"His cake is all 'dough'" (1860)--Query

[Gerald Cohen]

The 19th century baseball discussion group (part of SABR, i.e.,
Society for American Baseball Research) received a message last month
containing an 1860 baseball poem in which the last line is: "He's
sure to be put out, and his cake is all 'dough'."

    What does this last clause mean?

Gerald Cohen


>At 4:43 PM +0000 10/28/03, tshieber wrote::
>To: 19cBB at yahoogroups.com
>Mailing-List: list 19cBB at yahoogroups.com; contact 19cBB-owner at yahoogroups.com
>Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 16:43:41 -0000
>Subject: [19cBB] Re: Early baseball gloves
>
>
>Folks -
>       Regarding early baseball gloves, I stumbled across a poem
>written (recited?) on Christmas Day, 1860. It is entitled "Owe'd 2
>Base Ball: In Three Cant-Oh's!" and I would guess it was written for
>and recited at a Christmas Ball thrown by the Mercantile BBC of
>Philadelphia. In "Cant-Oh! III" the various players are mentioned
>and the following lines appear:
>
>Then "Bispham" comes next, you'd expect from his looks,
>He was given to study, addicted to books,
>       And you'd little suspect there was much in the man,
>       Till you saw him at play -- then beat him who can.
>His favorite position is on the first base,
>And he stands like a statue, always right about face,
>       With his hands in a pair of thick gloves all encased,
>       Which never miss holding the ball once embraced.
>And I pity the 'batter' who when the ball's fair,
>If its short, tries to make the 'first base' when he's there.
>       The 'batter' itself may be good enough -- though
>       He's sure to be put out, and his cake is all 'dough.'
>
>       Unless I am much mistaken, this is the earliest known
>reference to baseball gloves. It also is the second reference to
>baseball gloves being worn in 1860 (see 1887 "National Daily Base
>Ball Gazette" reference below).
>       As an aside, a really neat Mercantile BBC item that can be
>viewed on the web is sheet music titled the "Home Run Quick Step"
>which was "respectfully dedicated to members of the Mercantile Base
>Ball Club." You can see it at:
>http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/display.pl?
>record=027.054.000&pages=5
>       Thoughts and comments?
>               - Tom Shieber