Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-08-02

AIN Il mucn OF a manu- 10 nQAt ~
L trouble, and never was; you cal
ask anybody that knows me, ant
they'll tell you the same. Still. there
times when a man ought to come on
in the open and declare himself, ant
this is one of 'em.
I hate kicker on general principles
but it's a pretty poor shoat that won
holler when he's got real hollei
coming-and l have.
When 1 do a thing, and it turns ouI
wrong, I'll shoulder the consequences
and not try to sneak behind the Other
fellow. 1 amt got bit of use OF
earth for a liar, and indirectly / al
ways aim to tell the truth, but l won't
stand to be no mans scapegoat-l
amt built that way.
Some of the folks here in Templeton
think l ought to write to the National
Commission and give 'em Ike Smalls
number. I've thought it over, but
what would be the use? A ball player
has got as much chance to win out
over his manager as he would have to
sue the beef trust and get Supreme
Court decision over them robbers
That's what the National Commits
sion Is for.
But if I can't put my side of the
case before the National Commission,
/ can get 1t before the public, and
| that's why I'm writing this piece. /
| want Justice l do. I've been Ike
| Small's goat long enough, and it's
| time the Bellingham folks found out
about the mistake they made last fall
the time l had the pennant almost
grabbed for 'em.
I'm a pitcher-a good pitcher, and
I'll leave to anybody that ever saw
me work My name is In the record
books for last Biggs, games
won, 2S games lost, IL; percentage
.700." Take 1t from me, there's plenty
of big leaguers that don't get no such
| figures as that after their namesl
| And most of them losing games were
simply kicked away behind me
| thrown away. If I'd had decent sup
| port, I'd have set a record for 'em
| all to shoot at the next few years.
And the one game that I'm going
to tell you about was simply stole out
of my hip pocket by a fellow named
Jimmy Dougherty. / get hot every
time I think about 1t.
kM AYBE I better say I was a
IVA pitcher, because I'm not work
Ing db II HOW anu lIOIu lliC AOofNS VI
things / won't be for some time to
come. They've put me on the black
list because l won't pitch for Ike
Small no more. The national COM
missioners say 1 signed contract
with a reserve clause In 1t, and
can't play for anybody but him.
don't wish 'em no hard luck, but I'd
like to SEQ 'em all hanging by the
neck until I do. I'll never pitch an
other ball as long as l live if I have
to pitch 1t for that snake in the grass,
and Ban johnson and them other big
bugs might as we'll hang up their
/ mean 1t. reckon, II it comes
right down to cases, I amt forgot
how to drive a team of mules, and I
know where to get Job any day.
They don't put a teamster on the
blacklist because his boss done him
dirt.
i've pitched ever since was a kid.
AS I got older I found I could put
more on the ball. and when l was
nineteen I had a fast one that was
like smoke in the wind; control and
CURVES, q change of pace, and a hop
TO my fast ono. reckon Joe Wood
himself can't say any more than that.
1 used to pitch on Sundays for the
IeHlploJOH ll6clSs iiu VIC u f1f Oicu
all over the county, playing for the
gate receipts and picking UP some
times as much as Sc apiece.
One day a slick, oily fellow named
Garrett asked me how would like to
play in real league and quit work.
/ said that would suit me down to
the ground, provided there was money
in it. Then he began with a long song
and dance about Christy Mathewson
and Mortified Brown and Walter
Johnson-how they all come from the
small towns, and didn't get much
dough when they first broke In, but
was glad for the chance to show
what they could do, and how they was
now driving their own automobiles
and dragging down a world of money