The Butte inter mountain., 1903-03-04
srrciAL 10 rmE INTER MOUNTAIN.

SPECIAL 10 the INTER MOUNTAIN.
Detroit, March 4-Wille Kcclcr said
20 be the highest priced baseball player
now in the game says in his estimation
that Pitcher Wild Bill" Donovan, who
will make his debut in American league
company with the Detroit team this sea
son, is the greatest twirler on the dia-
mond today.
II never saw better pitching" said
Kcelcr. than Donovan did on our recent
trip 10 the coast They used to call him
Wild Bill on account OF his erratc con
troll. He has lost his wildncss now and
comes nearer Ruse than any man !
know Of controlling his fast ball. !
think he will be a wonder next season."
In the opinion OF the champion bats
man Amos Rusie was the greatest of them
all when he was in his prime.
The Best Ever.
when he was right and pitching the
game he was capable OF don't think any
man ever had anything on the big fc-
low" says kecler His great strength
lay ia the fact that his curve was Just
as fast as his straight ball and was al
must HHp'NNlDl' ~ gauge IL HOulu not
break until the bail was right on YOU and
then it was generally too late 10 hit
them. have seen him put mp a ball
that came ike cannon shot and looked
as though it were going around your neck
Then came the sharp break and il would
cut the plate"
Donovan is more like Rusc than any
OF the other presentday pitchers and is
therefore, according to Rcelcr a harder
proposition for the batter than most OF
the others.
Keeler, himself one OF the most sci
entifc and successful OF batsmen, is GER
tainly qualified to judge Of a pitchers
ability ii anybody is. OF the great little
outhelder, Ned lanlon, who has had
keeler since 1894. said recently:
"kecler last season weighed I42 pounds
and that has been his average weight since
he came with me to Baltimore. lie is the
littlest big man, so TO speak that ever
played ball for me, and fortunately my
discouraging prc1rtons regarding Keelcr
when he first came to Baltimore were
never realized. Ny experience with men
Of Keeler's frail physique taught me that
they were absolutely too small TO stand the
strain OF major league ball Cast your eye
over the players in this league and you
will find them, as a rule well built ath-
letes, weighing at least $50 pounds, feet
2 or 8 inches at the shortest, save in such
rare exceptions as Kcelcr's
It Takes a Man.
at takes the stocky mould Of athletes
10 stand the strain OF everyday ball in the
large cities. The little fellows can get on
an the minor league but the mental as well
as the physical eXcrtion is greater in the
major league, as any OF the players will
tell you. ! have played with the little
chaps and have had them on my teams.
and while some OF them showed great
promise | noticed that they couldn't play
steadily every day. They were in-and- out
crs, though il thoy were called on to per
form no oitcner than three times a week
they would probably be as valuable as the
fellows OF more weight and sturdier stuff.
But keoler, slight, almost fragile OF frame,
has run away from the majority OF ath-
letes in the major league as 4 fielder. and
is almost in a class by himself as a hitter.
He's what you might call ball-paying
genius"
While no outfelder in either OF the big