El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-10-20

H ak of forming a new major
4 league in baseball in opposition
to the present National and
American leagues has caused the fans
to call TO mind the earlier history and
the peculiarities of some of the lead
ing men now in the game. The pro-
jected new league is generally derided
by the newspapers but others point
out that the same fate met the Amer
lean league when it was first agitated
Professional baseball owners and
managers come from all walks of life
and hundreds of stories are told of
their pecuIiarities. 1t is a recognized
maxim that a successful baseball man
must have more or less sporting in
stincts. For this reason the entrance
of professional theatrical men into the
| organized sport is resisted vigorously.
1t is feared they might put the game
on even more of a commercial basis
than it is now.
The Presidents Brother
The most prominent of the owners in
the game is Charles 2. Taft, brother of
| president Taft, multimillionaire and
owner of a Cincinnati newspaper. He
got into baseball by buying the Chi
| cago National league club on the ad-
| vice of Charles W. Murphy, now pres
| ident of that club, and said to be own
er of majority of it's stock. Baseball
runs in the Taft family, the president
having been good player at Yale and
an attendant at major league games
| whenever he got a chance.
| Garry Hermann, chairman of the ma
| tlonal commission, is known as a base
! ball man because of the constant men,
| ton Of his name in connection with the
| commission and his ownership of the
, Cincinnati National league club, but
he is man of large affairs in other
| directions. As president of the Amer
| lean Bowling congress and grand ex-
| allied ruler of the Elks he has attain
| ed national prominence In addition,
Mr.. Hermann is a prominent figure in
| Cincinnatfs commercial. financial and
political life.
| COmiskey Ideal Magnate.
| Charles Comiskey, owner of the Chi
| cago Americans, is the ideal baseball
! owner. He was one OF the greatest
| strategists and players the game ever
! produced and was a wonder as first
| baseman for the old ST. Louis Browns.
| He is said to have been one of the
| earliest to- discover that first basemen
| could play away from the base as they
| invariably do now. Mr.. Corniskey pays
| strict attention to business and is al
ways in touch with. his team, whether
|
with his men, but any man playing for
! him would rather tackle a sawmill
| than be called into the office for lee
| ture by The Old Roman" He does not
swear at or upbraid offenders. but says
| things based on his perfect knowledge
| of the game and the mems weaknesses
that are more effective than any tor
rent of abuse could possibly be.
Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pitts
burg Pirites, was a business man in
] bad health in Paducah and Louisville,
KY, before he took an active interest
| in baseball He soon became an ardent
| enthusiast and there is no more rabid
! fan in the country today. He has a
+ wonderfully retentive memory and it IS
/ said that he has the batting and field
ing averages of every player of prom
| ise in any league at his fingers end.
| He keeps large collection Of such sta
| tistics around him. On the slightest
i provocation he refers to them, digging
| therefrom information about whether
I the player is right or left handed. fast
or slow on his feet, or a quick or dull
thinker.
( Probably the greatest character in
| the game is Joe Cantillon, mana ger
and, with his brother Mike. owner of
the Minneapolis club which won the
American Association championship
| this year He was formerly a minor
league player, then a major league UNI
! pire, and innumerable anecdotes are
/ told of him. One that will never die is
! that which relates to his trading a ball
player he did not want and did not like
| for bull dog he earnestly desired.
Last spring he is said to have traded
another player to Charley Carr, the
Indianapolis manager, for complete