Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-02-18
JOHNNY GONDING IN CHARGE
Famous Backstop Will Accompany
Youngsters on Their Jaunt.
REGULARS TO PLAY AT JOPLIN
White Sox and st. Louis Browns Are
Signed for Games.
CONTRACTS ALMOST ALL IN
Brother Dave Has Received the
Signed Papers of Every Player
But Three-Pa Has No
Fears of Holdouts.

hAt Nh9s AEOEl lOuaN anu uhllN re-
ports will be coming in from the training
camps and among them will be those o.
the Rourkes who will be safely settled
for a three weeks stay in Joplin P5
Rourke is busy making arrangements fol
the trip and as the days draw nearer L
the time when he will pack his grip HI
becomes more restless.
For the last week he has been talking
over the situation with Johnny Gonding
who leaves tomorrow night for Hot
Springs. from whence he will go to the
Missouri town to Join the Rourkes. And
the conversations he had last week were
not fruitless. for IL was decided thai
when the Rourkes break camp on April
L Johnny will take the Yannigans for q
weeks trip through Oklahoma, meeting
Six teams in that time.
Twenty-Five players will report at Jop.
lin on March Is. From that time until
April IL the entire bunch will be kept
working for all there is in them. On the
latter day the survivors of the wedding
process will be divided into two squads.
The regulars In charge OF Manager
Charlie Arbogast and Pa Rourke will al
once jump to Omaha, where they will
play the next day with one OF the Amer
iican association teams The Yannigans
or scrubs will be turned over to Johnny
Gonding and will invade Oklahoma, re-
turning home on April 10. the opening date
for the Western league teams.
Schedule Not Fixed.
The towns which the Yannigans will
invade have not been positively settled on
yet. and Pa is waiting for further de-
velopments in the Mid-Continent league
which Is now being organised In that
state. A meeting is TO be held tomorrow
and the league formed. Rourke will then
endeavor to book q few towns In that
league for games with the Yannisans,
The towns which he now has in mind
are sapulua, Muskogee, okmulgee, Tulsa
and Wagner. One other town is needed,
but possibly only five games will be
played.
In addition to playing the six games
several others will be arranged for the
Yannigans. 1t is now the intention Of
sending the Yannigans out of Joplin for
Saturday and Sunday. while making his
stay in Joplin. After playing Saturday
and Sunday the recruits will come back
and work out with the regulars during the
week days. They will be under the charge
OF Johnny Gonding while on the road
BY this method Rourke thinks his re-
eruits will get Just the kind Of practice
they need. Gonding will probably catch
IN the games the Yannigans play and in
this manner the pitchers will get some
valuable workouts.
Busy Arranging Dates.
For the last two weeks Rourke has
been busy lining up dates with clubs for
Four games he had scheduled with St
Paul OF the American association have
been cancelled owing TO the early open
ing date for that league. Pa had arranged
for two games with the Saints at Joplin
on April s and Z. Two other games were
scheduled for Saturday and Sunday prior
10 the opening day in Omaha with the
Saints. The only big league games Rourke
has signed up for to date are with the
81. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago
White Sox. There Is a chance Of getting
two games each with The Giants and the
st. Louis Browns and Rourke is work
ing hard TO land them.
Two other games have been arranged
for. but dates not set. with st. Joseph
10 be played at Joplin and also two
games with Topeka. On the return home
the Rourkes will play two games with
Lincoln at lincoln and then return to
Omaha for two games with Lincoln at
Rourke park. There Is a bare possibility
that there will be two other games
played at home before the opening day,
Pa Rourke said he would know definitely
some day this week. Rourke figures
that by playing as many games as pos
Eible while at Joplin and by sending out
the Yannigans he will be able to keen
down the expense Of the training trim
70 a certain extent.
All Sign But Three.
But three more signed contracts are
AAN"N--A hAA- AhNNA nc AAT VIII nave
his entire bunch for 1912 signed up. He
has thirty-one players on his roster,
twenty-eight OF whom have already
signed up. The three who have not been
signed are not worrying Pa as he says
he has no fears Of any holdouts this sea
son There are too many good players
on the market at the present time to
cause me any worry about holdouts, '
said Rourke. The players all over the
country are thanking themselves that
they have a berth this season at all. as a
great number OF the managers are re-
;reachinS."
Crutcher PLAYS Racket Rail