Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 274, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1919 — PITCHER IS TRADED FOR BASEBALL BAT [ARTICLE]

PITCHER IS TRADED FOR BASEBALL BAT

Josh Devore Swaps Most Erratic Southpaw in Captivity. Bill Fisher, Outfielder With Joe Tinker's Columbus Team, Tells How He Lost His Pet Bat—Broker! on First Ball Pitched. Roger Bresnahan and Joe Cantlllon once figured in a deal which involved a bird dog and a ball player, but here’s how Bill Fisher, now an outfielder with Columbus, says he lost a good bat in his Ohio State days: “I was playing with the Charleston team and hitting the ball hard. I had just gotten a new bat —a Miller Huggins model —and I swore by it,” says Fisher. - “I looked upon that bat as the one and only magic wand. Well, sir, Josh Devore, manager of the Chillicothe team, had the world’s most erratic southpaw in captivity. That t fellow was so wild it wasn’t safe to be in the same park with him. John came over to our dugout one day and said, casual like to our chief: “What’ll you give me for that sterling left-hander ever there?” “Taken unawares, the chief says: ‘Oh, I’ll give a bat,’ and ‘Done!’ says Josh before the chief could realize what had happened. ‘You’ll give me the pick of the bats, won’t you?’ asked Josh, and of course the chief says he would, and I’m a dirty hound if he didn’t go and pick my bat. “Of course the club had paid for the bat and I couldn’t say much, but I thought enough to put me in the penitentiary, but before the game was three innings old I had a great joy. The first time Harry Devore, Josh’s brother, came up he had my bat, and w.ould you believe it, he broke it right half in two on the first ball pitched. But at that we got stung on the deal. That southpaw’s head was just a parking place for his hat”