a clothes
closet or legs for a small out-
door table. The same thrifty
principle applies to dowels from
old chairs as well as metal rods,
hinges, and the like.
Old furniture often contains
wood of an unusually good
quality, even though hidden un-
der several layers of paint. A
liquid remover . and a piece of
sandpaper, then a new coat of
paint or varnish will work won-
ders with a forgotten piece of
furniture. Who knows? Your
"gold mine" may produce a val-
uable collector's item,
Treat Paint Brush
With Respect
It's quite true that "you get
what you pay for" and buying
cheap paint brushes is not eco-
nomical. The bristles will soon
fall out and the finished paint
job will look anything but pro-
fessional.
A good paint brush will last
indefinitely of you give it pro-
per care. This consists of care-
ful cleaning and storing after
every paint job!
To clean brushes of enamel,
house paint or oil -base paint,
swish in turpentine until all
loose paint is removed. Then
wash In warm water and soap,
wrap in several thicknesses of
paper and put away. Brushes or
rollers used with latex -base
paint are merely washed with
warm water and soap.
During an extended job, brush-
es can be Suspended in linseed
oil between painting sessions.
The brush should never touch
the bottom of the container or
the bristles will become bent.
Even brushes that have be-
come hardenedwith old paint
will respond to treatment. How-
ever, these may require soaking
in a stronger, solvent like paint
and varnish' remover before the
stubborn paint will give. up the
ghost. Paint brushes treated with
respect will do a better job.
To love to read is to exchange
hours of ennui for hours of
delight,--wMONTESQU'IEU
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TRANSMISSION GEARS
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AUTOMOTIVE WAREHOUSE CO. LTD.
1438 Guy St., Montreal
20 TON King Float with International
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NEW perXna-bronze o11 filter element
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One size fits present case on all cars.
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$2.95. Write Bloomfield Enterprises,
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COMPRESSOR suitable for Garage, 3
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4 INCH Jenkins ,+ate valves flanged.
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TRAILER HOUSE. factory built, nine•
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demou'tshle rims, tialf price $1.500.
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Cant Off Own Toe
To Claim Insurance
Making money quickly has
been one of man's ambitions
for centuries. Many and varied
are the methods used.
One man deliberately cut his
big toe in order to claim com-
pensation from an insurance
company. The man, Felix Koel-
lier, a German, then forged a
statement saying he had been
run over by a trolley. In due
course his toe was amputated
and he was awarded $9,000 for
the "loss" of his toe.
Koellier did not stop at that.
He later injured one of his eyes,
and this time was awarded
$90,000.
His accidents became so fre-
quent that the insurance people
became suspicious and police
were called in. His unfor-
tunate "accidents" were inves-
tigated and the whole business
came to light. He was arrested
and sentenced to four years' im-
prisonment.
Swindling insurance compan-
ies has been a favourite occupa-
tion of crooks for a long time
and to cope with frauds the
companies formed their own
detective branches. These suc-
ceeded in checking many false
claims, but at one• time it was
estimated that for every case
they exposed ten went unde-
tected.
One man, told that he was
dying, got a friend to imper-
sonate him at a medical exam-
ination. The dying man then
insured himself and six months
later died. When his family
claimed death benefits it came
to light that he had been dying
at the time he was insured. The
company, after investigating the
case, contested the claim in
court and the whole plot was
revealed.
These Cockroaches
Were Valuable
Cockroaches are universally re-
garded as pests fit only for ex-
termination, but one which re-
cently invaded the studio of a
woman artist in Chicago has be-
come famous' all over the United
States.
The artist woke one morning
to find the cockroach nibbling at
her freshly painted canvas. And
suddenly she realized that the
cockroach had given the surface
a texture she could never dupli-
cate.
Art critics who have since
studied it say that the texture is
unique and extraordinarily at-
tractive. It has made the picture
very valuable.
Thirty years ago an American
mining engineer in Mexico was
guided to a gold mine by cock-
roaches.
The mine was known to the
Spaniards in the days of Cortez
who, because of the large num-
ber of cockroaches near the en-
trance, called it cucaracha the
cockroach.
It yielded a steady supply of
gold until 1812. Then it was
sealed up and its site forgotten
although its story was remem-
bered,
The young mining engineer in
1925, finding a rock swarming
with cockroaches, followed their
trail, after recalling the story.
It led him to the mine which,
after more than a century of
idleness, was reopened and
worked once mere, yielding a
vast amount of gold.
HELP WANTED
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FOREMAN for cold storage punt In
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Please give age, marital status, eat,
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MEDICAL
GOOD RESULTS EVERY SUFFERER
FROM RHEUMATIC PAINS OR
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DIXON'S REMEDY.
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BACKACHE
beWarning
r h
Backache is at ten caused by lazy kidney
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system. Then backache. disturbed rest
or thae tired -out and heavy -headed feeling
may soon follow That's the time to take
Dodd's Kidney Pilis Dodd's stimulate
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Get Dodd's Kidney Pills now. 51
IT MAY BE
YOUR UV
if life's not worth living
it may be your fiver!
ft's a tact! it take up to two pinta of fame
bile a day to keep your digestive tract in top
shape! !t your liver bile is sot flowing freely
your food may not digest ... gag bloatsp •
your stomach ... you feel oouatipaated-and
all the fun and sparkle go out of life. That',
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digoetion ,tarts functioning properly sad yen
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1.37E attivnur drna¢ist.
ISSUE 37 -- 1955