The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-16
LURE TOO GREAT
Wagner Could Not Resist the
Call of the Diamond.
All Random Is Glad He's Back
in the Game Again.
BY JACK VEIOCK.

New York, June 16--The grand oiu
Dutchman's back again.
Honus Wagner, in his forry-tniro
year-his twenty-first in the major
leagues-has returned to the diamond.
Wagner quit the game this Spring
He felt the weight of years beginning
to tell and he decided to retire. The
baseball world was sad when the IA
nous .'Flying Dutchman" of the Pitts
burgh Pirates announced that he was
going to hang up his glove and discard
the spangles for Honus has been an
idol among idols for 10, these many
years.
And then. just few days ago, Wag-
ner came back. And the baseball
world was glad. 1t welcomed him with
open arms and ringing cheer
There's nobody like Wagner.
What prompted Wagner to come
back? He said it was the call of base
ball, the call he has answered for
twenty nine years in all; the lure OF
the game that kept Juggling at MIN
and he told it all in those few words.
Glad to Rcinstate Him.
Garry Hermann reinstated Wagner
gladly, and when he did so he PAID
him the highest tribute that has ever
said:
at was indeed a pleasure to rein
state Wagner. He is a credit to tFe
game and the game cannot get alo-5
without him."
Wagner is more than a credit to
baseball. His years i'll the spotlight
of fame as an idol of all fans have
have glorified his name in the annals
of the game. Baseball has given him
everything he OWNS has made him
wealthy as well as famous, yet base
ball owed him all of that.
Wagner, and other great players
who spend the best part of their lives
on the diamond, are the backbone OF
the game. They have done more to
popularize the sport than anything
else. for without them-without the
r1ayers-there could be no baseball.
Wagner, Lajoie. Brown, Mathewson,
King, Chance, Evers, McGraw, Plank
and many veterans who have been a
part OF the game for years share the
glory that comes with greatness on
the diamond. Their work is a life
work and they have helped to build
up the greatest and cleanest of all
sports.
Does Not Need Money.
Wagner did not come back to the
diamond for the money that was in it,
He has plenty, for with years at a sal.
airy of $4,000 he has accumulated
more of the world stuff than he will
/ ever need.
I Wagner came back because he loves
I NAAN 2eNiiiN- I1S d part OF IL ana a
credit 10 it. And the fact that the lure
OF the game alone has brought him
back shows one Dig reason why he is
an Incompatible star; why there is
only ONE WAGNER. 1t is simply be.
cause baseball is a part of Wagner
everyday existence. He tried to get
along without it and found that il
couldn't be done while he still felt the
old fever raging thru his veins.
! Baseball is not a game that every
one can play professionally, yet il
holds the attention of millions of fans
and the fact makes it all the greater
| If the fan, who must play his part OF
the game from the stands, is satisfied
to follow it year after year, it is easy
to see what baseball means to the
| player, whose presence out there on
the diamond makes baseball possible
| Wagner's comeback will tend to
make him more popular than ever
| He isn't the Wagner of five or ter
years ago, but he is still a grand "ole
boss" and his return means much to
the Pirates.