Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-06-29

field. He came to us from Milwaukee,
and he certainly was a queer fish.
When he came to Chicago he was as
steady as pack mule. In those days
he was never known to spend a nickel
and was so near" that he would go
tanned mention of himself If he
couldn't borrow it. Later on Dial
broke loose and all of sudden be-
came one of the sportiest of sports,
blowing his salary as If he had picked
1t up in the street, and setting a hot
pace for his associates. | am happy
to state that after he quit the game
he settled down and became model
business man.
Our outfield was equal to that of
any league club before or since, and
our infield-now, say! You make a
big mistake If you think modern base
ball can show its superior. This was
everywhere as "Chicago's stone WALL"
so-called because the only way ball
could be sent beyond 1t was to bat
1t so high that it was out of reach.
The players who made up that in
field were Ed Williamson, Fred Pfef-
fer, Tom Burns and yours truly. We
had played together so long and had
practiced SO steadily that scarcely a
play could be made that we were not
in perfect readiness to meet. We had
system of signals that was we'll
nigh infallible, and the moment a ball
was hit and we had noted its direc-
ton we knew just what to expect
We were wise to all the tricks of the
different twirlers, and, most important
of all, we had perfect confidence In
each other
Williamson was playing shortstop
and Burns third base. The latter ex-
celled in the blocking game, which he
managed in style have never seen
attempted by any other player and
which was sure to make the base run
ner considerable trouble. At short
Williamson was to the manner born,
and in spite of his great bigness" he
could cover as much ground in that
position as any man l have ever seen.
fIis throwing was of the rifle shot or
Ger, but it was not hard to catch, be-
cause 1T came SO accurately into the
hands. OF the merits of Williamson
and Burns as ball players cannot
speak too enthusiastically.
Fred Pfeffer was a ball player from
the ground up and as good q second
baseman as the sport has ever pro-
duced The only thing ever called
him down for was tendency to pose
for the grand stand, although he was
such an artist that l really couldn't
blame him a great deal for wanting
folks to know 1t. No man that ever
held down the second bag was his SUI
perior in making spectacular exhibit
ton on the diamond. He was high
salaried player and one that earned
every cent he got, a hard worker and
always to be relied on.
want to say Of John Clarkson that
he was really great" He was the
best pitcher that ever stopped over
night in Chicago, and mean what
say. he was the inventor ana 500
proprietor Of a remarkable drop curve
and fast overland, lifting speed that
would have made any ball player IA
nous, and in addition his change of
pace was the most mystifying ever
seen on the diamond. In the spring
OF 1888 John was released to the Bos-
tons for $4,000 and played with that
team for several years.
Jim Mccormick, Clarkson's alternate
in the box, was also one of the best
men that ever sent a ball whizzing
across the plate AS rule, pitchers
are not good batsmen, but Jim was
glittering exception. John Flynn,
third pitcher in the string, had won
derful drop ball, great speed and was
a good batter and a fast fielder. He
was tip-top fellow. too. and had his
arm not given out would have been
shining light in the profession.
Jimmy Ryan was schoolboy from
Holy Cross college, Worcester Mass,
when he came to US, but he showed
signs OF making good and he did in
time. He was good hitter and good
judge of fly ball. He was also an
oSSuidlo lcIIuduueQ UuTOWeT. Ills
greatest fault was that he wouldn't
run out on a base hit, but would walk
to his base I used to fine him re-
peatedly for this, but he was slow to
take the hint.
The first time ever saw Billy Sun
day he was driving for an underta-
ker in Marshalltown, la. Later saw
him at fireman's tournament, and
the speed he showed on that occasion
made me think he was flrst-class tim
Der for baseball. asked him II he
would like to go to Chicago, and he
said he didn't mind. provided
wouldn't expect him to work on Sun
day. told him we could fix that and
he concluded he'd try it. The first
thirteen times he went to bat after
playing with US he was struck out,
and l got good many left-handed
compliments from the boys on my
ability to pick winner. hung on
to him, however, and he soon devel-