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Show Pitts Wants NoBallyhoor In Baseball By ROBERT T. PAUL International New Sporta Writer LAKE WALES. Fla, March 2 Tar oft the streamlined avenuea of fanfare and ballyhoo, and (lad of It, Edwin "Alabama" Pitts la preparing prepar-ing for his eeoond and final effort to gain a place in organised baseball. base-ball. He la training here with a group of boarded athletes who will tour the south as a House of David team. The 36-year-old youth, whose signing with Albany of the International Inter-national league upon his release from Sing Sing In the summer of 1933 caused a controversy that engulfed en-gulfed civic, religious and educational educa-tional leaders, said today he still believes he can climb to the major leagues. Simply Ed Pitta But he will make his bid as Ed Pitts and on his athletic ability, rather than on the box office value of his sporta exploits in the big house, where he tarred with the "Black Sheep" while serving out a robbery sentence. There win be ne whisker-growing whisker-growing for me with this House of David tram," ho said today, "be-eattso "be-eattso I am playing .with them only to get Into condition for a Job with the Winston-Hairm club of the Piedmont league, where 1 will report April IS. "Alvln Crowder, the former big leaguer, is manager of the team and he haa promised to coach me In hopea of aending me to the majors, meanwhile paying me $200 a month to play for him. And I also will learn definitely If there Is a place for me In organised baseball. base-ball. If there isn't I'll go back to a club I played with last spring at Charlotte, N. C, In an outlaw league. Bats JM Clip "I batted .396" there before and Manager Frank Packard never called me 'Alabama' Pitta or tried to use my name at the gate. I was plain 'Ed' to everybody In Charlotte. Char-lotte. "I've no value at the box office now, and that' a big help. All that publicity that they gave me before never did me any good. It put me on the spot when I finally was given permission to Join the Albany club, and I guess I put others on the spot too. "If I had known as much about the sporta world then aa I do now I might have tried to capitalise on the publicity, but the only thing I wanted waa a baseball tryout the money didn't matter. I refussd offers of-fers of $300 a game from semipro clubs to try out in the Albany outfield out-field for $200 a month. "I waant good enough for the International league. I really hadn't expected to be. But I had aa Idea they'd farm mo out or try to Improve my playing. They did neither. They Just used me aa a gate attraction, and the same waa true of the Philadelphia Eagle Ea-gle professional football team. "Anyhow, all that ballyhoo ia over and I'm glad of it and happy to be known as Ed Pitta." Besides supporting his mother at her home In Okellka, Ala., Pitts has saved $2700 and hopes to add to it through his athletic ability. One of his advisers and closest friends Is Warden Lawea of Sing Sing, with whom Pitta corresponds regularly. |