The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-13
PACE CALLS
 O'NEILLS BLUFF
Waterbury Boy Manager Fights
 New Britain Mogul For Out
 fielder Jack Hoey's Serves

Waterbury, March 13-In spite of the strange agreement made between H R Durant and Dan O'Nein whereby Jack Hoey was to be sold to the New Britain club for price to be named by President William J. Tracy, Hoey will wear a Waterbury uniform this year. Ills signed contract has been filed and Dan O'Neill has nothing to back up his claim but a worthless slip of paper and the probable support of Tracy.
 O'Neili has in his possession a piece of paper signed by Durant dated Noy. l. 1910. which reads about as fol lows:
 -T agree to sell player Hoey of the Waterbury baseball team to Dan O'Neiu of the New Britain club for a price which President Tracy shall name"
 At the time Durant made this agree mefrf. tfne Waterbury club had no clear title to Hoey and Durant had no power to dispose of him. Hoey was included in the list of players claim ed by Mike Finn, and the decision of disputed players to the local club, was not made until after the first of the year.
 O'Nein never filed the agreement with O'Rourke. Farrell or anybody else. In baseball a mans word counts
  ed with the secretary of the organiza- ton or national association. According fo this O,Neilrs slip of paper is of no value
 When the new owners of the local team received a list of the players on the reserve list. Hoey's name was there. The first intimation Manager Pace had that there was anything rrniss wak when Hoey received con- tact from O'Neill Hoey was not ar- -.ious to play in New Britain and re- fused to sign.
 Pace immediately got busy and learned that neither Secretary Farrell of the National association nor Secre- tary O'Rourke of the State league had been notified of any transaction: He also learned from Durant that Tracy had not fixed any price and that no money had changed hands.
 When the new manager went to the directors, meeting in Hartford last week he started right in at Tracy ana O'Neill. He told O'Neill that he would fight for possession of Hoey until warm spots froze over and the sun turned into a skating rink The so- called "kid'' manager of retiring ols- position spoke out so plainly that Dan remarked:
 Well you've got the nerve, kid
 Call ii nerve or whatever you like" was the reply. 'fWhen man puts ms money into a thing he isn't gong to smile when you try to put over any thing quite so raw as that.
 When he returned from his confer .,-e in New York with McPartlin last night. Pace gave out the following ln- rsrview:
 We will have Hoey if we have to dsh. O'Neill all the way to the Ma rfenal commission. I don't hold any thfng against Durant in this affalr. Ho has always seemed honest In ms realings with.me. As to O'Nelll ana his bluff I ain not going to be idle and let a man like that decide where Hoey plays
 '.I don't see how we can lose, as 0urant had no right to dispose or uoey when that agreement was made --aCy set no price. In fact nothing r-trther was done after the paper was -srned. If O'Neill wants Hoey he will i,aye to fight for him. We paid good -,cnev for him and will spend a lot -..s--e to keep him. We have principle -5 law on our side
 Turant and Pace talked things over '.--t night and apparently parted good tends. "O'Neill has no valid claim - Hoey." said Durant on leaving Pace. Tn the first place. I had no authority fo make this agreement when l dld and then the terms of the agreement were not carried out. Tracy set no price and O'Neill did nothing more about it. Pace has called Dams bluff '"