The Topeka state journal., 1909-03-01
Secretary Byrne in Charge OF
Club MakeS Announcements.
The Team Has Strings ON Sew
enteen Capable Pitchers.
DWYER is IN CHARGE.
Manager of Last Years Team
Will Again Head Boosters.
Thirty-Three Players Are Under
Contract for Season.

'eDes Moines, Ia, March 1.-Secretary
John F. Byrne, of the Des Moines base
ball club, arrived in Des Moines ana
opened up the headquarters for the sea
son of 1909. From now until the final
series is played with Lincoln, in Sep
tenber. and even later he will be ION
the Job" adding to his personal popu-
larity and the prosperity of the local
club. His arrival in Des Moines should
be a joyful one for the fans for ne
proved to be a gold mine of dope He
is able to string out yards of 1t, OF
which a portion will follow hereafter.
1--WE are not claiming the 1909 West
ern league pennant, but we are gong 10
make a far better fight for it this year
than last" said Byrne last evening, as
he conned over the list of the players
under reserve and contract to the local
club. I'VE have as good, if not bet
fer schedule, than any other team In
the league; we have a good manager
and if we can land three players that l
know of I am absolutely sure thal the
Des Moines fans Will be as satiSf1ed as
= is possible for any fans to be. we
reed an Al catcher, probably another
good infielder. and hard hitting ex-
Derienced outfielder. Otherwise L fig
ure that we are all right.
The list of players under contract
1nder reserve and possibilities for the
Des Moines club is a lengthy one. The
mere fact that Des Moines has strings,
and in some cases chains, on IL pltcners'
is enough to prove this fact. AlInoSt
baseball nines-that's going some. There
is a catcher for every other pitcher
with an exception or two, ana vast
quantities of infielders. etc.
Here is the complete list OF the play
ars attached to the DeS MOineS apron
strings in the slightest way:
Catchers-Harry Mcdonnell. Mike
Heckinger, L. W. Raedel. Charles Pen-
nington. and Phil Kerner.
Pitchers-C. Bierdorfer, A. Nelson,
Charles Bomar. Fred Herche, Fred w.
Schwartz, John ]. Mcdonnell, George
Rates. f. NJ. Gilmore, E. A. Lebo. Chas.
Kirwin, Arthur McGregor, J. Tompkins,
Joe Sporer, william Ahlin, and r. c.
Miller.
rick, William Annis, William Jastrom,
Phil Chouinard. Frank Schoch. G. A
Bean. and Jimmy Byrnes-
Outfielders-Tom O'Hare, Frank Cra-
mer Fred Erickson.
In addition to these it is certain that
Niehoff will be back, as waivers haze
been secured on him by Washington and
he will be turned back to Des Moines;
and Bader may be seen in Des Moines
uniform at the end of the training trip
of the White Sox.
There are some holdouts now among
this list. but as the number of candi-
dates for the team is so large Secretary
Byrne will send out notices in the near
future notifying the hold-outs to sign
up Immediately if they desire to take
part in baseball this summer. But some
new signatures have been received late
ly since the last letter from Byrne to
the Register and Leader sporting edi-
tor One of the players who is expect
ed to make Des Moines strong III he
outfield is Tom O'Hare. He was pick
ed up by Manager Dwyer, coming
from Erie, Pa. The league that he
played in last year went to the wall
and O'Hare became a free agent, and
was grabbed by Des Moines from the
hands of two or three other clubs that
Arcre trying to get him.