The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-07
A1aHes Poor Lubricant.
Ping Bodie Threatens to
 Come Back" As a Twirle1


 Ever hear of pitcher who was rel egated to the outfeId and then, after several years, pulled sscome back on the rubber? Neither did we. But that's the sort of stuff Ping Bodie threatens to pull. The former White Sox out1eIder, who has been playing this year in the outer garden of the San Francisco club, is likely to get back into the main show, but it is iLnprobabIe that the big league man agers will take his pitching stunt very seriously Bodie has been a whale as a hitter, but lie was never much as a box artist. Ping was re- gently quoted as saying that he had as much stuff as any twir1er in the Pacific Coast League. During his so- journ with the. San Francisco Seals this year Ping has been spending all his leisure moments. practicing the
 ihurnDg art, and it is said thaE he has quite repertoire of curves and cur 1eycues. Bodie has a good >staunch wing, and it is not impossible that now that he is a seasoned veteran he may develop the pitching prowess and control which he lacked when he first essayed to take his turn in the box MA
 Bodie. whose real front name is Frank, will be 23 years old tomorrow. He is native of San Francisco In his youth, when he was serving his base ball apprenticeship on the San Tram cisco lots. he was known to his com panions as Frank Beezolo, and it was generally thought that he was Italian. Ping is half English, however. and his real name is Bodie, the Beezolo mont aker having been that of his step father. He took to baseball as natur- ally as a Kentucky colonel takes to Bourbon, which proves that environ ment is more powerful than heredity. fo1 Ping. half English and t'other half Italian in blood, was wholly Ameri- can in his sporting instincts
 Bodie began his professional career when heswas only IA years old He had made quite reputation, as a pitcher on the lots, and one day he San Francisco club of the SaIifornia State League was short of pitchers. Ping was hired to fill the gap. with
 his brothen Dave as baekstep, and he shut out the Oakland club by a score Of to O. Ping was paid five bones for his assistance, and was given a regular job with the State League outfit. He remained with the club u1l- til 1905, when he quit the game and got a job driving a delivery wagon working occasionally with the San Mateo team.
 In 1907 Pins joined tie Vallejo club of the Central California League working in the infield and pitching oc- casionally. Toward the close of the 1908 season he was hired by Danny Long fortl1e San Francisco Pacific Coast League club. He was used principal1yain the outfelds and in 1910 he entirely gave up his early ambi- ton to shine as a box artist. He de- veIoped his stick work to such a point that in 1910 he was the sensation of the Coast League During that season he made 30 home runs, and came near to breaking the record for complete circuits. Bodies record is surpassed only by that of Roth,7 of the Evans vile Three-I circuit, who made 36 homers in 1901.
 Bodie was purchased by the Chi cago White Sox in the fall of 1910 and soon became the regular center fielder of the Coniskey clan. He de- veloped into one of the suresti and hardest hitters in the American League, and his fielding, throwing and base running left little to be desired. Last year he began to slip, however,