The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-19
Chic Gandil Once Baseball Missionary
 To the Mexicans

l When it comes to a mere matter of I counting noses, Minneapolis has the
 edge on it's beloved neighbor, St. Paul l Quantity isn't everything, however,
 and in the quality of it's citizenship the Minnesota capital doesn't take off its | lid to any town, least of all Minneap- 1 oIis Can the Flour. City boast of having in itss territory such distin- guished names as Michael Gibbons and John Ert1e? The answer, apparent to the Tudest and nakedest eye, is: Not so. Nor is that all St. Paul is the native town of several of the fore most stars of the diamond, not the least of them being MT. Arnold Gandil, known to the cu1gar as ftChic". The renowned first baseman of the Wash ington Americans will be tWenty-seyen years old tomorrow. St. Paul peo- pie are noted for their beauty, and Chic is a true son of the, saintfy City.
 Next to MT! H. R. Baker, of Mary land, MT. Arnold Gandi1 has figured most prominently in the discussions of the Caloric Radiator League That the handsome Chic was to be deprived of his Washington uniform Twas de- cided early in the present Stove Lea gue season, and since then he has fig. ured in at least 487 trades. the White Sex being the favorite getting-om place for the Griffith star.
 The story, of GandiPs career would
 t in nicely in the pages of a pubhca-i ton devoted to red-bIooded adventure. If President Carranza is in earnest in
 his proposal to make baseball the pop ular sport of Mexico, he could find no more competent Minister of the Dia-, mona for his cabinet than Senor Gan diI, for Chic has had experience as a baseball missionary to the uneasy re- public.
 Chic began his rowing when he was still wearing dresses He then re- moved to Berkeley, Cal. where he spent his boyhood playing ball, hockey and other juvenile pastimes. It was the intention of his folks to have their young hopeful educated in the Univer- sity of California, but after a, couple of years in Oakland High School Chic decided that he knew about every , thing, anyway, and set out to see the world. He landed in Los Angeles, where lie earned his first coin as Q ball player with semi-pro club. From the City of Angels he went ito Humboldt, in Arizona. where he made a noise like catcher, and got away with it for a few weeks. He was then filled with an ambition to play the role of missionary to the Mextcans, and. by initiating them into baseball. wean them away from the brutal pas time of fighting the bull.
 Cananea, a Mexican town south of Bisbee, Ariz., and some forty or fifty miles distant from the border, was the scene of GandiPs pious 1abors. In Cananea Gandil played the. ro1ee of pitcher, and, while his twirlfng was scarcely of big league ca1ibre, it got by with the Mex. population. Occa- sfonally Chic doubled as first baseman and thus gained his first experience on the bag which was to be his future station in life. Chic spent several l months in Mexico. and he has since
 testified that the natives manifested l a great fondness for the game. It is 1 Gandirs opinion that it would be g
 com mparatively easy matter to popu- 1 larize the American sport in Mexico, l Gandil played first base for Shreve- port La. in 1908. Later he return 1 ed to California and played with an
 Independent club in Fresno. In 1910
 he broke into the majors with the White Sox, but didn't last long. and
 was sent to Montreal. where he batted 1 over BOO in 1911 and repeated in T. 1s12 1 in the thirty or so games he played in
 the Canadian metropolis before he was 1 bought by Griffith. With the Wash
 ingtons GandiI batted 1905 in 1912, l .31S in 1913, .259 in 1914 and .2S8 last 1 year. Having played professional I ball from the Atlantic te the Pacific,
 and from Montreal to Mexico, Gandil
 takes rank among the great travellers
 of balldom.,