The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-22
..sr1ED4 HnI11 DONOVAN HAS HAD AEANY
 UPs AND DoWNs

vueaz hens is VfhaIa Donovan asssx sn the American laa9z1e again. bIithssv and with a broad smile at 4ernxsssnx the feat in which Frank AA<.hance. the famous Native Son. falil- SAs So naiserasbly. It was just twelve VkSzsxs ago come tornorrows on A.pE1l @A 1903 that Donovan, them known aa% ssu1ld Bi1ls made his Axaeraesazal ssAE.a debut EsiA was them by way ahzasAd Ban Johnson's wagon h the. vzsafo4aaa of the Detroat Stz4peA Cats, feaahraAing tho event by II to
 h his lime the new pilot Of the -Ye.uazeea has had more ups and downs thzs1 usually fall to the lot of . ball p1zSasr The nickname oA sl1'e 5sszas41d serses are often esoSerio and sFs.ss. soxfgdn 1z1vzncTble to the nude inon1r1ug eye. but it was not so fn ssQ9asd F511rs cases 2 Bill was called eszsza5ss because he was wild oshs vszy very wild Simple, was 1t not7
 Douovan was born in Lawrence, 1xnes.. and will begin his fortdeth - r4zxt October He spent his happy c1d1dhood in the City of FsrotherIy Love his father keeping a tobacco shop in the Pennsy fvan1a me- 15sssuo Is when in his late teens he 1seszan to pitch for seTni pro clubs in p1eehadelDhiaSa and for acoupfe of sea- eGTf<5 was F1Lls S21fDu4.yss z c--s 1AS AAes SA a wide variety Of pretty curves. and s1eed to burn, but he was lacking sz1 xhe little item of control Tn 1891 he went up a notch by dgnfng with PaWfucket R. L. which club didn't take kindly to his wild ways and turned him over to Water bury
 h those days Bill was handsome. aaIief natured chap, and. his vii dIaess ras strictly conhned to business hours And that's true today of the manner of his habits while his professional F uildness has long since only been a. memory Donovan had his first Z chance in fast company with wash sirlpton. but the Senators soon sent him back to sthe New England league h 1900 Ned HanIon gave Donoyan a chance in Brooklyn. but soon turned him over to Hartford. Altogether. the superbas sent Wild BflI's back to Hartford three times before he final iy stuck with the Broo k1yn.
 fn-taae City of Churches and rubber sszJlazres Bill made reputation for qzildness which is still treasured in fak memory of Brook1yn fandon. NO other pitcher in cap pt1vtty ever missed the plate by go many as Bfll, nor beaned players and innocent by islanders with such ease and iInpunity. Tt got so that opposing batanaen would never face Bill without seeing that their insurance policy was paid 11p and bidding a fond fsrwen to wife and children. Life in the trenches has nothing on what life used to be for batters opposing the Superbas, with Bill in the box.
 Tn the course of time Donovan managed to gain some control, and by 1903 he was numbered among the star tvv1rlers In that years as pre- viousiy stated, Bill accepted call from the Detroit American league club and cast in his fortunes with the new circuit.
 Tn Detroit the Wild William part of his name became a memory. and he pitched great ball for the Tigers Most of the time his control was as E,sood as 1t had previously been bad when finally the old soup bone gave out, Donovan went to Providence sfand last year he pi1oted the Saints to an international league pennant
 wild BilIs' has become fSnniIfns fBiIl which proves that he is 9 brave man, for he is leading a fcrlorn hope lin which the chances of success are about as remote as anything that Ecnt1Id be imagined without putting an undue strain upon the imagination,