The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-02-05

portance was my awkwardness.
my awkwardness got worse. | co
At bat could hit pretty good pit
20 get tangled up with my own 4
The chief worry to Joe Bufke
and my many other boosters was
that everybody was getting excited
about my pitching except the ones
who counted rnost-the professional
baseball managers. was not wor-
ried, becaIse I had no particular
hopes or plans. / liked 10 pitcn
and I liked to win, and as long as
Olinda kept doing both was salts
fled. OF course, wasn't nakinis
much money, but at least IVES
living home with my family. aho
that meant much to me. every
community had its young pitcnns :
marvei. It's the same today. Inc
sport pages ere full or stories ABOUT
amateur wonders, with strikeout
records that sometimes sound OK
agzerated. The managers naturally
discounted such reports. ana 90
it was In my own case. twenty
years ago.
One Sunday afternoon two 11en
appeared I'm the crowd. To me,
they seemed like any other men,
hut 60 the crowd they were very
important. If turned out they
we're s'scOuts," and as after
ward learned, the news had been
kept from me for fear / might
b nervous.
After the galne I was introduced
To Mr.. Dillon and Mr.. Hall. On
my word of honor, didn't know
who in the world they were. The
following morning learned that
Hall was from Seattle, in the Coast
league, and the tall. thin fellow
with iron gray hair was Frank
Dillon. "Pop," as they called him.
was a former big league star, and
therefore a good judge OF pitchers,
and OF far greater Importance, he
was manager of the Los Angeles
club in the Pacific Coast League.
The news was broken to me very
sadly that Manager Dillon had
passed me up. ] wasn't good
enough Tor Los Angeles, he said.
He principally objected to my style
81 pitching, which he claimed 'tele-
graphed' everything ! threw.
was too green, Dillon said. And
I couldn't hold runners on firsr
base. His objection to my delivery
I used to hear many times and It
Is no criticism Of Pop" Dillon's
Judgment, when I mention that I
have never changed my pitching
style since the afternoon he passed
me up.
but imagine my feelings when they
told me that Halt had also passed
me up and at the same time had
siened two of my teammates, An.
1on Mott and Jack Burnett. Mott
made good In the Coast League
and Burnett later went to ST. Louis.
After this incident kept right
on with Olinda, taking my share
each Sunday out Of what the crowd
donated. The entire collection each
week averaged SIS.
In 1906, the year Of the San
Francisco earthquake, ! received
an offer to play with Tacoma, at
that time in the. Coast League.
was eighteen years Of age and
the decision was entirely up to
my father and mother. As they
were willing, / consented to go
-
Like all mothers, the most i'm.
portant thing connected with my
first real job, was proper dress.
'sYou must meet your employer in
q new suit OF clothes" my mother
insisted. and, following that, she
accompanied me to store in Full
lerton. When /, put dwon $12 1t
seemed like the earnings Of q life
time, but my mother said the suit
was very becoming, and SO the
merchant wrapped II up. But not
until he had twice left US sitting
in the clothing department while
he sold hardware to a farmer and
some groceries to g. woman.
The handsome $12 garment was
not to be worn until the end Of my
trip up the coast. The following
day / boarded a local train at Full
lerton with the new suit under my
army and a cheap leather satchel
full Of everything, including linen
and homemade sandwiches. Out
side OF that all I had was enough
cash to take me from Los Angeles
to Tacoma and the shiny suit Of
clothes on my back.
Arriving at my destination,
WCuL IL a near Lu0 6t1LlOA1s
When the clerk asked me what
price room / desired, l replied: "All
] want is a place to change my
clothes" The gents wash room
seemed to nicely serve the purpose,
but in a few minutes calamity was
upon me and my new suit was as
worthless as the paper in which 1t
was wrapped.
It looked like a rag. If I'd
slept in IL for q month, IL couldn't
have looked any worse. And to
make the calamity complete, some
one at home had put i'm some
Jelly sandwiches which bad sat-
urated every inch Of the garment.
then went to baseball head
quarters in the clothes / was wear,
ing. Spring training was starting
and I reported for duty. On the
18th OF April an earthquake rocked
the Pacific coast and bounced me
right out OF job. Baseball on the
coast, like all other business. was
IN a bad way and I found myself
out of a job, without ever having q
chance. One exhibition game wat
ali 1 ever pitched before l wal
dismissed at Tacoma.
There I was, stranded Ia
THAI nAslR rs q |ll|It