On this date (July 30, 1903), Rube Waddell assisted at a major hotel fire in Philadelphia: Philadelphia North American Waddell jollied the firemen for crawling through the smoke at the Hotel Vendig blaze. Rube walked upright into the deadly fumes, saying they were no more than cigarette smoke to him. Shouldnt wonder. His social and live-saving duties have kept Waddell quite busy all week. Since shutting out the Senators on Monday he has been passing the ice cream at porch parties in Kensington and singing for charity. This light and healthful exercise left the Rube in splendid condition until fire broke out near the Hotel Vendig early yesterday morning. With a pair of ice tongs the gallant southpaw tore the roof off the building and dumped it into an alley, saved a couple of firemen at the peril of his life and then treated the whole company at his own expense. About noon he sent word to [the Athletics’ ] Captain Cross that he was much fatigued, but would pitch the second game after taking a little sleep. But with his system full of smoke and clinkers and chunks of tin roofing Mr. Waddell was not himself. He had worked too hard at the fire, and was unable to pitch spellbinding ball or make monkeys of the Senators.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 15:39:23 +0000
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