Читать книгу Bad Boys, Bad Times. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941 онлайн

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The Pirates were not aware that Rollie had begun drinking in the 1927 season. To complicate things, the Pirates’ star outfielder, the great Paul Waner, besides being a tremendous hitter and all-around player, had a serious problem with alcohol. Before long the two players became drinking buddies, starting Rollie on an eleven-year binge. He often arrived at the ballpark with abrasions on his face and sometimes a grotesque black eye. Regardless, he managed to play through the hangovers, well enough to remain the backup catcher.

In one particular game he got livid with umpire Bill Klem regarding his judgment of balls and strikes. Rollie called Klem a “blind bat.” Klem replied, “Young man, you’ve been drinking!” Hemsley fired back, “And from the way you’re umpiring, you could have too!” The veteran umpire then told the fuming catcher to go take a seat on the bench and sober up for the remainder of the game.

In spite of this terrible behavior, Rollie somehow improved his game, working his way up to be the Pirates number one catcher. In 1931, just after the regular season got underway, manager Jewel Ens agreed to let Hemsley stop home in Syracuse for a day before embarking with the team on their first road trip. Rollie took off and was not heard of or seen again for a full week. He did not try to contact the Pirates front office during the entire time he went AWOL. He eventually reported with a flimsy explanation he was sick. Ens, completely fed up, suspended him for two weeks, then traded him to the Chicago Cubs.