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Show : fiREER!1025N 'IVIilO MM ': : QOOpi AT BHSEBKLL fiAf IE "John C. Chapman, manager of the St Louis Nationals, once head and front in tho ill-starred Pacific 'National; league, and well known .in Salt Lake, was dis-cusHing dis-cusHing the ther day tie use of Ilughey , Jennings!- recently selected manager, of the Detroit (Nationals. .'?He is a 'great boy," declared Chapman. Chap-man. "Detroit did well to select him to my way iof thinking and in Detroit Jennings: is 1 in a' fine ball town..' Jennings Jen-nings is a very ambitious young man. He is the son -of a miner of Moosic, Pa., which is aix miles from Scran ton. I happened to be in Philadelphia one day and while reading one of the Philadelphia-papers my eye struck the name, of a young catcher named Jennings, . who was catching at that time for the Leighton club. - The score had it that he had some fifteen put-outs and made four hits and! I read in the summary of the score 'home run Jennings.'. So I remarked re-marked to Charley Mason, one of the owners of the Athletic club I forgot to mention jl was managing the. Louisville Louis-ville clui e the time that this young Jennin-L, iked pretty good to me. 'He is a goo !a, Jack,' said Charley. So I ; wired lie linings an offer of $175 per month to join the club and directed i him to wire his answer to Boston as that was our next stopping place. When I reached Boston I found out that my offer was, accepted, so I wired Jennings to meet !us at Louisville as we would jump directly from Boston to Louisville, Louis-ville, j j A Green, Youngster. "Well,! when we reached Louisville there was Jennings. My, but he was a green youngster, Dut I liked his looks and felt confident he would achieve success. suc-cess. I intended to try him behind the bat as 'Jack' Eyan had been hurt and I would have put the youngster in to take his place, out 'Jack' came around all right. However, one day our first baseman, i Harry Taylor, now the presi- dent of the Eastern league, got hurt, and I said to Jennings: 'Young man, you will have to go in and play first base for us today. 'Dear me, mister, he said,. 'I can't play first base. ; I never played first base in all mv life.' "-'.Well, you just go in and do the best you can. We have no one else to trv in your place.' "" 'All right,' was his reply. 'I'll g0 in -and do the best I can,' and he made a decided success. How he did gather them in and dig them out of the dirt, and it was not the last time he played the bag either. Well, some time afterward after-ward our shortstop, a young man named Cahill, was unable to play and again I was obliged to have recourse to Jennings. Jen-nings. First Time as Shortstop. - ' ' " 'Jennings,' said I to him, 'you will have to try your hand at shortstop today. to-day. Cahill is hurt and there is no one else to try in the place.' "'But, mister,' said he, 'I never played that position in my life. " 'Never mind that,' I retorted, 'go in and do the best yon can. ' , ' " 'All right, mister,' was his answer. "Well, he went in and put up a great game. He went after everything. He covered the ground in grand shape and had the spectators agape by his work. He wasn't afraid of errors and he made a great hit. At the end of the season I said: .. " 'Jennings, I want to sign yon to play for me next season. What salary do you think you ought to havet' " 'I do not know,' said he. 'IH leave all that to you. ' J"How will $1400 strike you!' I said to him. ' " 'That will be very nice,' was his reply. " . ' Staggered by Salary. "So I sat down and made out a contract con-tract for $1750. 'Now, Jennings,' I said to him,-'just glance over that con- fvf anrl baa f vAnia oil rierhf An he took the contract in his hands and began to sign it, and when he came to the figures he said: 'Why, Mr. Chapman, Chap-man, this calls for $1750.' " '1 know it, young man; that (is what I intend for you to have.' "'Mr. Chapman,' said he, 'I'll try verv hard to work for you for this. And he did. You probably know the remainder of his career, how he was chosen to go to the Baltimore club and how he figured so extensively in the three championships that .were won bv that club, how he was asked to coach the Cornell team and what a success he made in that capacity and thereby secured the opportunity to educate himself him-self and went through the Cornell law school with credit to himself, and was afterward admitted to the Baltimore bar, and last year hung out his shingle in that city. Eager for Education. "When he was younger and first started out in the game he was eager to secure an education, and went to a commercial college in his own town. Jennings is of the stuff that makes good. He made good as manager of the Baltimore club of the Eastern league, and Mr. Hanlon will find out what he has lost after he has gone. Jennings just kept that club in the race. "Jennings knows the game in all its angles. He knows how to handle men and how to get the work out of them. I do not care in the least the timber he will have to deal with in, Detroit, he will be able to cope with it all right, never fear." |