Then, with his head swelled, Pope had quarreled with nearly every man on the team, finishing up in a fist fight with two of them, which resulted in his suspension. Raw to the bone, he grabbed at the bait which Bob Harrison flung in his direction at that psychological moment.
Smiling Joe had worn a Boston uniform, and had declined to go back to the bush for another season when a veteran second sacker had crowded him out.
McLoon, a great hitter and wonderful centre fielder, was said to be a bit off in the top story, and for three seasons the brand of the Outlaw had been upon him, while he wandered from one unrecognized league to another. He was remembered, however, for his remarkable hitting and base running one season with St. Louis.
The other men, gathered up from the various disbanded teams, were Long Tom Hix, once with Cleveland; Gentle Willie Touch, who had worn a Louisville uniform; Grouch Kennedy, a former New York “Giant”; Buzzsaw Stover, from smoky Pittsburg; and Dead-eye Jack Rooney, who pretended to be not over-proud of the fact that he was an ex-“Trolley Dodger.”
Among the reserves were Biff Googins, pinch hitter from Boston and general all-round man; Strawberry Lane, a pitcher who had lost his trial game for the Quaker City Americans and found it impossible to endure the gruelling of his teammates; and Wopsy Bill Brown, who had spent a season on the bench with the Chicago Nationals without being given a chance to pitch a ball over the plate.
With this aggregation Harrison had proceeded to make monkeys of St. Paul’s representative nine. Indeed, the “Outlaws” simply toyed with their opponents in that game, winning at will.
Then it was that Harrison conceived the idea of touring with his team of wonders. Being a clever advertiser and press agent, he managed to get a great deal of space in the newspapers, and it was not long before immense crowds of baseball enthusiasts turned out wherever the Outlaws appeared.
To his deep satisfaction, Harrison found himself pocketing more money than he had dreamed of looking upon while representing Menocket. He was able to make a good thing, financially, while paying his players salaries which satisfied them.
In the matter of winning games the Outlaws seemed almost invincible. It is true that they dropped a game occasionally, but even then it was suspected that this came about through design rather than necessity. Through the Middle West, the Southwest, and along the Pacific Coast they toured triumphantly, boosted not only by Harrison’s clever advertising, but by sporting writers everywhere.
