Evening star., 1925-01-21

! Ieit he'd made good as mino
I had long. long wav to 60 before
quired Of a >uccessiu' big 'eagucr.
my mind
The frs was \ conversa' ion wi.
OF the Cove and club ard A. the in
a Cleveland scout had been IN the
jured my ankle in Syracuse But y
veteran said That slide OF yours
scout
He referred to the ignorance whicr
cost ire a srrained ankle Then and
there I resolved to perfect my $ id
ing. Joe Cheered me up with the IN
formation rhat I looked good TO him
and that plenty OF scouts made mis-
takes. The scout hat ALWAYS
guessed right in the ivory market" he
said, '-would be the highest priced
man in base ball When that bad
cog OF yours cones around I'll show
you what 1 know about sliding"
And he did, helping me more than he
knows
The other event that show ed sme I
had a real job on my hands to reach
the majors was a home run by Clar-
ence Kraft first baseman of the
Harrisburg cub. He was. and still
is. long distance hitter, much fear
ed by minor league pitchers. The
ball he hit against Reading was the
longest | had seen until I watched
Babe Ruth in action. And I saw that
man who could hit like Kraft
wasn't in the majors. But I resolved
to keep plugging away, stay in the
best OF physical condition and see
what another year would bring
forth
Is Made n Free Agent.
In the meantime I went back to the
mines as a weighmaster. Before the
first of the year l was notified by
the Reading club that l was free
agent. War conditions had caused
most OF the minor league clubs TO
decide upon suspendng for the 1918
season. So when l received an offer
in March to play base ball l ac-
cepted.
The job was offered me by Ray
Evans. who had played third base for
Canton, Ohio, concern, interested in
an Industrial base ball league. My
salary was fixed at s175 a month
After a few weeks of office work l
received a message from George
Wiltse. The International League
had decided to operate and Wiltse
had been named manager OF the Buff
faIo cub. He wired that he had a
Job for me at 5000 a month.
! signed d contract Immediately
and reported to the Buffalo club, in
training at Easton, Pa. We went
through the usual preliminary work
on the Lafayette College Field On
This, my third trial at a Spring camp,
] managed to make good. Wiltse as
signed me as his regular second base
man. Perhaps If the squad had been
bigger or the material better l would
have had fight on my hands.
When We started for Buffalo to
H.
training camp jinX would follow me. l
was afraid something might turn up
that would prevent me opening the
season with Buffalo. We had a lay
over in Allentown and I was soon
convinced bad luck was still dogginS
me.
The House Is Pinched.
was watching some of the play
ers in black jack game in the Allen
town station when we were all
rounded up and arrested / was
scared stiff. ] thought we all would
surely go to jail. Finally Joe Casey,
who was a catcher with Washington
before ] joined the club, explained
10 the authorities that We We're with
the Buffalo club and that the card
players had not been gambling. We
were turned loose after our identity
had been vouched for by a man who
had seen us practicing in Easton.
The opening day finally arrived.
i found myself playing second base
j didn't get off to good start.
had injured a knee playing basket
ball during the Winter, and it both
cred me considerably al the opening
Of the season. I kept my troubles to
myself and continued in the G
FINALLY the knee gave out when I
hi ad TO dive after player to tag him
in a run down between first and
second bases
My enforced lay-off bothered me
greatly. I feared permanently
weakened knee. In such an event l
knew ] could never hope to reach the
majors. Even my career in the minor
leagues would soon he at an end.
When an athletes legs, no matter
what the sport in which he engages, go
back on him, his days are numbered.
No athlete is older or better than his
underpinning. Bad legs have sent
) more big leasuers back to the minors
than bad arms.
Learns Not 10 Worry.
The knee yielded to such treatment
as 1t received, which isn't saying
much. Finally l got back in the line
up. Stiu worried. l played only ordi
nary ball. Umpire Carpenter told me
that a scout was looking me over. He
tnOuSNJ the man was from tlnClHHdJl,
which at the time was supposed to be
in the market for a utility infeIder-
I had an especially bad day, and
wouldn't have made q good impress
sion on class ID league scout, let
alone a big league ivory hunter.
didn't have my mother. Merle or
Tony Walsh TO go to with my trou-
blcs. l didn't want to let any of my
clubmates know my fears regarding
the injured knee So that night l
locked myself in my room and thought
it all out alone. I didn't get to sleep
until daylight. BY that time I had
made up my mind that worry was
foolish; that I was silly to borrow
trouble and let 1t affect my playing
/ decided l would forget what might
happen Ny knee hadn't bothered
me while the scout was watching
Yet l had allowed a mental attitude
TO upset me so that might have lost
a chance that day to reach the major
leagues and crafty the ambition of a
lifetime The knee hasn't, troubled
4 me since. Neither has useless worry.
Tomorrow: "GcttinG N;cknamed
Bucky-"
Copyright 1921