It was his way of psyching up his players psyching out the other team. He used to have a tin whistle that he would blow to distract the pitcher, and during the Tigers 1907-1909 playoff run he was banned from doing it in the post season, although he did do it during the Big Train's first ever start. When Rube Waddell used to start, Jennings used to set wind up toys in the coaching box to distract the supposedly "simple" pitcher. All this made him incredibly popular locally and nationally.
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