The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-09
A FEW FACTS
ABOUT MY LITE


 c. Hans Wagner in Baseball Magaz
 sttT was born on February 24, 1874. so~if I live till that date this winter I shall be 41 years old. That is old for a ball player they say At least around the big leagues at that age. guess. won't say that I am the oldest ball player in the big leagues, for I don't know. But guess am in the senior class.
 I was born in Carnegie and always sIived here. though the town vasnst named Carnegie then. It was called Mansfield when I4drst saw it. but as it was a great mining and milling place, MT. Carnegie had con siderable reputation hereabouts, and the citi- zens decided to rename it for him. T guess the old town hasn't sufferer any from the change.
 ssI played baseball when was a kid. and liked the game. liked all kinds Of outdoor sport then and do now was pretty fast on my feet when was a kid know we used to run foot. races every night. We used to run in the dirt and thought nothing of running fifteen or twenty sprints in an evening. I have competed in a sprint with seTnf-professionaIs and won the race. I have been timed quite often, once at a hundred yards in ten seconds. This Is fast, not many can do it, and won't say that my timer was correct People have been led astray by my style Of running. En my prime I was told I did not look as though I was running fast, because I took such long strides. That is true, Isdid take long strides. So does Bescher, who is a deceiying runner | too. But Bescher gets x1here, and that was my object. It never made any difference to me how many strides I took as long as took enough to land me where I was going.
 sI played baseball when was kid, ] but that didn't amount to much. There was no money in it. went to school here in Carnegie and learned a few things. Then I had to go to work. It is a mining country here and the coal mines are what they call surface mines That is, they don't sink shaft as they do in some parts, but work into a side hill from the surface. I was coal miner for about a year didn't do any breaker work ike some of the other ball players, who have started that way. was pretty husky for my age and did general work in the mine for pay. It was 1 hard work, but good exercise. did not work a whole year in the mine Then I went into a mill and worked for about a year. That was also good exercise.
 When was sixteen started play ing ball here in earnest I began in l 1891 and played that season also in ,92 and '93. In '94 played with the 1 St. Luke's Club of Mansfield, which 1 was then the name of this town be- fore 1t was changed to Carnegie.
 .eThe latter part of the season of @ 4 I. went away to play ball. That was on account of my brother Al He was playing with the club at Dennison. Ohio, and told the manager he had a brother who could play ball. They bo1fAVeC Hfl7a and saT,f Tor tshed the season there.
 In 'S5 played with three different l clubs. One of them was Steuben- vile, Ohio, which was managed by George MoreIand AEoreland sent Tor mo and wanted me to play. He said he would give me $B6 a month. I told him I wanted $40. He wrote me, I will pay you $S5 month. and that Is all I will pay you; if you don't want 1t you can stay home So I went. There weren't so many jobs open in baseball in those days. A player didn't have so much choice as l to where he would go or what he | would get. And needed the money. stayed at Steubenv1lle only a few I weeks. I was also at Warren, of the Iron and Oil League, but most of the season I spent at Adrian, NTichlgHn. where I played between two and three months. managed the club there. and did pretty well. We finished in second place.
 My legs have slowed up some in the past few years. That has hure my fielding a little, as I can't cover SO much ground as used to do. It has tl slowed me up as a base stsalsr foos though so long as a man can get the start on the pitcher and slide wen he can steal a fair number of bases a year even after he has slowed up a bft.''
 During $ tsst oof tiTs nsE 5z55.ss5