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Show J " 1 ' 4 'l J . N j f, .1 , " I L J-vV : t Willie llr i; , ;: ' i . On of the greatest baseball players V A f i 'ti In the businesa today Is "EUly" Keeler V 1 V , of the New York Americans. Also he , N .l V 3s Jti one of the smallest men on. the dia- t " " I , J 1 mond, MUler IJuggtna of Cincinnati l 1 11 and "yig" Perrine. briefly of SL Louis, I lyiA S now of Kansas City, being almost . 1 1 I l V small. Keeler's sise was a sreat hand- " , 1 I n 5V - leap when he began. his professional ' 1 I s'i rr' career, because the fans'did not believe J AV, : auch a diminutive Individual could be- flti1' 1 1 come successful ball player. r j f.. ; . "J made by' appearance in fast com- " pany in New York." said Keeler. "My - L"? - i ti.tm : A i - m - -T t - . On of the greatest baseball players 'tZ, In the businesa today Is "EUly" Keeler of the New York Americans. Also he Is one of the smallest men on the dia-J dia-J mond. MUler Ifuggln.s of Cincinnati Vv ; and "Nig" Perrine, briefly of St Louis, Sr'. now of Kansas City, being almost as small. Keeler's sise was a sreat hand-H hand-H . IcP when he began. his professional career, because the fans'did not believe : such a diminutive Individual could be- come a successful ball player, f.. ; . "J made by' appearance in fast com-.v com-.v pany in New York." said Keeler, "My initial appearance on the polo grounds I was the oocasjon of much laughter and I Jeers, from the fans. .My size struck illie fans as most comical, and the re-Tnarks re-Tnarks they hurled at me were far . I from pleasant or encouraging to hear. I I played in several games a.nd did good ; work, but the crowd didn't awaken to J tho fact. Some of the newspapers also had fun at my expense. Buck Ewlng was the manager, and he told me to pay no attention to the criticisms, that ;v I was making good all right. Gut the .longer and better I played the worse became the abuse. Kwlng was called a ..V cradle robber, a bandit of the nursery '.; because he kept me on the team. i - "One day I broke ray ankle and then V the knocker got in their work, I was traded to Brooklyn, but the trolley town fana. dld not. take kindly to me, " simply because I had been turned down ""-r byNewYork. " J finally landed in Bal- ttmore, where, under Hanlon, I found an entirely different atmosphere. The. people of Baltimore, instead of discouraging discour-aging me, encouraged me, and 1 soon began to play ball that made my friends rejoice and my enemies weep. "A maU-slsed playerespeolally a beginner has a hard row to hoe. The fans cannot recognise the fact that small men can play 'as good ball aS large men. They think a big man can hit a ball harder or better than a small man. As a matter of fact, the small, or medlum-sised players, are among the leading players in tha country today. to-day. But sise has nothing to do with a ball player's ability any more than it has with any other profession. The only difference is that a large maq will be given a chance by the fans, and quicker gains their confidence than a small man." ' t - ' |
