Evening star., 1940-07-22
BY LEWIS F. ATCHISON.

1t is a sad commentary on the
efficiency of the Yankees labyrinthic
farm system that George McQuinn,
the Ballston, Va, boy, turns up at
first base every afternoon in a ST.
Louis Browns uniform. The Yanks
held the deed to McQuinns native
talent until five years ago-owned
him body and soul in a baseball way
until he escaped through one Of
baseballs few legal loopholes.
Being hog-tied by the Yanks and
sentenced to the minors eight years
was no picnic. McQuinn will tell
you. Especially when you knew of
at least couple of clubs willing to
trade vice president or two for
your services and throw in a radio
commentator for good measure. 1t
sort of gets you down, fills you
with that heck-with- -it-al1 lethargy.
Ironically the same clup that
blocked his promotion was willing,
nay eager to peel of sizable sum
to get him back when he finally
arrived on baseball's broadway.
There is moral buried some
where in these paragraphs. George
should have given up in disgust
when the Yanks kept him chained
in the salt mines of the bushes and
returned home to Ballston and a
comparatively complacent existence.
But the slow-talking, easy going
Ir;el,v,,o, 1,oc ood1oc 1f v,,oxio o~I
made up his mind he was going to
get into the majors If he had to
sneak in the back door or climb in
through window. You see what
happened, don't you?
Owen Gets McQuinn Chance.
Lem Owen, a name synonymous
with baseball in Washington, was
the first to recognize McQuinn's
ability, but it was only because
Lemuel, a stubborn critter at times,
was holdout from the New Haven
club one year that George broke
into pro ball. Owen refused to
sign at New Haven's figures and
organized his own team in WASH
ington. On first base he installed
the freckle-faced McQuipn, still a
high school student at Washington
Lee.
New Haven eventually hiked it's
offer high enough for Lem to see it
so he abandoned his rebel team,
but took with him a vivid picture of
the hashy kid playing first like a
reincarnated Hal Chase. George,
he decided, had all the earmarks
of genuine star. The following
spring New Haven established train
ing quarters at nearby Annapolis,
Nd, and Owen recommended a
trial for McQuinn, who then was
fresh out of high school.
New Haven, a parcel of the Yank's
far flung properties, kept him a
month and shipped him to Wheel
ing in the Middle-Atlantic League
for further seasoning. When he
finished the season New York
Scouts realized they had picked up
a pearl in their inland oyster. They
didn't know exactly what to do with
him or where to use him, but he was
too good to get away so they parked
him down on the farm pitching hay.
Yanks Want Him Back.
Each year, as regularly as the
seasons, they brought him up and
each time they sent him back until
their string of options was ex-
hausted. Lou Gehrig had given no
indication of cracking up at this
time so the Yanks let McQuinn go
outright to Newark. That made
him fair game for all the clubs and
St. Louis grabbed him at first op-
portunity in the draft. A couple of
years ago New York's frantic bids
almost weaned him away from the
impoverished Browns, but they held
OF and this year the rule sponsored
by Clark Griffith prohibiting traf-
ticking in players of the champs
part kept George in the Blues City.
Both New York clubs, incident
ally, are notorious buyer-backers of
players previously sold down the
river. Mr.. Grif11th still gets trifle
warm under the collar when he
thinks how John McGraw of the
Giants sold off his rockies and
bought 'em back when they acquired
the smooth sheen of a true big
leguer. McGraw figured it was
easier to develop his players this
way and as inexpensive as any 9TH
er in the long run.
McQuinn has two brothers on the
sandlots, both with Cameo Furni-
ture In the Industrial League. BOO
IT," tho older. has 40 illunons about