Bisbee daily review., 1912-04-24
BUSTERS FIND
 HARD STRUGGLE
Ball Players From Small League Have Hard Time Climbing
 to the Top
IT'S HEART BREAKING

Detohe great pTOiesSlOn as well as c great game and so many thousand American boys are looking forward 10 a big league career. perhaps a few words from one who has been through the experience might be acceptable
 The life of professional ball player appeals to the healthy boy more than ever before, ard lt is right that it should. l believe one of the most wholesome effects of the National game has been the influence which it has exerted on the healthful outdoor life and physical exercise which it in spires in the young. But, like all ideals. l must say it fades on reali- ration, for 1t involves q great deal of hardship and disappointment. How. ever, in the end it certainly repays a man for all his anxiety and labor The boy who is to make the biz league player of the future gets his experience on the sand lots. in the back yards. or on the outlying fields of his home town. Here he receives l his first valuable lesson in that train ing upon which hIs future success is built.
 This is perhaps the most pleasant experience of the big league players life, for any petty worries or cares which may come to him then are quickly lost sight of in the dreams he builds for the future. suppose every boy taxing part in these games sees himself sometimes as a Ty Cobb or a Hans Wagner. and the fact that most of these dreams never come true doesn't make the battle of the corner lot diamonds any less pleasant
 Most of the boys. of course. who engage in these childhood pastimes 70 to higher schools or drift into other occupations or lack ability enough to progress i'll the ranks of the Drofes- sionals. But those who have the most ability and most opportunity iu time make good enough showing to be taken on by some Independent club. Here the training is more eX- acting, more stead ying and more ac- cording to schedule There is some of that system which was lacking in the first games of the players earliest experience when ne sometimes en gagged in a game with seven men on a side and ball made out Of carpet rabs. Here he begins to lose some of his ideal view of baseball in the hard knocks of practical experience and it is here, if ever, that he makes prog ress enough to call his work to the attention of some major league scodt.
 IL Is a proud day in the life of any ball player when he signs his first con tract. It does not make much difcr- ence how small the league is CT how far down in the list of Class D clubs, 1t Is at least a part of organized baseball and he is 3 real professional ball payer. He does not stop to con slider that there are thousands of players signed up early in this way and that only few of them can ever hope to rise to big league standard. He knows in general way that many will fail, but he feels sure that he will not be one of this number
 It is here that the coach or manager begins to drill into him his first real lessons in professional baseball He learns much in folding. batting anl base running which he never dreamed of before He begins to see how real ly little he did know about the game and how much he must improve if he is ever to attain his ambition. This minor league practice is great school. and lige all schools, it involves hard work and many disappoint- ments
 The young player in the minor leagues has his eye fixed from the first on the majors with their high salaries and bright honors. He pic lures himself as standing or the dia- mond some afternoon with many thousands of spectators apTgauding his brilliant feats. The picture looks very good to him sc he works for it accordingly.
 He may stay in the minor leagues one year or several years, but some day, If he is perscvering and has 1t in him. his work will attract the at- tention of a major league scout. In this way ne is recommended to some one or more of the big league clubs and after a good deal Of negotiation he reaches the first step in the final realization of his hopes and is signed on ss a big league player.
 He is now fairly entered upon the career for which he has worked and struggled so long, but after all, he is no more than fairly entered. What be will do after he gets there and how nearly he will live up to his ambi- tions Is problem which no one can solve, least Of all the player himself.
 The ranks of the big leagues are continually overcrowded. In them, more than anything else. to my knowledge. there is competition which is fierce and constant and which keeps a man keyed up to his maximum endurance from start to finish of the seasons pennant race. The young player finds himself thrust rudely into this grand mix-up, where it is every man for himself. where the ties of friendship or apprecia- ton of past service amount to nothing and where a man Is judged solely and wholly upon his present abilities.
 It is here that the young player is 10 experience harder knocks than have been his lot at any previous time in his career. He usually reports in the spring to the major league club