The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-11
BIG BILL JAMES. STAR
 TWIRLER OF BOSTON
 BRAVES, 8 TOMORROW.

William James, the star of the 5tWirhng trio who pitched the Boston Braves into the possession of the Ma tIonal League pennant and the worlds championship last year, will be twenty-three years old tomorrow At an age when the majority Of pitchers are no more than. fairly started, Big Bill has already made 8 reputationr for himself as one Of the greatest slab artists in major league captivity.
 James is a native son of the golden west, and Iowa Hill, Cal boasts of being his birthplace. t5fEIe still makes his home and does his voting in the Golden State, where he was reared and grew to six feet three inches and 200 pounds of brawny, athletic man hood. Some man. is Bill, in1the. mat ter of size, but,N unlike so many giants, he also has a regular man size brain. and can think as rapidly and effectively as the next fellow 1T you don't believe it. ask, the Athletics who pitted all their genius against the Californian in the worlds series. and got two skinny hits in nine i'm nings.
 Big Bill has played, baseball ever since he was a kid He played it in the common schools and during the three years he spent in high school His folks wanted him to display his pitching prowess, and incidentally lap up a little more book learning at the University of California. Bin would probably have followed. this plan, and given the Berkeley institu- | tion a chance to boast of her famous son, except for his meeting with Elm met Schofie1d, professional veteran Emmet told Bill 1t was a bloody shame to consider wasting his talents 1 by going to college.
 ''Any lad can go to college" says Ernmet, but mighty few can pitch
 major league baIL''
 James slanted the problem in the same way, and, despite the objections raised by his folks, gave Berkeley the .go-by and in 1912 hiked out for | Seattle SchofieId had recommended the giant Californian to his old mates at Seattle, and Big Bill wasted no time in proving that Emmet had q good eye for talent. He was the sen satfon of the Northwestern League l in the year of his debut, and, auaone other notable achievements, annexed sixteen straight games. At that pe- riod of his. career James hadn't de- velopeds control and head work to any high degree, but he had speed to born, and got by with it. Quite naturally the scouts from the main show heard of the Seattle | discovery and dropped around to give. James the once-over Boston got to him first, and James signed a.
  ] a modest salary. The Bostonian az gregation didn't have much pep in 1913, and James did not show to ad= vantage, winning six and losing ten contests in which he figured. Last year James hit his stride. as all fans well know. He captured nine straight games. then lost a close extra-inning duel with the Pirates, and then went ahead and an nexed eleven more games in a row If Bill hadn't stubbed his toe in Pittsburgh he would have smashed the worlds record for consecutive victories. If-but that little word has caused a lot of disappointments. Not that James worried about it. He isn't the worrying kind, and his share of the worlds series kale was a healing salve for his failure to smash the twirling record.
 Big Bill is an all-round athlete. ana finds pleasure as well as profit in baseball. He is fond of tennis, has ketball, fishing and hunting, and. in fact. of nearly all outdoor sports and pastimes.