The name Lou Criger is one that is well-known to deadball era enthusiasts; during his time he was considered one of the greatest catchers the game had known. The Elkhart Indiana native was the catcher for most of Cy Young's wins as a teammate of the pitching great during his time with Cleveland St. Louis and Boston. Known for his strong throwing arm and superior defense behind the plate he was the Red Sox' first catcher and caught every inning in the game's first World Series in 1903. Criger later revealed that before that Series he turned down a $12 000 offer from a gambler to call "soft pitches" during the Series which would have effectively handed the championship to the Pirates. Commissioner Ban Johnson established a pension fund for retired players and citing Criger's honesty and integrity made him one of the fund's first recipients. Criger was our kind of guy. Later in life Criger was plagued by health issues losing a leg in 1914 to tuberculosis and ultimately relocating to Arizona to take advantage of the warm climate. In 1930 the Boston Post newspaper organized an Old-Timer's game at Braves Field in Boston bringing together some of the greatest players ever to take the field in a charity game that would benefit the Children's Hospital of Boston and a pension fund established by Ban Johnson to help players after their playing days. Such luminaries as Cy Young Ty Cobb Ed Walsh Honus Wagner and Tris Speaker were present; nearly 60 former players comprised the "All Team" and the Red Sox Old Timers. The game's first hit was delivered by future Hall of Famer Jimmy Collins. The beloved Criger unfortunately could not make the game due to illness; newspaper accounts at the time indicated that the illness was serious perhaps one from which Criger would not recover. Criger expressed his regrets in a letter to Post writer Howard Reynolds stating "I am indeed more than sorry and cannot find words to express my regrets that I cannot be there to meet my old pals of the 1903 World Series club. How I have longed for this day to come when we could meet once more and talk over that hard-fought series and meet many of my old friends in the baseball city on earth.""My heart and thoughts will be with you and all the players and friends on that day Sept. 8 if I am alive. The world will never know what I go through with day and night but I am still living i