The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-02-08
RUBE WADDELL LEAVES
ATHLETICS FOR BROWNS

/ was bad there was plenty that was
good, too. -
when RUDE was behaving he would
dc anything for me, work as often as [
asked him, and brow off his arm in the
effort to win. He landed US the pennant
of 1902, and his work in the early a
of 1905 put us in such a commanding
position that Plank vas able to bring
home the flag.
81 don't think Rube is all in. I
wouldn't be surprised to see him do
fine work. Certainly 1 hope so, and [
shall always be grateful for the help
he gave our club. 1 hope that the. big
fellow will never need aid from me,
but il that day comes l promise that
he won't ask in vain"
This tribute, expressed with genuine
feeling, has plenty to warrant it.
When Waddell came to the Athletics
in the middle of 1902 he. found the local
American League team on the rocks.
1t is violating no confidence to tell this.
The ruling of the court that took away
Bernhard Fraser, Duggleby, Lajoie n
Flick had hopelessly broken up Mack's
team. 1t was humping along in the
second division losing money, n APP
parently having little prospect of get
ting out of the hole.
Then the manager made one of those
strokes for which he is famous.
What WaddeII Did in 1902.
He had known Waddell for several
years. The big fellow had made his
debut in Franklin, Pa, gone to Home
stead and Detroit in 1898, Columbus and
Louisville in 1899. Pittsbarg and Mil
waukee in 1900. the Chicago Nationals
in 1901, from which team he jumped to
the Los Angeles outlaw team.
Connie met RUDE at Kansas City and
brought him back home with him.
Making his debut at Baltimore. Wad-
dell lost his first game, but coming to
Philadelphia and making his local de-
but he cut loose the first of a long
series Of marvellous exhibitions of
pitching.
Baltimore was the opposing team,
and in the nine innings only twenty
seven men batted. Two made hits, but
both were causar stealing.
From this day dates the success of
the Athletics. The coming of Rube
turned the tide. He found the team a
Loser; he made it a winner.
Launched as a hero by this game,
RUDE proceeded to achieve q number of
wonderful Victories. If he started tho
game he had the other team helpless
from the go-off. # another pitcher was
being hit, the instant Rube went in the
opposing club fell on it's face.
In the half season he was with the
club il 1902, Waddell won twenty-three
games and lost eight; 1908, won % and
lost 16; 1904, won % and lost 10; 1905,
won 81 and lost 10, leading the league;
1905, won 16 and lost 16; 1907, won 10
and lost 13.
Made strikeout Record.
In 1903 Waddell established the
strike-out record for one season; he
famed 301 in his ~thirty-eight games, a
mark never even approached.
Included in his contests We're many
wonderful games. He pitched three
extra-inning games in Boston that
went seventeen, eighteen and twenty
innings, landing all three. Nearly every
season he made the strike-out record,
and the announcement of his name to
pitch a Sunday game in st. Louis OF
Chicago was a strong enough magnet
to draw a crowd near the 10000 mark.
No player who ever belonged to a
local club fiuctuated so much in popu-
lar esteem. AT one time he was the
hero hailed by thousands, mobbed at
railway stations and cheered on the
streets; again he was Kissed and lroot-
ed, n many supporters of the Ath-
letics announced that they would not
patronize the club until Manager Mack
got rid of a man they deemed a dis
grace to the club. .5.1ss
But just when the Rube's fortunes
were at a low ebb he would perform
some notable feat that would put him
back in favor. y
Last season he was useless in the
early part of the season.; in the middle
of the year he worked magniicently.
Then he had a slump, and when finally
he got back in form his support was
so poor that ne matter how well he
worked he could not win. a
Waddel has been blamed for not
winning the famous seventeen inning
game that gave the pennant to De
troit, but it was errors, not his own
poor work, that put him in the hole.
The truth about the Rube, the ex-
PLANTATION of his faults and his virtues,
is the fact that. like Peter Pan, he
eve grew up. His body matured, but
his mind remained in the childhood
stage.