Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-04-30
ny JAMES j. CoRBETr.

Connie Mack quickly demonstrated
as member OF the Meriden. Conn,
team that he was ASA catcher far heyond
played through 1854 with Meridcn and
appeared in Hartford uniform the
the bat for that team during 1885 ana
1856 attracted the attention OF big
leaguers. and along in the mid ,,s'i, ,Ss
Washington Club, which had become
q member OF the National League in
.'The salary. oncred was $500
season, said Mack. That Was a base,
about as stable TO me then as would
S25,0 TO the average player OF today.
Back in my time the game hadn't be.
played because OF our love tor hase-
bali, And whenever we were paid for
our services We CONSIDERED ourselves
doubIy fortunate.
Connie Helped by Veterans.
Every youngstcr breaking into the
big leagues is rather nervous about
i 2nd arR ns Was rather aT iucEy IN
asmuch as / was With a tail-end CLUB
where my earlier mistakes were S,o not
teammates were veterans who we srt,
\ mo and helped me greatly. with ad,
vice and suggestions. 10 them 90 l
owe much because If they hadn't eeeT
might have been dropped out OF tho
league before ] had Il real chance TO
cub Si tl nS 1855, 1857, 1855 and iSss
odoS S r IN a" of ao "Sto oEers
YOU would have them do to you
-i1row what the. patience OF such men
and tho others did for Inc when was
breaking IN, And cvcr since have
,rous 10 the faults Of newcomers who
arc getting their first trial in the
majors, ;Aany promising Syounsstsr
has failed simply because his team
mates have hindcrcd, rather than
helped him.
Handled Fast Pitching.
NATURALLY. the class Of Of, ! pi T., ne
majors was FAR superior TO that which
had e;ncou,ntrrsd,. as an ic ordinary I1ImE
with Meridcn or with Hartford. But
] lad been extremely fortunate in my
earlier years to haze ny 6Gep on IN, the re
hurting OF some OF tho big leaEuers
who used to play small towns in their
odd moments SO as TO pick up a little
Among them, was jumping Jack
GHfs who o. had w sSer of of the
picturesque figures at that time, and
had style OF delivery which gave him
his nickname. In those days a pitcher
was privileged TO take n hop and "a
jump before delivering the ball. Jones
e GF S r AND al sround f he nTcp III
crowds turned out to Gee him perform
in Il way that was highly reminiscent
Of Jumping Jack.
Saw Many Phrnom, Work.
Jones passed out OF the major
leagues soon afterward. but the sobri-
quot chung 20 him through all the
voice, and after he quit baseball 1t is
lny recollection that he went on tho
stage ana did concert work. and ranked
Tor many years among the song
celebrities.
rPnrIn e. my career as catcher
ful twirlcrs4. -.\nd il have seen many
rhcno,ns ia i,.tioi.' But few OF them
,cTyqf,r, have.cclipsed in natural pitching
rlaycd With me on the East Iirookhcld
team and later Joined me when I was
"!th Ncridcn. Hogan had speed that
truly could bc called binding. He had
q drop that was marvellous. and more
Y broke SO swiftly and so suddenly
nit,abc Mixed With these he had a
MoHdcrtul SLOW bah. and. best of all.
logan Lad courage and brains and a
powerful physique that stood up under
every strain in those days.
logan Had Great Future.
la fba9I1l'u M. for HoSap and for
died quito suddenly just at "a time when
!Hs Work had attracted major league
.1,GntiP on and he was slated to be grad
ilatcd luio the h!gh-claSs circuit II
mas always been my feeling that If
iosaM had lived TO serve out a pitch
..s. ~ - ms name would nave ranked
with That of Radbournr. Rusic, Ma
lh1"Son' Young, Alexander, Johnson
II remained with Washington until
,lc close OF the $50 season And thcn'
together with most Of the other nlav
SIS, Jumned 10 the brotherhood
I:taEne and became member of the
hu'lalo team ! played through that
season with Buffalo Long before the
l4st game was played in 1890 it was
obvious that the Organization WIS
doomed 10 failure. And so ali Of mS
logan looking around for jobs in the
NationaL landed with PITTSBURGH.
..hu ~ was there. few wears Later
ih2t tho chance came to mo TO trv nv
nnknown SKIN rs a big league man
lures Syndicate. Inc "