In 1916, The Newspaper Enterprise Association ran a series of brief articles called “One Minute Talks with Ballplayers.”
Art Wilson
Art Wilson of the Chicago Cubs talked about the least favorite ballpark of fellow catcher and former New York Giants teammate, the 6′ 5″ 230 pound Larry McLean:
“The distance from the home plate to the backstop in Pittsburgh (Forbes Field) used to be a terrible strain on Larry in the hot weather. Every time a wild pitch or a passed ball got by him Larry would cuss out the man who laid out the Pirate plant.
McLean
“One night (Pirates owner) Barney Dreyfuss was seated on the veranda of the hotel where the Giants were stopping. Larry had chased eight balls that afternoon. He approached Dreyfuss and tapped him on the shoulder.
“‘Barney,’ he said, ‘you’ve got a great ballpark but it’s lacking in one detail. You should have taxicab service at the home plate for catchers to help them chase wild pitches and passed balls.'”
Baseball History Daily 
Leave a Reply