Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 166, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 July 1916 — CATCHER OF TODAY IS WALKING FORTRESS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CATCHER OF TODAY IS WALKING FORTRESS

Catchers are .protected by all sorts and manners of armor. They have masks, mitts, chest protectors and bands on their shoes to shield them from foul tips. In only one place are they liable to Injury. This is their neck. Occasionally a foul hits them there, and the Injury is not only unusually painful but dangerous. Jack Lapp, now catcher of the White Sox, was struck there some years ago, and for a few days it was feared he had lost the power of speech. Even today his voice is not what it was before he was hurt. Lapp has tried all sorts of contrivances to protect his neck, but in no instance Trave they proved plac-

tlcable. A man who comes along with a real idea will be welcomed by the vast army of backstoppers. Sometimes a mask breaks under the shock of a foul tip, and more than one catcher Jias narrowly escaped having his eye permanently Injured. Some backstops, like Billy Sullivan, resolder their masks, but this makes it so heavy It becomes a burden. Catching is, in short, some job. He tlot only has to give signals, watch every move on the bases, jolly his pitcher and block runners off the plate, even though it means danger from spikes, but he is so loaded down by equipment that he is a walking fortress.