The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-06
JIMMY ARCHER IS
 GREAT BACKSTOP
Chicago Catcher Had Long Wait in Minors Before
 Staying in Big Show.

Popular Jimmy Archer, the won derful backstop of the Chicago Ma tfona1 League club. successor to the previously fncomparable Johnny Klfng, and named by the leading baseball writers of the country as the greatest catcher in the game to-day, has no rivals. of any considerable cal ibre in his own particular league.
 While the younger organization presents uncommoniy clever back stops in Scha1k, Schang, Henry, Ains- -nnith and Carrigan, Jimmy Archer stands practically alone in the Nation al organization, far excelling Chief Myers and the once famous Gibson, the only catchers that can begin to compare with him in efficiency.
 Archer is 31 years of age, and0like two or three other stars in our great national game was born across the water, coming here from Ireland when an infant.
 Jimmy has been rated as a top notcher in his league ever since he Joined the Chicago team in 1908, but three years previous to that he made his appearance upon the baseball ho- rizon, looming up as a backstop with the Fargo team, an obscure Western outfit, which had never produced any thing that looked like big material before.
 Archer was hardly anything more 
 league scout happened to run through that country and noticed Jimmy at work. This scout erecomm ende him to the Atlanta club. which decided to give him a trial.
 Archer went south and the class he was competing in spurred him on to such efforts that Pittsburgh was in duced to draft him and at the end of this season he was on the Pirates payroll.
 
 trial he was shipped off to a minor league club. From the minors he was finally resurrected in the spring of 1906 by the Tigers and had Jen- nings only allowed him to catch in his own way without attempting to change his original style he might be as prominent a member of the Tigers as Ty Cobb is to-day:
 Unfortunately Jennings didn't like Archer's "hat-footed'' style of work ing. The Detroit manager figured that a catcher who caught and threw without changing his position lacked big league class and for few weeks he 1abored to effect a change but to no avail. Archer persisted in contin- uing in his own method and although Jimmy caught the final game of the worlds series between the Tigers and the Cubs, Jennings must have come to the conclusion that he lacked something of the major league essen t1alS, TOT, early In the following spring he was let out to Buffalo. It was here that Frank Chance took a liking to his work and made up his rnsnd to engage him. On trip east win the Cubs, Chance stopped off at Buffalo to see the game. In about the fourth inning a friend who was with Chance asked him what he thought of Geo. Mcconnell, who was on the mound for the Buffalo club. Chance replied that he was watching the catcher, Ar cher, instead of the pitcher, and that he was the only playerson the team that looked good to him.
 When, a few months later, Chance was told that Archer left a sick bed to catch Mcconnell, as the other Buff falo. backstops had refused to take any chances by working with the ec- centric spitba1I finger, Chance was convinced that Archer had the quail ties of gameness he was most in need Of. The following season, therefore,