The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-23
THE COME BACk" OF ]. CALLAHAN
 CAUSES WONDER
By ". S. r,ARNswoRTH

By ". S. P.ARNsWORTH | New York; July 22.--Baseballdom mar vels at the "comeback'' of Jimmy Calla- han, in his long career on the diamond
 as pitcher, infelder and outfielder, After
 six years away from the big leagues he returns to the Chicago White Sox and is batting and fielding as cleverly as he
 did when he was supposed to be in his pIime eight years ago.
 Many others have tried to come back
 including such former stars as Herman
 Long, Jimmy Collins, Bobby Lowe, Jiggs Dcnahue, but not one of them could de-
 liver the goods on their return engage
 ment in fast company. Callahan, how ever, has upset all dope and he Is far from being pr. Osler candidate. was in Chicago with the New York Yankees a fortnight ago and watched Callahar's playing closely. I had watched him play years ago and I now found that outside of his throwing, he was just as good as ever. His arm, however,
 seems 10 be very weak and the infielders all back out toward him when balls are hit in that direction so as to relay it.
 On clouts to right center field Ping. Bodie usually covers them.
 Callahan is not quite as fast on his pedsis as he was in 1904, either, but at
 that he beat out five bunts down the third base line in the series against the Yankees and he certainly did scratch gravel and if he could take off about ten more pounds I am sure that he would be able to get down to first just as fast as ever.
 Jimmy is still the same worker on pull | ing in hard hit drives that start off as l though they were going over the bull | waIks He has a keen eye and can clutch a ball going over his shoulder as
 easily as he can fly that he doesn't | have to move a step for.
 | Tn fact, I find it much easier to catch
 a hard drive than one where I stand in my tracks, says Callahan. You often l drop those easy ones because you get careless and take them too soft" l met Callahan after the final game with the Yankees and asked him to dic- 1 tale his autobiography to me. Now. James has written many interesting mag a2ne articles, and while he refused to dictate anything to me, he sat down at | my typewriter and with the speed of a | $75 re-N rite man punched the keys as fol- | lows:
 | T came originally from Fitchburg, | Mass, which should be circumstance | fit to make that little village a future
 Mecca of poets, historians and philoso- I phers. l was sborn just 37 years ago, and l in the quiet scenes of Fitchburg l grew, | thrivod and learned the difference be- l tween e big league ball and a plate of | corned beef and cabbage, until l was
 about T years of age
 After an initial experience in the | minor leagues l obtained a job with Phil | adelphia, and had all my plans arranged | for rapid rush to glory in the fast com
 pany. l didn't get it. With hardly a trial | I was flung out on my head, so to speak,
 and my dream of glory was given a re- verse English that made me tired. Few of the baseball cranks of today | know that Philadelphia once turned me down. That experience has made me slow
 to ever condemn young player. A man
 ager should never reject youngster for | the old war horses without first giving | him thorough trial.
 philadelphia. I have been told, has
 often been sorry that I didn't stay there, l but I am glad they canned me. But for l that I might now be anchored in city where the grass can be heard growing
 through the busy hours of the day, and l where the ideals of the natives are con- 1 fined to a pound of scrappe and an un- dercooked squab.
 | q landed in Kansas City after leaving
 tise slumberburg, made good and was
 quite a pet with the fans of that place. | Kansas City Is all rght-a nice little | town and live baseball center. Ulti- mately I was drafted by Chicago, and if
 eN CT young candidate for big league | bonors was made useful 1t was me. Dur | ing my first year on the Chicago team 1 pitched, and also played first. second, l third, short, right. center and left fields. | The only thing l didn't do was to catch,
 and, at that, I would often warm up the pitchers before the game. It was prob | ally through an oversight by Captain | Anson that I was sent to catch game. | For some years I remained with the l Chicago club and then, seeing chance l to better myself financially, l jumped to | Charley Somiskey. While I regarded Jim
 Hart and the National league people with respect and esteem, I had better oppor- | tunites with the American league. When Clark Griffith went to New York to
 manage the Yankees I was made man. l ager of the White Sox.
 1 Finally, trouble arose, and I bought l and managed a semi-pro. team in Chi l oago, called the Logan Squares. But l Comiskey offered me big money to go | hack to his club this spring and I ac- cepted. While I don't think I am as l l still believe there is a lot of baseball
 left in me-"
 | And there sure Is. Here this veteran Is walloping the pellet around the $50 mark
 and making catches in right field for the l White Sox as good as ever. l It was Arthur Irwin, the Yankee scout, who really deserves the credit for un- | earthing Jimmy. When l. Rogers owned
 the Philadelphia club he sent Irwin up to Fitchburg to look over the young | pitcher who had been winning consistent
 ly for semi-pro. team up there in Mas | sachusetts. Irwin was stuck on the
 kid and signed him on the spot. It cer- | tainly was sad day when the Quakers
 let Callahan go without giving him a de- cent trial.
 Callahan is a credit to baseball A clean | fellow who pays attention to nobody's
 business but his own, and who is all 1 ways ready to give aid where it is needed. | Jimmy doesn't have to play baseball for living. Not by a long shot. He has
 a good fat bank roll, and could live cas- l fly the rest of his days on it's income.
 But he loves the game and says that he will never grow too old to play, even if he
 be in the back yard with the kids. l ATLANTA SECURES