Audubon County journal., 1911-06-01

se-s
filial conduct and that he had ever
disapproveds of the course had taken,
without his cooperation.
Late in the fall 1 said goodby to
Rockford and went to Philadelphia
with the purpose of making myself fit
for the coming season of baseball as
l could do the trick All that winter
worked hard in the gymnasium, only
occasionally playing billiards and TAX
Ing in the sights of the great city as
a relaxation.
In spite of the fact that the season
of 1871 had been the most prosperous
In the history of baseball, there were
many changes in the membership of
the professional leagHe. Some of the
clubs had fallen by the wayside and
there We're several newcomers in
the ranks. Conspicuous among the
absentees was the Chicago club, which
/ had tried so hard to get into. The
big fire of October, 1871, which nearly
wiped the Queen of the Inland Seas
off the map, left the city without a
baseball organization. Had l succeed
ed in my attempt to break into the
team | should have been stranded
with the others My old club the For
est Citys of Rockford, was also among
the missing, so that it seemed proyi-
Dental that l had gone to the City of
Brotherly Love
At the opening of the regular play
ing season the Professional league
had IL teams on its list, but When
the season was over only six were left
to tell the tale These were the Ath
letics of Philadelphia, the Baltimores,
the Bostons, the Mutuals of New York
and the Atlantics and Eckfords Of
Brooklyn. The first four Of these
were regularly salar1ed clubs, but the
Brooklyn organizations were coop
erative affairs.
With the possible exception of the
Bostons, the team of which l was q
member in that season of 1872 was
the strongest that had yet appeared
on the diamond. don't care to say
that the acquisition of A. G. Arson
had a mighty lot to do with this, but
my record for that season showed that
| played ball some. We were espe-
cially strong at the bat. for among
the first eleven on the batting record
that year we numbered six, the Bos-
tons coming next with three, and the
Baltimores following.
don't mind saying right here that
in some respects we were mighty
c{0hf ctr fhor the
was their team work that put them in
the front. So far they seemed to be
about the only club in the country
that realized the value of good team
work ir winning a championship. If
mere time and attention had been
given to this vital point feel certain
that the Athletics would have topped
the list that year. AT the very first
game we played with them l got wise
to their strength and our weakness,
and l made up my mind that if ever
! got control of nine l would make
team work feature. | didn't forget
1t either when l reached the manage
rial stage of my career.
During that first season with the
Athletics played third base. Ihe
Philadelphia folks, who had seen me
play in that position with the Forest
Citys evidently thought I was at my
best at third, and had an idea at the
time that it was my strong hold.
Since most of the men in the Athlet-
les makeup that year remained with
the club as long as did and were my
constant companions during four
years professional playing this will
be good place to name them. For
tunately for me had got the diary
habit and the books are still in ny
possession. AS I look over those
NOT FOR BOYS
WITH THE
7 sy9 sSSs al y