The Washington times., 1922-12-28

Shu VI Hiiue salu L COulQ get q
Eood job playing semi-pro ball in
sullivan. III. I had been playing
around the Frisco lots. and was CON
sioered pretty good young catcher.
ne got in touch with the Illinois
team. and when they offered $40 a
month and all expenses, fell for It.
That was a lot OF money in those
days.
l caught with the Sullivan team
Tor three months-their season-and
picked up quite few tricks Of the
trade. 1 also found out that any
p'tcher could be hit II q chap went
NO there with enough determination
In '97, the San Francisco Exam.
iner had a baseball tournament for
the amateur and semi.pro teams
along the whole Pacific coast.
There were some forty clubs en-.
gagged, and the series lasted all sum-
mer. / was the regular catcher for
the Fresno Tigers.
This young league finally 70
solved itself down to four teams,
santa Cruz. California Market OF
Frisco. Bakersfield and the Tigers.
In the playOff, Santa Cruz beat
tho Market team, and we had Q
Wild battle at Bakersfield, q town
OF about 10000 people. We wero
beaten. 7 to 1, but as they say
nowadays, they put the works in
on us. We never did have a
chance. and finally had to retreat
without even stopping to change
clothes.
That was probably my first ex.
Dertence with umpiring that disturb
Cd the regular course Of baseball.
I've had q lot since then. though.
We protested that game, and right
y enough, a play-off was ordered,
In Frisco, where we won. But Santa
Cruz licked us in the finals.
There were quite a few players In
that affair that afterwards worked
MP to the big leagues. The most
prominent was Jack Hughes who.
old fans will remember. was q
fine pitcher with the Brooklyn Dod-
gers. Others I recall were Heinie
Krug. outfielder with the Phillies;
Ham Eiberg. Phiny pitcher. and
another chucker named Harvey.
land.
My playing evidently impressed
Cal Mcvey, most famous Of old
time baseball men on the coast. He
was scouting then, AID he recon-
mended me to the Chicago. Balti-
more and New York clubs. All
three made offers, and I took on
tho Cub bid, figuring that as the
closest spot to home.
Up to that time 1 had never seen
q big league game, or any KIND OF
q real ball game. I had the pre-
yailing youthful idea that a Dig
Lacquer could go twenty feet into
the air and haul down any KIND
Of a hit that didn't tear MIN apart.
To show my confidence in myseir,
I bought a round trip ticket. when
ordered to report to Selma, Ala,
for spring training.
But learned . lot IN tnat
spring Of '98. I saw that major
ball players were human, aiter
ali. and got quite chesty when 1
was nut to work with tho other
catchers, right off the reel Tom
Burns managed the club that
wear and the next. By tho time
we opened the season, ! was
pretty sure of sticking to tho Job.
I'm fact, 1 caught forty. eight
games that season, and hit Tor
.z88. The latter habit undOubted-
" helped me to cling, for 1 was
no great catcher.
was awkward around the plate.
never could get the knack OF NOV
ing myself out Of the way Of
trouble. / was always getting hurt,
not on the fingers, as most catchers
do, but spiked-here, there and
eyerywhere. Part Of my instruc-
NN 20 lat " IN kn
the plate away from me, and !
surely obeyed to the letter.
Rather than let runner in, I
had a habit of laying right down
on the plate and praying for the
best. No wonder I was wounded.
I recall once that Hughey Jen-
nings, sliding in, cut me on the
shoulder, way above the protector.
And he was perfectly within his
rights. l was sprawled all over
the rubber, like a dying fish.
But I stayed there as regular
catcher until 1904. Johnny Killing
had been picked up a few years
before, and he had plenty Of chance
TO get experience while I was on
the hospital list. In those days
was fast, and right up with the
leading base runners. That's why
6elee kept me in there, that and
the base hit that bounced off the
bat every so often.
The game was fast in those days,
and good base runners were a big
factor in the scheme OF things Just
ms they are now. Selee was on my
neck for two years, trying to make
me take shot at first base, but
/ could not see things his way
I was afraid I wouldn't make the
grade there.
Looking back, II affords me q
lot Of satisfaction to remember
that Johnny King, one of base.
halls greatest catchers, was a
second-strinGer to me right down
10 the end of the 1908 season, when
the great machine was really being
manufactured.
Note-Tomorrow Chance will tell
how he became manager Of the
Chicago Cubs.