May 26, 1906 Montgomery Advertiser Waddells Many Jobs Some of the occupations adopted by Waddell since becoming a professional baseball player Left-handed pitcher. Regular fireman. Life-saver. Machinist. Actor in Stain of Guilt. Property man on stage. Advertising bill poster. Bartender and fancy drink mixer. Applicant for divorce. Acute angler. The name of George Edward Waddell, better known to baseball cranks as just plain Rube, will never lose its attractiveness to the followers of the great national game says a Chicago newspaper. This eccentric person will always continue to furnish copy for the sporting pages, if it is not in the baseball world it will be in some other field of endeavor. Whenever Chicago is honored with the presence of Rube the Ready fans never fail to turn out in droves. Whether Waddell is in actual battles makes no difference to the fans. So long as the Waddell individual is grazing about the field, it is enough. That Waddell is versatile is well known. As an acute angler he cant be beaten, and on many occasions when he has been missing from a ball team on the road he has been found out in the countryside sitting silently waiting for fish to nibble. Many managers have turned gray worrying over the erratic pitcher and his eccentricities. In fact, Connie Mack is the only person who has been able to manage him, except his keeper. Fresh from a round of domestic infelicity the side-wheel terror of Slumberville is now guarded by a human bloodhound and kept continually in leash. He is turned loose every afternoon on the base ball field and permitted to graze at will. When the game is over and the day is done, it is back to the chain for Rube and a night of the simple life. Thus was the ruling of the Philadelphia magistrate who spared George Edward to the Athletics that he might bring laurels back to his native heath. In other words Rube is on probation and must return to the court in good order or again suffer the consequences of a one-round go with an angry spouse. Unless he be good the Philadelphia judge will leave aim to his fate and baseball may lose its greatest left-arm pitcher. Domestic infelicity to George Edward is not entirely new, as he sought divorce from a former wife some years ago. His ground that time was extravagance. Strawberry pie early in the season was demanded by the then Mrs. Waddell, so the story goes, and Rube, thinking this extravagant and out of the question, applied for divorce. The decree was granted on account of a corner in the strawberry market at the time, which the court held a sufficient grounds for complaint. Rubes first act, aside from his great pitching to startle the baseball world, was in the West. Growing angry toward the finish of the game Rube promptly ordered all the fielders to retire. He then proceeded to strike out the batters and win the game with the catcher alone. This spring he amazed the South by performing the same feat at Memphis. This time the bases were full and only two runs were need by Rubes opponents. Two years ago Rube next came into the limelight by curving a flatiron into the mouth of his father-in-law, who had attempted to settle the marital troubles of the eccentric southpaw. Rube next turned fireman and worked with with heart and soul and danger to his life in putting out fires. The story of his running out of a dwelling in Hot Springs with a red hot stove is history. Then--ye gods and green peppers! He turned actor. Columns could be written in relating the exploits of Waddell and then the half would not be told. With all the peculiarities Waddell is generally conceded to be the greatest left-hand pitcher baseball has ever known.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 15:36:41 +0000
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