Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-08-23
Big LEAGUE RECRUITS
HAVE HARD times
They Have to Overcome
Swell Head

i OF the greatest pail players III the
i United States as told by himself to
Mr.. Fullerton. This player, of course,
began the game as a boy and passed
through all the stages from amateur
to minor league teams and then into
the big league. In this early expert
Ience he became a great victim of "the
swelled head" hit the first ball pitch
ed when he went to bat, after being
told to wait for two strikes and finally
lost his position on the big league
team After many vicissitudes he lost
his "swelled head" and got into the
big league again, where today at thir'
ty-four years of age, he is one of the
great veterans of the game. Of his
final entrance into the big league, he
says:
I'm June was purchased for q
large sum by the club which then
was the strongest in the country.
didn't say a word about money, al
though the club paid over $4,000 for
me- The new manager sat down with
me in the hotel the night joined his
team
"'All l want he said, is for 20 l
to get out there and hustle and be-
have yourself. I've heard you're hard
to handle, but I'll take chance
You won't have any trouble with
me- | assured him. All 1 want is q
chance to show that I can play
you'll get all the chance yoa
want, he said quietly. You're in the
lineup tomorrow
"Stage fright! Did you ever suffer
it? l did that night. My nerves Were
jumping, and thousand times l fig
ured out plays-yes, and made them
in planning what l would do the next
day.
eve we're playing a game against n
| team which we figured we would have
to beat out to win the championship,
I pictured myself hitting home runs
and making triple plays, and when
awoke in the worning I was nervous, u
shaky uncertain and scared ball play
er. In practice before the game every
thing hit my way l either fumbled or
threw Wild as my nerves were rags
The crowd seemed to be sorry for me
when they wern,t hooking. 1t was
relief when the game started.
81 was second at bat in the line-ur
on a foreign field and with a hostile
crowd roaring. The first man flied
out. Wait him out Take two,' sale
the manager as l picked up bat. The
first pitched ball cut the heart of tht
plate. l saw it all the way up an(
knew it would have been easy to hit !!
hard, yet let it go. Strike one,' tht
umpire yelled, and the crowd howled
| was as cool as a Boston east wind
The second ball came whizzing III
straight over the plate, with nothing
on it, and l itched to hit it, yet let i
go for a second strike
Then l settled to hit, expecting
curve ball. The curve went wide. !
asst one went high and wide 1 figures
at the pitcher thought he had
I sucker at bat and would curve on
I oyer. He came with fast ball foo
Ugh and 1 swung at it and struck on
'ty heart nearly got spiked as it san
! 'nto my toes, going back to the bench
That's the boy said the manager
I Wait him out Make him pitch.
81 could have kissed him for thos
words. l went to short with m
I nerves steady and my system full q
. confidence. The first ball hit was
sizzler over second. I got the bal
with one hand, and there wasn't
chance to throw the runner out if
stopped to straighten up, so l threw
without waiting and plunged forwar,
onto my face. The yell from tn
crowd told me the first baseman hat
caught it, and as I scraped the dus
out of my eyes and trotted back to pc