Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-06-24
STARTED AS PITCHERS
Instances of Baseball Stars Who
Successfully Changed Positions.
BRESNAHAN DID THE TRICK.
Manager Of St. Louis Nationals Start
ed Out as Twirler Before Becoming a
First Class Baekstop-Many Others
Showed Versatility In This Respect.


| In the case Of a number of promi-
nent baseball players sufficiently large
| to be worthy of comment pitching was
merely an apprenticeship. which led
up to proficiency in other positions.
| The pitchers box is too important a
station in the ball field to play second
fiddle to any other position. A first
class pitcher is without-which -noth-
| ing to a ball team. So long as a
player is doing well as pitcher he
| is too valuable an asset to think of
putting him elsewhere, yet there have
been frequent cases Of first class pitch
ers. as well as those who were not
first class, making still greater names
for themselves in baseball after they
had ceased to serve on the mound.
Roger Bresnahan, now manager and
catcher Of the st. Louis Nationals. is a
striking case Of player becoming
star after he had tried his hand at
pitching. Bresnahan did some pitch
ing for the Washington and Baltimore
teams, and one day McGraw's Balti.
more team was hard pressed for catch
ers. The backstop STAFF was crippled
and the supply was short.
Ever do any catchingT McGraw
asked Bresnahan.
"Once or twice." was the answer
Suppose you go behind the bat now
and see what you can do"
Roger went behind the bat and has
been behind ever since. This was in
1901, and the first man who tried to
steal on Bresnahan was thrown out by
yards. Since then Bresnahan has de-
veloped into one Of the national games
most expert catchers.
Jimmy Sheckard, left fielder of the
Chicago Nationals and one Of the best
throwers in the game, was once
pitcher, sOuthpaw, In Brockton.
Mass, before he broke into the big
league ranks with the Brooklyn team
some years ago. He could hit, and he
was transferred to a place which
would provide more opportunity for
his usefulness.
Then there's Bobby Wallace Of the
st. Louis Americans. The canny Scot
was a pitcher for the Clevelands prior
to becoming a star third sacker and
good man with the stick. AS pitcher
he was pretty good and probably could
have stayed in the box longer than he
did If he had not been destined to seek
another occupation, so to speak. He
was strictly first class third baseman,
just as he now is strictly first class
shortstop.
Another graduate from the box was
Kid Gleason Of the Philadelphia Ma
tionals. The Kid was for long time
a pitcher Then he drifted to second
| base and became one Of the best. Dur
ing his career as an infielder he rose to
the 300 class Of hitters, batting at
those figures for the Baltimores one
season.
A good pitcher who afterward be-
came a good Outfielder and strong bats
man was George Van Haltren. Van
was left handed pitcher from the
coast and In the big league did good
work for several years before finding
sanctuary in the outfield. His has
been a long, very long, career. Season
after season he was up with the lead
ing hitters, and that after he had al
most forgotten what 1t was like to
pitch a ball.
Charley Hickman, formerly Of the
Cleveland Americans and now Of the
Toledo team Of the American associa-
ton, began as pitcher. Hick was
Just a fair pitcher. but about nine
years ago he pitched to 2 fourteen
| inning game against the Phillies. Del
ehanty, Flick and other sluggers were
on the Phillies at the time, so Hick
was good that day at any rate. He
was pitching for the New Yorks at the
time. Hick still carries Earring clout
in that bat of his.
The hard hitting and feet Mike Tier
nan was left handed pitcher for the
New Yorks I'm the eighties, but, as in
the case of others, it was seen that he
was a natural hitter and likely to be
Of more value to his team elsewhere
than in the box. He was sent to right
field and adorned that pasture for the
New Yorks when they won the pen
nant in 1888 and 1889.
! John Ward pitched for Providence
in 1881 before he turned his talents in
other directions. John wasn't any
SLOUGH of twirleF either, but it was
at playing the infield that he made
his biggest reputation as ball player.
He was fast, daring. a master Of the
fine points Of the game and a sticker
| to be feared.
Just to show what one time pitcher
can do, take the case Of Tip O'Neill,
who helped make the old st. Louis
Browns famous. O'Neill, tall,
straight. we'll built fellow, was strug-
Cling along as a pitcher for the Nets
of the American association twenty
years ago, but what few opportunities
he had to bat showed that he "had the
makin9s." One day he woke ND to