Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-23

ton public the mettle of the man that is to
handle their club for the coming year.
Good Field for the New Manager.
There never was a better field for the
ambition of a base ball manager than
Washington presents today. The manager
has no high-water base ball mark to reach
no big records of former base ball man
ayers to surpass-but he has an open and
clear field for the display of his genius,
with conditions better than they have been
for many years. He has minor league
territory from ocean to ocean and gulf to
lake to recruit from. He has ever-patient
Washington to applaud him should he bet
ter the position OF the club from former
years, and from ell appearances he will
have the tide and wind Of public opinion
with him. Having managed the Washing
ton team In the National League in 1888 /
am naturally interested In the history Of
the game in this city, and / know what the
conditions have been ever since 1888. 1 will
state frankly to the Washington public
that the non-success of the teams in Wash
ington Of the many years past has been
brought about by the failure of first one
thing, then another. There never has been
a combination of managerial skill and
financial strength powerful enough to pull
the team to a high position-manageria
strength especially. 1t has been proven
that a Rockefeller bank account cannot
get a winning team without managerial
skill. Leaders in any calling or professions
of life born not made, and this aSser-
ton applies to base ball leader more than
to many others. No manager with a pail
bearers demeanor and enveloped in an ice
house atmosphere can enthuse ball team.
He must have some magnetism or fire to
keep his players at the guns until the last
one Is fired in the ninth inning. Such
leader will have the confidence Of his men
and the audience. Napoleon said that an
army of sheep led by lion" can do more
than an army Of lions led by a sheep; and
no one who knows what inspiration there
is in a magnetic leader will gainsay it.
Known Cantillon for Years.
have known Joe Cantillon for many
years. in fact since he entered the game
as a profession. w. D. Cantllon, his
brother, was a professional player in Wis
consin and entered the Northwestern Rail-
road Company as a brakeman, and by his
ability and strong individuality has become
general manager of that enormous system
of the northwest. In the last sixteen years
Washington never has had such a combi-
nation of managerial and financial strength
as 1t has at the present time. In Joe Can
tillon it has quiet, modest man, who has
risen from the ranks and has mixed with
all from to z. He knows the players
and they know him. He knows whether
they have the base ball goods In their trunk
without their handing him the key to it.
Their actions on the ball field will tell all
He will keep his men in the game from the
tap of the gong until the game is over. He
IidS ldhell team Ol common players IN
Milwaukee and for three consecutive years
has kept them within hailing distance of
the leader, so If Mr.. Cantillon cannot make
winner of the Washington club there is
a hoodoo in the atmosphere that envelops
the capital. 1 will say for the owners of
the Washington club that they will not let
expense stand in the way when doing bust
ness with Cantilon. They may have been
shy in the past in buying "shoddy base ball
goods but when 1t came to the selection
of Cantillon they never hesitated, and when
he announced his terms they accepted them
on the spot without giving Joe time to
breathe. AS l was instrumental in enticing
Cantillon to come to Washington 1 know
the salary that was offered and l. saw the
contract. 1t was nearly twice the salary Of
United States senator, and there is not a
bench manager today in the eastern coun-
try that is getting one-half of the salary
of Cantillon. The Washington management
has corrected all the errors of the past in
getting base ball pilot that knows all the
bends and shadows in the base ball river.