Chief Zimmer said:
“It would be interesting to know how many games Nig Cuppy ever won for Cleveland by sheer coolness.”
He told The Cleveland Press in 1904:
Chief Zimmer
“I have caught him in many an important game, but I never saw him give the slightest indication of nervousness, no matter how critical the situation.”
To illustrate Cuppy’s “coolness,” Zimmer told a likely apocryphal story from an 1895 game—the details don’t match any game from that season:
George “Nig” Cuppy
“At Baltimore one day we had the Orioles beaten 2 to 1 in the first half of the 11th inning. In their half the Baltimores got three men on bases with two out. Then came up Hughey Jennings, who generally managed to get hit with a pitched ball about every other time at bat (Jennings led the National League in HBP from 1894-1898 and holds the all-time record, 287).
Hughie Jennings
“Two strikes were called and then three balls, the crowd meanwhile going into a delirium of delight. Then Cuppy beckoned to me and I started in to meet him. Naturally, I thought he wanted to discuss the kind of a ball to serve Hughey net, but all he said was:
‘”Give me a chew of tobacco, and be —– quick about it.’
“’I handed him a big handful of fine cut then went back to my position. Jennings was fairly bending over the plate, hoping to be hit with the ball and force in the tying run. Cuppy, cool and collected, looked up for my signal, and I called for a waist-high ball straight across.
“The smack of the ball in my glove was simultaneous with Umpire Tim Hurst’s incisive ‘three strikes,’ and the game was over.
“’That’s fine tobacco, Chief, said Nig as he came in. Where do you buy it?’”
Baseball History Daily 
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