The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-02-03
''Evening Farmer, All About The Sale Of The Bridgeport Base=
 ball Club.
O'ROURKE'S CAREER, GLORIOUS PAGE IN
 BASEBALL HISTORY
1 IN HIS HEYDAY HE KNEW FEW
 PEERS AND NO SUPERIORS.

IN HIS HEYDAY HE KNEW FEW
 PEERS AND NO SUPERIORS.
 Whether As Player or Manager He
 Was Equally at Home-Father of
 Connecticut League.
 When shall his glory fade, when
 shall the last word be spoken of the
 Grand Old Man of Baseball? Never
 rot as long as baseball reigneth The
 fans of today will hand down the
 baseball lore of the days before them
 to their children. With their stories
 will be linked the name of James H. l O'Rourke the youngster who has don
 ned the spangles for forty years, and
 yet who, according to, himself, is fit | to go into the game and show some Of
 the flashy youngsters how the national
 art shall be played. How is he re-
 garded about the country as a know
 CT of baseball lore? His word is
 sought all over this broad land He
 Arbitration, which board makes the laws for the baseball leagues of the
 country. He is a player ,and knows the ins and outs of the game. What
 is his ability as a player? Jack O'Con- nor, now manager of the St. Louis
 Browns, was scouting for that team
 two seasons ago. He stopped off in 1 Bridgeport for 8 few games, watching
 some of the youngsters cavort about the green swad Did you find any,
 thing yet,'' wired Manager Jim McAleer from St. Louis. There is a youngster here, James H. O'Rourke, whom I re- gard as the most promising back stop | in ho 1Qa UJ1n
 just what he said.
 1 What was ORourkes ability as | ball player? Ask Pop Anson or Dan Brouthers. During the days that those famous youngsters were in their prime,
 Manager Jim was also in his heydey. His ability to hit the ball, and his
 marvellous fielding made him re- markable acquisition to any team. He was universally sought after by team managers, and it is known that in his
 day he commanded one of the highest
 salaries ever paid to player. The l batting records of the players of the fother days are still kept, but the field
 ing records were not thought much of. | There were few great felderS in the early days and Jim sORourke was one
 of them. When the Boston and Ath-
 letic teams went to England, not one of the team players could bowl the cricket ball. The English players had made an art of this pitching, not giv- | ing any attention to fielding. The
 work of the American players was a
 revelation to their English brethern.
 From that time on the game of cricket
 was revolutionized, the English play
 CTS realizing that with perfect fielding 1 that the scoring could be kept down. | It was this fielding that allowed the Americans to beat the English at their own game.
 O'Rourke has always stood for all I Y, se ;r0I 1o- AI.o11
 being a gentlemanly player both on
 and off the field. He may not have paid the highest salaries as a mana ger but his players could always be
 sure of their coin, the day it was due. He was a good instructor, many a
 young player learning the finer arts of the game by close attention to his
 work.
 | The career of Manager James H. 1 ORourke on the diamond has been
 without parallel. He is known all over
 the country as the Grand Old Man of
 Baseball" and locally as the Father l of the Connecticut league" His base
 ball history has been told again and
 again, being referred to by all the sporting writers of the country. He is l a native of this city, started his base 1 ball career when he was about 16 years
 of age That was around 1867, when | baseball leagues were unheard of. The
 first team under which he played was l the "Ironsides.' Cricket was a popu-
 lar sport in those days, so that not
 many turned their attention to base
 ball. From his first team he joined the
 "Osceolas' of Stratford, which team made a big name for themselves throughout the State, and which club | played many of the big college teams. | His first professional engagement was
 with the Mansfield team of Middletown
 which was owned and controlled by Gen. Mansfield, a civil war leader. This was in 1872. He remained with | the same year, when he came back to
 Bridgeport, playing again with the Os- | ceolas, who were then styled the
 Bridgeport. It was his first experience
 away from home, the change not | agreeing with him, in other words he While with the Mansfields his work was noticed by Manager George Wright one of the famous Wright brothers who then controlled the Bos- | ton Nationals Toward the latter part Of 1872, Wright got into communica- for his 1873 team.
 | O'Rourke was with Boston from 1873 to 1879, in which year he went with | the Providence team, which was then
 under the control of the other Wright. He was back with Boston again in | ! Der of the club. In 1874 while with 1 the Bostons he accompanied that team l who with the Philadelphia Athletics made a tour of England staying on
 the other side for two months.
 | Here the two American teams were pitted against each other. They also,
 combined forces, playing the English at their own game, cricket, beating them at every turn. Even in the throwing of the cricket ball, the Amer | jeans were superior. Manager O'Rourke modestly asserts that his | whip was the strongest of all the com
 petitors, outdistancing all the throwers. | The teams also toured Ireland, where
 they never met defeat. Manager O'Rourke while in London met Gen. | T. l.. Watson of this city at the Cry stal Palace, where the contests were going on. Manager Jim tells of the | friendship which sprang up between himself and Tim Murnane, president of | the New England league, during the years O'Rourke played with the Osce- | olas and Mansfields.
 Murnane was WeStport boy and | played with the Osceolas.
 After the European trip O'Rourke came back to the land of the free and played again with Boston, till 1880 ex- cept 1879 when he was with Providence Tn 1S21 he contracted with the owners