The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-10
WALLACE is KING OF EN-
ALL WHEN IT CONES TO SERVICE

st. Louis, January 9.--Who is the
daddy OF them all in point of major
league service?
Hans Wagner? 40. Larry Lajoie? No.
Since Fred Clarke retired and since
the famous arm of old Cy Young failed
to respond in warming up the title
of dean of them all for continued
major league service belongs to Rody
Wallace of the st. Louis Browns, ma
tive of Millvale. Pa, and boyhood
friend of Ed Hickey and a hundred
others who starred on amateur and
professional diamonds hereabouts in
the early nineties. He has been in the
major leagues two years longer than
Wagner and one year longer than
LaJoie
Wallace starts on his eighteenth year
when he departs for the training
grounds with the Browns in March. He
began with Cleveland as "a pitcher in
1906 and in the succeeding year and
In all the years following he piled the
trade of third basing and shortstopping
with the old Cleveland Spiders and then
the st. Louis Browns
Hans Wagner lounged awlS wardly
against cigar stand in the Great
Northern hotel In Chicago one day last
fall. Groups OF players from the Pitts
burg Pirates and the st. Louis Browns
We're tanning. The Browns We're play
ing the White Sox chat same day while
the Pirates met the cubs.
DO you see that fellow over there
smoking that thick cigar asked Hon.
us, pointing to "a we'll dressed and re-
fined looking individual who was care
fully selecting some smokes at the 9TH
er end of the counter
Well continued ionus. That Rody
Wallace of the Browns. We don't get
to see each other very much nowadays
but / remember him well. He has been
playing in the big leagues longer than
any of us, now that Fred Clarke has
quit and Cy Young is through"
Out in st. Louis they call him Bobby,
but over In Millvals, opposite Pittsburg.
where they know him better they still
call him Rody.
Roderick j. Wallace was born in Mill
vale on November L. 1874. He Is there
fore nine months younger than Hans
Waoner He played around the lots of
Millvale as a boy, went swimming in
the Allegheny near the old Forty third
street bridge and often took his part
in the battles with the feudists on the
opposite bank who yelled "TIeiniesH
across the stream at the Millvalers.
Later he played with the Franklin In
dependents of Franklin, Pa, but 1t was
with Clarion and in the old Iron ana
Oil league that he came into promi-
nence.
While with Clarion he played in an
exhibition game against the old Clevc-
land Spiders, managed by Patsy Tebeau.
Wallace looked good to Tebeau as a
pitcher and he grabbed him up In 1904
for trial But Wallace did not do much
pitching for Tebeau discovered that in
Wallace he had a fielding genius whose
craft could better be applied over
around .hird base. AZ pitcher Rody
won four games and lost one while
with Cleveland but after he became an
infielder and as such grew famous. Wal
lace was batter on the order of Otto
Knabe. now of the Phillies. He wasn't
counted among the hard d><hitters and
only twice in IS years did he bat above
the 800 mark. What Scout Billy Mur-
ray once said about Knabe fits Wal
lace pretty we'll. Murray was discussing
Knabe one day and he said;
~ don't care what baseball figures
show. Knabe can show .240 batting
average for the season ant yet he has
oeen more valuable TO his team as
run producer than many or the men
who are in the 300 DIVISION
Wallace was one ol eiis ciasS' D"t
as fiIder he was sensation and
10 this day it is hard for the Browns
To get anyone from the fine combed
hush leagues who can shuttle along
more consistently than Rndy, In 1899,
Tho year that the Cleveland players
were transferred 10 the st. Louis Ma
tionals. wallace Of course went along.
Then came the war. Rody, figuring that
he could better himself, jumped over
with the ST Louis Browns in the Amer