Date:    Fri, 5 Jun 1998 11:10:25 -0500
<br>From:    Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>
<br>Subject: Query of Puzzling Slang Items In A 1910 Baseball Poem
<br>
<br>    I would like to present an annotated version of a 1910 baseball  poem
<br>in a book I am preparing on slang, but I first need clarification, if
<br>possible, on some puzzling slang items in it.  Can anyone help? Due
<br>acknowledgment will of course be given.
<br>
<br>     The poem is from the _Seattle Post-Intelligencer_, April 10, 1910,
<br>p.7/4-5.  Here are two of the verses, with the unclarified slang items
<br>printed in capital letters and with my comments appearing in brackets.
<br>
<br>       Poem title: 'Letters To A Magnate.'  subtitle: No. 1 -- 'From a
<br>Would-be Recruit'
<br>
<br>     Dear Sir: I notice in the papers that your team is ON THE RAG [What is
<br>the original reference here?]
<br>     Half of last year's bunch are holdouts and the new ones can't play tag
<br>[i.e. can't even do child's play]
<br>      If you really want a winner,
<br>      Sign me up--I'm now a TINNER [What is a 'tinner'?]
<br>But I've trained with all the good ones--what I want is one square deal,
<br>And I'll bet the fans will say I'm making good right off the reel. [The
<br>reference seems to be to a fishing reel]
<br>
<br>    [Verse #4]:
<br>     If you need a real live captain--I don't want to puff myself,
<br>     But I'll make these big leaguers look like Swiss cheese on the shelf
<br>[seems to indicate something stale]
<br>     Freddie Clarke WOULD TAKE IT RUNNING [Does this mean 'skedaddle'? Why
<br>'take it' here?]
<br>     Any time that I went gunning
<br>     For his berth back there in Pittsburg, but this climate suits my speed.
<br>    So just pass along the contract--and don't offer chicken feed.
<br>
<br>    [Then: several more verses] ---So, might anyone have ideas about 'on
<br>the rag;' 'tinner;' or "take it running'?  Any suggestions would be very
<br>welcome.
<br>
<br>---Gerald Cohen
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu
<br>