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Home , Bill McKechnie, Bucky Walters, Carl Hubbell, Christy Mathewson, Debs Garms, Flint Rhem

10 August 27,1938

"Mathewson didn't hesitate in his reply. He said, ' There's only one thing for a young to remem- ber and never to forget. That's that he has eight other fellows on the team with him. Any pitcher who tries to be the whole show isn't a great pitcher. By remembering that he has eight other fellows behind him he'll last a lot longer, and win more games for his club than if he tries to do the whole job himself. I know I won more games for my club and myself that way.' " Remember, young man, that's advice coming from Mathewson and not me. Just remember what he said, and everyone must respect Mathewson for what he did in base- ball, as long as there's a game of ." 's thoughts about what makes a great pitcher and the way Judge Landis expressed those thoughts explain better than I possibly can just what my ambition is in baseball. My good fortune to become the first pitcher to achieve two consecutive no-, no- games

Johnny and His Family Read How a Midland Park, New Jersey, Boy Made Good in the Big Leagues. Left—His Girl, Lois Stewart. Center—His Father and Mother. Far Right—His Sister, Garherdina

GeOX.E0 N97r MLITKIE PllYCZE2 Warming Up, Cincinnati's Rookie Pitcher- the Vander Meeracle Man Exhibits One— hasn't changed my ideas in the slightest. It was a feat for which I am respectfully grateful to my team- mates and all the other fates and elements that com- bined to make it possible. But those two games have to take a back seat in Nci_u_ege.Lext2 my own scheme of things. Judge Landis says one game does not make you—that not even two games make you. He's right, but there is one game that gave me my real start. I want to talk about the comoll GEOliG3 IZETEZZY afternoon of May twentieth at the , New York, because if certain things hadn't hap- pened that day I am sure there wouldn't have been N OLD gentleman with white hair grabbed me The elderly gentleman who was tugging at my any no-hit, no-run games pitched by Johnny Vander by the throat of my sports shirt one day and collar and giving me the benefit of his sage advice Meer. gave me some advice, and then told me a was Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain story. I think both of them are worth repeating Landis. Johnny the Giants Killer right here at the outset of this story. He was talking about those two no-hit, no-run The old gentleman said, " Young man, remember games I pitched in June, but we'll get around to T LIKE to believe that May twentieth was the one game doesn't make you!" and he gave me a those later. First I'd like to tell the story he told me 1 greatest day in my baseball career, because I made stout tug at my collar for emphasis when he com- because it fits my case exactly. Here's the Judge's good that day in my own heart. I pitched a five-hit pleted his statement. Then he said, " Young man, yarn: against the league-leading New York Giants, remember two games don't make you! It's over the " Listen to this, son. I was riding on the train to scoring a 4-0 triumph. years that count !" and then he gave me a harder Florida one time with Christy Mathewson and I It was my first complete major-league victory_ of yank with his hand and I had to give ground a little asked him what tip or what suggestion would he the 1938 season, and when the last Giant was out to keepihim from pulling my dollar-and-a-quarter give to a young pitcher just starting out in the big I felt I had arrived as a major leaguer. Until that sporte Alirt right off me. leagues. • game I still was a question mark. I had appeared in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST 11 six games, starting four and relieving in two others. short months, hat had miracles beyond his wildest me. I kept bearing down harder and harder. Sten- I had one victory to my credit, but I hadn't been dreams come true for him. gel sent up three pinch hitters in the ninth. The first able to a and win it. Many of the things which the world thinks now one, Kahle, grounded to Frank McCormick at first My , Bill McKechnie, had brought me are so important are hazy to me. I can't remember and I covered the bag for the put-out. I fanned the along patiently, bearing with me in my mistakes and for sure exactly what happened in my first no-hit, next one, Maggert, and then the last one, Mueller, wildness and forever encouraging me. I'll always be- no-run game against the Boston Bees. I even have a grounded to at third base. I had so much lieve his decision to throw me in against the cham- hazy recollection of a fly ball dropping safely in the confidence in Riggs that I started walking to the pion Giants at the Polo Grounds was the result of outfield that day, but I know that isn't so because no bench even before the play was completed. long and careful planning. But whether that was one lets me forget for one minute that I'm the fellow Something happened before the first no-hit game McKechnie's psychological motive I don't know. I who pitched two no-hit, no-run games. that came back to me vividly after it was over. do know that when I walked to the clubhouse, in Trainer Doc Rohde, as usual; loosened up my arm deep center field, all the study, toil and deprivation An Arm That Didn't Need Luck with a rubdown before I left the clubhouse. I had gone through in the climb to the majors "Just give it another touch for good luck, Doc," I seemed more than worth it. DIDN'T realize I was pitching the first no-hit said to him. I said to myself, " You've made the gride, but 1 game until the sixth . As I went to the "No, it's perfect," Doe replied. don't let it go to your head. You've still plenty to mound , Bees' manager, who once And .I couldn't persuade him to touch it again. learn and a far way to go." helped me in my first major-league training Now I'm not superstitious, but after the game I re- Manager McKechnie played a highly important camp with , said to me: " We'll get a hit called he had said, " It's perfect," and that's just part in that vital victory for me over the Giants. this inning for sure." what it was. He concealed from me until the very last minute Then George Kelley, Bees' coach, who was one of So the night I left the clubhouse to pitch against that I was to pitch. I was calmer and more relaxed my coaches last year with the Reds, took up Sten- Brooklyn we went through the same procedure. I than before any game I had ever started in the gel's chant and at the beginning of the last three asked him to rub it again for good luck and he re- majors. they tried to get my goat by calling my at- fused once more, saying, "It's perfect.'% I pleaded The day before, he had me pitching batting prac- tention to the fact that I had a no-hitter in the palm with him to rub it again, but this time I was hoping tice. That is usually a certain sign that a pitcher of my hand. he wouldn't. And again it was perfect. So give Doc won't work the next day. Then he allowed me to go It didn't worry or bother me in the slightest. In Rohde an in the psychological league for my to my home in Midland Park, New Jersey, on the those last three innings the Bees got only one ball two no-hitters. outskirts of Paterson, about twenty miles from New out of the infield. My teammates gave me added From the time I retired the first batter, Kiki York, and spend the night. confidence by the manner in which they supported Cuyler, in the (Continued on Page 41)

PHOTOS BY WALTER ENCH1.

,„ggeajell.or

l Isis so •

of the .57 Varieties of Delivery That Won Him— Two Consecutive No•Hit, No,Run Games— and a Niche in Baseball's Hall of Fame

Now I'll let Bill in on a little secret. I went fishing the morning of May twentieth, the day I consider I earned my spurs as a full-fledged major leaguer. I haven't told Bill that yet, and he won't know it until he reads it here. I hope he isn't sore. When I arrived at the Polo Grounds about noon that day I had no more idea of starting against the Giants than I had of pitching in the all-star game in July or in the in October. To tell the truth I had my mind on fishing. That is, until Mc- Keehnie told me to take my turn in the batting or- der; that I was pitching. Then I forgot everything except my job at hand. I walked two men in the first inning after two were out, but finally got out of the inning without dam- age. From then on I had confidence and control to go with my fast ball and curve, and those are the four things that go a long way toward making a pitcher good. I got better as the game went on, and finished up by striking out three men in the ninth. I walked only four men and fanned eight. From that May day which started out as a fishing trip and ended with my victory over the Giants until now, things have happened fast and furiously for me. Was I proud? Was I happy? Well, remember I am just a youngster not yet twenty-four, who, in a few

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST 41

Cobb went to the controls, started as they followed the movements of the and tested the motors. compass needle under its hooded light. The weight of the men caused the Jimmy checked their position con- left wing to sag noticeably. stantly with radio bearings from Cobb speeded up the left motors and Pernambuco and Natal. They were turned the ship part way to test his averaging ten miles an hour. plan. A swell lifted the ship, and the At four A.M. Cobb sighted the gleam wind caught under the wing, forcing it of a bonfire on the sand dunes ahead. up; but the weight on the wing tip had Half an hour later, as he taxied up the a sobering effect. He thought he could river, he noted with surprise that the make it. city was blazing with lights. He eased As they slid down the back of the up to the mooring boat and cut the next swell he threw the controls hard motors. The battered ship was hauled right and opened the left motors. The alongside. ship started to turn, slowly at first, An excited crowd of Brazilians over- then smartly. A swell lifted them. flowed the airport, yelling, "Hurrah Broadside to the swell the ship for Captain Cobb ! . . . Hurrah for climbed it sideways, the left wing Senhor Vianna!" pointing up. The wind caught under The rescued Frenchmen awoke to the wing and lifted it. Up it went, the sound of joyful shouts. Clad in up and up, rapidly approaching the their underclothes, they were carried vertical. High in the air the men clung down the gangplank. The minister, to the wing tip. still seasick, tottered weakly behind Just in time the retreating swell them. crashed into the submerged right wing, Cobb grinned. If it hadn't been for forcing it upward. The human ballast the minister's delay for luncheon, the on the left wing brought it down. The Buenos Aires would have been too far ship completed the turn to head down north to help the Frenchmen. wind. The trio on the wing-tip hurried It was daybreak when Cobb fell into back to the cabane. bed at the hotel. He did not awaken Cobb jockeyed the controls, vainly when the relief ship froni Rio roared trying to hold the ship on the course. across the city at noon. "Mind wipin' the kitchen She showed a marked tendency to What finally aroused him from sleep weathercock back into the wind. was the sound of voices outside his "Mac, stream a sea anchor from the window. windows?" starboard side," he barked. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. That she chirps The sea anchor, a funnel-shaped sounded like Benson's voice. It was canvas bucket, was quickly rigged. It Benson. He and the minister were In drives this old bus with a Tudor-Spanish caused a drag on the right side which having coffee on the veranda. offset the ship's tendency to turn left. The minister was saying: "In the villa hitched on behind. Before the driver can The Buenos Aires wallowed and United States you have many fine creaked as the following seas tossed aviators. Spare us this man to train say howdy, a lady pops her head out of the bun- her about, but held her course. our young pilots. " galow and says, "Be sure and wipe the kitchen Night came on under a heavy over- Benson answered, " Cobb's flying cast. The ship struggled on in a black days are almost over, Your Excellency. windows—and my garbage pail is full up." void filled with tumbling slopes and His left eye is failing." deep hollows. "Ah, what a pity !" So I empty the garbage and wash the windows, Randall helped Cobb at the controls. Benson chuckled. " It's time he set- which gives me time to bring up my oil story. Wind and sea were increasing. Their tled down. He's going back to Rio as eyes blinked and watered from strain division manager."

• "Stop-and-go sure takes it out of your en- gine," I start out, hopeful. "You park your TWO GAIRESO EDON9T Iry AXE trailer in a nice spot, and what does your oil A PliTCHER do? Runs down in the crankcase !" (Continued from Page 11) "Better be there than on the lawn," says the lady. I disregard her. Brooklyn game I was under the spell sounded to me like the faraway buzz- of pitching a no-hitter. Then when I ing of bees. I've never let the crowd's "When you start up in the morning," I tell fanned Coscarart, and Hassett rolled reaction bother me. But in this tense out, I felt everyone on the Cincinnati situation I must have realized in my her husband, "if your oil is sluggish—don't bench and everyone of the crowd of subconscious mind what was going on. move engine parts grind together 38,000 in the park was thinking about I started hurrying my delivery. I fast—the my chances of pitching another no- wanted to get the game over fast. I re- dry. You owe it to your home to use Golden hitter. tired Hassett, the first man up, by I didn't let my mind wander or spec- throwing him out at first. Shell Oil!" ulate on how great the odds were Then I lost control. I walked Phelps, against my pitching another one. In- Lavagetto and Camilli in succession to "We owe it to our home?" the fellow says, stead I resolved to pitch my game as fill the bases. Manager McKechnie at serious. evenly and capably as possible. My this point came off the bench and out dad and mother, both fifty-three, my to the mound. "You do!" I wind up. "Golden Shell costs sister and brother, my close friend, " You are trying to put too much on Lois Stewart, from Scranton, Pennsyl- the ball, John," McKechnie said. only 25st a quart—a small price to pay in de- vania, and nearly a thousand of my "Just get it over there. Those hitters friends had come by bus from Pater- up there are scared to death." fense of your fireside!" son, Midland Park and vicinity, and Then he left me without another were in the stands. It was the first word. But it was enough. It wasn't "Henry, get going," the lady chirps, "before major-league game my father and what he said so much, but the way he this man sells you a battleship." And they mother had ever seen me pitch. Natu- said it that brought back my waning rally I wanted to win for them as well confidence and control. I relaxed in clank out without spending a dime. as my team, but I frankly confess I pitching to Koy and he hit a roller to never dreamed I would pitch another Riggs, who made a nice play and A woman can certainly make a fool out no-hit game. forced the runner at the plate. Du- of you! I was in trouble twice in the Brook- rocher raised a short fly to center field lyn game. In the seventh inning I which caught to end the Sincerely, walked Lavagetto and Camilli with game. one out. Then I fanned Koy, and Du- That's about all I remember about rocher forced Camilli at second. those two games except a few little When the ninth inning came around, odds and ends. I remember CAFID1 the crowd was in an uproar. As I coming on the field to shake hands walked out to the mound the noise with me before the Brooklyn game and 42 THE SATURDAY EVENING POST August 27,7938

saying: "Say, kid, you must have been can localize the infection he has a was making to stimu- throwing plenty of high hard ones out chance, but it's a slim chance." late baseball interest among young- BUG-A-BOO IS SURE AND in Cincy the other night." After about two weeks they operated sters. John Heydler, president of the I remember Van Mungo, who on me. Through those hot August days National League, had asked Driscoll's roomed with me briefly at Miami, when I lay almost rigid on a hospital assistance in finding a young baseball Florida, in the spring of 1933 when I cot I didn't know whether I'd ever see player with "a modest background, trained at the camp of the Brooklyn another baseball game, much less play whose people are of the middle class Dodgers, coming to me afterward and in one. and whose father has an industrial saying: "Van, I hope you pitch an- I was in the hospital eight weeks al- background." other one the next time you start." together, and another five weeks re- My experiences at Miami were dis- I remember , who was covering. It was six months before I couraging. , Brooklyn man- FAST! my teammate last year for a while at was completely well again. Instead of ager, Coaches Otto Miller and Casey Cincinnati, coming by the clubhouse returning to school, I went to work as Stengel, helped me all they could, but BTIG to congratulate me. an engraver in the United Piece Dye I was so wild I was dangerous. Only UNfAlli That night after the Brooklyn game Works in Hawthorne, near Paterson. two Brooklyn players, Lefty O'Doul I drove back home to Midland Park to I worked and played ball during the and , weren't afraid to hit spend the night, and went fishing the next three years. I made $18.50 a week against me in batting practice. next morning at five o'clock, with a for the first two years on my job, and I'll never forget Lefty O'Doul, who state-trooper friend of mine. I had a then was raised to $22.50. was a real pal in those days. I don't good morning catch of pickerel. think I missed bitting a single spot on While many of the details of my two Big.League Tryouts his body, but he stood up there and no-hit, no-run games elude me, I can kept taking his cuts. tell you every single thing about my The first money I received for play- "Keep firing, kid," he'd say to me. shut-cut triumph over the Giants at ing ball was thirty cents an inning for That was real encouragement. the Polo Grounds on May twentieth. pitching for the Midland Park Rangers. But of all the experiences at Miami You see, that game is closest to my Sometimes I made as much as three the one which had the biggest effect on heart. There was so much wrapped up dollars a week extra. My pitching im- my career was meeting Joe Shaute, the in it—heartbreaks and failures, toil proved, and soon I was able to make old Cleveland southpaw. I guess he and trouble, and everything else that as much as fifteen dollars a week pitch- took a liking to me because we were goes with the rocky climb up 'the base- ing for semipro teams in the Paterson both lefties. I didn't even know how ball ladder to the big show. vicinity. to stand on the rubber. All I knew was I always had my heart set on becom- I had pitched five no-hit, no-run how to throw. He helped me every ing a major-league baseball player as games in the summer of 1932 in semi- day, and was the first person ever to far back as I can remember, but it con- pro games around Paterson. I pitched show me how to throw a curve ball. tinued to remain a kid's dream until I one for the Vaughans, of Paterson, an If my curve is any good today,_ and pitched that game against the Giants. eight-inning affair that I didn't even some are kind enough to say it is, I owe I had been up with the Reds in 1937, win. It ended in a 0-0 tie because of it to Joe Shaute. and I had been brought back for an- darkness. I pitched three for the Mid- When Brooklyn broke camp and other trial this season, but I still knew land Park Rangers, winning them all. came North they transferred me to the I hadn't made the grade until I con- The other one I pitched and won for Dayton, , club of the Middle- quered the Giants. the Prospect Park Prospects, a seven- Atlantic League. They paid me one inning twilight game. hundred and twenty-five dollars a Baseball Blood I don't want to raise any animosity month, and it was all I could do to among those who claim to have dis- make both ends meet, but I wasn't dis- Pitching in the all-star game at Cin- covered me, but Fred Pridmore, of couraged. I had made up my mind to cinnati, July sixth, was a big thrill for Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, an oil become a big-league ball player, or fail me, and I was proud I justified Bill salesman who was a rabid baseball fan trying. If someone had offered me a Terry's faith in picking me to start the and who had major-league connec- job at twice my salary doing something Get Rid of Pests game against the American Leaguers. tions, was the first to believe enough in else I would have refused it. In Insect Town the bugs declare, Although I didn't feel I was at my best me to try to get me a tryout. That Bug-a-boo is too unfair. that day, I worked carefully on every Pridmore was sold on my possibili- Dangerous Man on the Mound hitter, and during my allotted three ties and he got me a three-clay tryout But you will greet it as a boon, innings allowed only one hit, a single with the Giants in late September, I won my first game, beating Hunt- It rids your home of pests so soon. to left by . I got my biggest 1932. I reported to the Polo Grounds ington, West Virginia, 3-2, and the You spray it round with greatest ease, kick out of fanning Jimmy Foxx, Bos- at ten o'clock on Saturday morning, thing I remember about that game is ton Red Sox home-run star, to com- expecting to see , my boy- that a player named Lameir, a Cincin- Its pleasant scent will always please. mence the second inning. hood hero, who had succeeded John nati boy, hit a homer for me to win the No sign of stain or spot remains, Backtracking along my career to McGraw as manager of the Giants that game. Another thing I remember about On walls or drapes or window-panes. those early days when I was a wild and season. Terry wasn't there. I worked that season is I hit my only sometimes unwanted southpaw I would out and nobody paid much attention m organized ball off Steve Sundra, Be sure that flies won't bother you, like to recall some of the incidents to me. Yankee pitcher, then with Zanesville. Make frequent use of Bug-a-boo. which played an important role in Later I dressed and sat in the left- I finished the season with a record of It beats all sprays you've used before, what was to follow. field stands and watched the Giants eleven won and ten lost, and I lost sev- Goget some from your nearest store. Baseball was in my blood early, I play the Cardinals and began to eral games by my own poor fielding. guess. I remember I won a spelling bee wonder. Many times I picked up bunts and OTHER BUG-A-BOO PRODUCTS when I was in the first grade at school Sunday I sat in church, still won- grounders and threw them into the and my prize was a baseball. I was dering. grandstand or outfield. A Dayton sports Moth Crystals GOOD 6 about six then, and in the next few I didn't wonder on Monday. I went writer used to say that the These powerful crys- HOUSEKEEPING years I devoted all my spare time to to work at my old job at the United and spectators were in danger when I tals, pleasantly pine- playing baseball. There was a vacant Piece Dye Works, in Paterson, at got my hands on a fielding scented, give off a chance. I saturated air which lot near our house, and I played with $22.50 a week. fanned 132 and walked 74. kills moth worms boys larger than myself. I usually About two weeks later, a representa- Ducky Holmes, manager of the Day- that damage clothes. played first base, but one day they tive of the Jersey City club, of the In- ton club, sent me a contract during the needed a pitcher and I volunteered. ternational League, called me up and winter, but I didn't like it. I sent it Garden Spray They never made a hit off me. They discussed signing a contract with that back and Holmes ordered me to report Highly concentrated couldn't. I walked them all. I could team. We didn't come to any agree- to the Albany —kills most insects on throw hard in those days, but I was ment, but the last thing said to me club. flowers and shrubs. Kills flies, mosquitoes When used as direct- moths, ants and many terribly wild. was not to do anything until February. I reported the day Albany returned other househole insects ed, it is not injurious I graduated from the eighth grade Then Dave Driscoll, of the Brooklyn from in the South and to humans or pets. in the spring of 1928, and planned to club, got in touch with me on Jan- pitched batting practice the same after- ot tor enter high school that fall, but one day uary 22, 1933, and offered me a chance noon. I didn't sign a contract and the with the Dodgers. Pridmore Pi* Mall=0 in the middle of August a stabbing pain to train Albany club instructed me to get in struck me in the side. I was fourteen had spoken to him about me, and then shape at my own expense. then atd weighed about one hundred he communicated with Arty Pickering, The day the Albany club left on a G'BYE BOYS! IT'S pounds. a who once tried out with the twenty-one day road trip Dick Harrell, The family physician rushed me to Yankees. On Pickering's recommenda- an who had been farmed out St. Joseph's Hospital, in Paterson, tion Driscoll made an agreement with by Albany to Dayton, left in his car for where an examination revealed my ap- me to go South with Brooklyn, with the Dayton. He agreed to take me along o pendix had ruptured and that I had understanding I'd be farmed out to the with him. Bu -a-boSTORES AND M0811011 DEALERS SOLD BY LEADING peritonitis. minors. I worked out with the Dayton club KILLS FLIES • MOSQUITOES It was all a nightmare to me, but I This connection with Driscoll led to but still refused to sign a contract. The ROACHES • ANTS • MOTHS later learned the physicians had told my being chosen to portray the role of day before the season opened I told my parents, "If he can live until we a " typical American boy" in a film the Manager Holmes I was going home. The

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST 43

next day he sold me to the Scranton me on option to Durham, of the Pied- club, of the New York-Penn League. mont League. I pitched batting practice at Scran- This move turned out to be another ton for ten days, and then Manager godsend for me. There I teamed up Jake Pitler, who had managed the with , catcher and man- Springfield club in the Middle-Atlantic ager of the Durham club, and he had League the year before, when I was an important role in developing me with Dayton, started me. I won my into a pitcher. To Joe Shaute I give first two games. I heard that scouts credit for giving me my curve ball, and from the Yankees, Giants and Athlet- to Johnny Gooch, the old ics came to look me over, but I never catcher, who is now a coach under Pie knew for sure. I do know that Brook- Traynor, with the Pirates, I give credit lyn started making inquiries about me. for giving me control. Without either I won eleven and lost eight and had a I wouldn't be where I am today. good earned-run average. My salary The first game I appeared in at was one hundred and fifty dollars a Durham was as a relief man in the month. opener of a header. I lost that Then when the season was over I game. I pitched the second game and was informed that Brooklyn had ap- lost it too. The next time I started I pealed to Commissioner Landis, claim- won and broke the league strike-out ing that Dayton had no right to sell my record by fanning nineteen men. services to Scranton. Commissioner Gooch's patient coaching was begin- Landis, after investigating the case, ning to show results. awarded my services to Scranton, rul- ing that Brooklyn was skeptical of my The Strike,Out Record ability and didn't put in a claim for my services until I had accomplished My next start I broke my own strike- something. out record by fanning twenty-one men. I went back to Scranton for the By the end of the season I had fanned 1935 season at a salary of two hundred two hundred and ninety-five men in dollars a month and there found Joe two hundred and fourteen innings to Shaute manager of the club. This was lead all organized baseball in strike- a great break for me, as Shaute con- outs. I won nineteen games and lost tinued to help me in the development six for my greatest season in profes- of a curve ball. But my career hit a sional baseball, and the snag when I injured my arm in the selected me as the outstanding minor- first game I pitched. My record was league player of the 1936 season, for eight won and eleven lost, and I walked which I shall be eternally grateful. I ninety men against eighty-eight strike- am proud of my accomplishments at outs. Durham, because, up until then, my I felt my arm wasn't injured seri- career was a hit-or-miss affair. Then, ously, because I could start and finish too, I didn't report to Durham until a game and keep my stuff throughout, the first of June, and what I accom- but for the next eight or nine days my plished I did' in one hundred and eight shoulder pained me when I threw. At days. the end of the season the Boston Some statisticians have figured out Braves, who had first call on Scranton that I averaged a victory every 5.14 players, claimed me for $2500. days and a defeat every 15.4 days. During the winter I wrote to the But whatever glory I achieved there Boston club and asked them to send me Johnny Gooch deserves an equal share to a doctor to have my arm treated. A in it. couple of days after I mailed the letter Cincinnati negotiated for my pur- I read in the paper where I had been chase, a month before the Piedmont traded, along with , to the season ended, from Nashville, which Nashville club, of the Southern Asso- club still owned me, and I reported to ciation, for Pitcher Tiny Chaplin. I the Reds in the spring of 1937, at guess Boston didn't want a pitcher Tampa. During the winter I went back with a sore arm. to work at twenty-three dollars a week, doing mason work for a contractor The Sore Arm Comes Round around Midland Park. Headache Nerves At Tampa I worked hard and got in I appealed to Manager Jimmy Ham- good shape, but my old bugaboo, wild- may break up your HOME! ilton, of Nashville, for assistance in ness, handicapped me. I stayed with getting my arm treated, because I had the Reds until July sixth, when they spent about three hundred dollars, all sent me to the Syracuse club, in the In- Ease Headache pain lief fast . . . help for your headache the money I had saved in three years ternational League. I had appeared in and for your jangled nerves. of minor-league baseball, and it still twenty games with the Reds, getting the way that also wasn't coming around. Hamilton sent credit for three victories against five Quick Relief—Scientific tests me to Dr. Lee Jensen at Chattanooga, defeats, but I still needed a lot of work soothes your Nerves slimed 13romo-Seltzer gives both! Tennessee, two weeks before spring to cure my wildness, and Manager Relieves your aching head fast—also training opened. I explained my case Charlie Dressen couldn't afford to All on edge—blowing up at trifles— soothes your nerves. Leaves you to Doctor Jensen in a hotel room. pitch me, the way the Reds were going. rude to your wife . . . calmer, refreshed, more alert! Many Without putting his hand on me to feel I was glad to go to Syracuse, because I THAT'S HOW HEADACHE NERVES pain relievers don't give you this spe- my arm or shoulder, Doctor Jensen knew it meant pitching more often. My CAN MAKE YOU ACT! LITTLE said I had a shoulder injury and that record at Syracuse was far from im- QUARRELS LEAD TO BIG ONES... cial help for headache nerves. he would cure it with ten treatments pressive, as I won only five games PERHAPS KILL LOVE. Bromo-Seltzer also settles your in ten days. I was somewhat disap- against eleven defeats, but I worked stomach and ALKALIZES. At drug- pointed at his hasty diagnosis and com- diligently on improving my control The Cause —There is a definite stores, soda fountains everywhere. Be plete confidence in my immediate re- along the lines Johnny Gooch had physical reason for headache nerves. covery. But at the end of nine days my taught me. I think I achieved some sure to keep it at home, too! With a headache, your higher nerve arm and shoulder felt great. measure of success toward that end. "Johnny, you don't need treatment During the past winter I decided not centers are affected. The delicate number ten," he said the last day, "but to work, and spent my time hunting nervous system is depressed or fa- I'm going to give it to you for luck. and fishing through the ice. I reported tigued. You need TWO KINDS of re- After it's over, you go to spring train- to the Reds, at Tampa, weighing 187 ing and cut loose all you want to." pounds, two more than I weigh now. From that day until this I've never Up until this point I hadn't been able had a sore arm, barring a slight cold to do nearly as much for my folks as I in the shoulder a couple of times. wanted to. So I wrote Warren C. I was terribly wild at Nashville, and Giles, vice-president and general man- after participating in ten games, none ager of the Reds, about my ambition. Bromo-Seltzer of which I won, while being charged "I know I'm a better ballplayer than with one loss, the Nashville club sent the showing I made last year, and with

44 THE SATURDAY EVENING POST August 27,1938

something to work for I'll just have to In the clubhouse there were only into the ninth, 8-2, but wildness upset I signed the new contract, which was make good," I wrote him. Grove, Gowdy and myself. me, and I had to have relief to win the for a sum larger than I had made all I was pleased when I learned during " You were wild in your younger game. Then I pitched a complete game, together in my first three years in pro- the winter that Bill McKechnie had days," said Gowdy. "How did you get but lost, 2-0, to , now fessional baseball, and felt proud to be been made manager of the Reds. I over it?" my teammate, but then with the Phil- a member of an organization like the knew of his success with other pitch- Then for the next twenty minutes lies. Reds. It was just fourteen days later ers, particularly and Lou Grove gave me the greatest advice I My next start was against the Cardi- I was able to show my appreciation Fette, in 1937. I went to New York to believe any young pitcher ever re- nals on May fourteenth. I was leading and loyalty by pitching the first no- see him during the winter meetings, ceived from a star. Along with Shaute 5-1, in the ninth, but I lost control, hitter. and he gave me his first advice. and Gooch, Grove deserves credit for and was taken out. After my second no-hitter, in Brook- "Always have an idea where you're helping me attain whatever success I Then came May twentieth, my red- lyn, offers came from all over. Many of throwing a ball," McKechnie told me. have achieved. letter day at the Polo Grounds. After them were legitimate, some were made "Even in a pepper game pick out a "I've been watching you," said that game I won nine straight before by people who were attempting to cash certain spot each time you throw a Grove. "The reason you lose control is the Cubs beat me, 4-3, on July third. in on my sudden popularity. Mr. Mc- ball and try to hit that exact spot." you don't follow through. Now try to In that streak I pitched my two no- Kechnie and Mr. Giles came over to I did that from the very first day of hold the ball as long as you possibly hit, no-run games. After pitching those my house at Midland Park the next day spring training. Every day McKechnie can. Don't let it go until the last sec- two games I held the Boston Bees hit- and we discussed the entire matter. I would tell me to concentrate on one ond and keep your eye glued on the less for 3% innings before Debs Garms decided to let Mr. Giles handle all of particular thing. He'd say, "Now to- plate. If you'll bend your right knee singled off a fast ball. my business affairs. We drew up a con- day, John, I want you to practice hold- instead of holding it stiff, and then tract and, to make it legal, Mr. Giles ing the ball as long as possible before sweep down with your left arm until Baseball Comes First was paid one dollar for his services. It letting it go. Nothing else." your elbow strikes the knee I believe was agreed that all revenue would be you'll get better results. Always let the I think if I'd have had a ten-dollar turned over to me. Ji Lesson From Lefty ball go directly in front of your body." bill in my baseball pants I'd have gone From a standpoint of outside activi- Grove illustrated what he meant and over to first base and handed it to ties, I believe I have the best setup of He was so patient with me, I was volunteered other suggestions. All I Garms. By that time the tension on me any ballplayer because Mr. Giles and able to concentrate exactly on what had to do was listen. I was getting a was getting pretty severe and I was Powel Crosley, Jr., president of the he told me. I knew I didn't have to million dollars' worth of advice from happy when the hitless spell, which had Reds, got together and decided not to rush or be afraid if I took my time. one of the greatest southpaws in base- lasted through 22% innings, finally sign any contracts or endorsements, I was going along fine when I tore a ball, and getting it for nothing. I will was broken. and so forth, that might possibly make muscle in the back of my right leg. That never forget him for it. It was in my eighth straight victory me appear cheap, a nickel grabber. injury kept me from pitching in the The next day I pitched batting prac- against the Giants, at the Polo Grounds Many offers were turned down right first exhibition game and hampered me tice and Gowdy kept yelling at me, on June twenty-third, that I heard the after the second no-hit game, but I for about two weeks. When I recovered "You gotta get down there. Hit that fans boo me. I had a six-run lead, but didn't suffer financially, because Mr. McKechnie made me pitch batting left elbow. You gotta get down there." got in trouble in the late innings, and Crosley saw to it that I received the practice almost exclusively. I kept concentrating on making my Manager McKechnie relieved me, with money for some of the propositions, It was McKechnie's idea that I had left elbow hit my right knee and did it Gene Schott and Joe Cascarella finish- just as ifi they had been accepted. better control pitching straight over- so often that I soon had rubbed the skin ing the game. The fans booed me plenty hand than from a three-quarters posi- off the back of the elbow. But my con- as I took the long walk to center field. Everybody Has Helped a Lot tion. He .had Coach trol was getting better and better. But After my first no-hit game Mr. Giles drill me into pitching overhand, and Gowdy kept yelling at me. Then on called me into his office for a confiden- When the radio offers started to whenever I would lapse into a three- April thirteenth I was pitching batting tial talk. come in, Mr. Crosley told me that first quarters motion Gowdy or McKechnie practice at Lynchburg, Virginia, be- " What do you want to be, a pitcher it was necessary to determine the would yell at me from some corner of fore the Reds played the Williamsport like , , standing of the program, and then the the field: "Overhand, John. Over- club, in an exhibition game. Christy Mathewson or some of the compensation. "Maintain your stand- hand." other greats, or do you want to attract ard, Johnny," he said. It seems to me they never took their at Last attention as a freak or a sideshow type The club and Mr. Crosley were very eyes off me when. I was pitching, of player?" he said. kind to me after that second no-hit whether I was warming up, pitching McKechnie was watching me closely, "Baseball is my business, and that game. I don't care to discuss what was batting practice or working in a game. and I knew he was pleased with my im- comes first with me," I told him. "I done, except to say that it was some- When we broke camp and started provement, because one of my team- have no desire to do anything that will thing pretty nice and was appreciated. North with the for an mates told me later he had said on the interfere in the slightest with my base- For the fame I've achieved I want to exhibition tour, I felt .1 had achieved bench, "The boy's come around. Look ball career." give full credit to every member of some success toward conquering my at him get the ball over." Before that I had another conversa- the Reds, particularly Manager Mc- control. But I still would get a streak Two days later I pitched five innings tion with Mr. Giles in the Reds' down- Kechnie for his patience, to Coach of wildness every now and then. against Detroit, at Springfield, Ohio, town office at Cincinnati, which had a Hank Gowdy for his hard work with On this trip North with the Red Sox and didn't walk a man. McKechnie big impression on me. I remember the me, and to my mate, Ernie I got another great break, one which I had called the turn exactly, because I date, May twenty-eighth, because Mr. Lombardi. I can't say too much about feel had much to do with my success a never had better control in my life than Giles told me it was his birthday. Lombardi, whose catching has played few months later, and entry into base- that day. I could put the ball exactly There was a clause in my contract a major part in my rise to the top. And ball's hall of fame. When we arrived in where I wanted it. that called for me to get a raise in sal- don't forget Ernie's big bat. I hope Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Mc- But exhibition games aren't cham- ary if I was still with the Reds June Vander Meer and. Lombardi stay to- Kechnie was nursing a case of tonsillitis, pionship games, and after the season fifteenth. gether for many years to come. but that didn't keep him from keeping opened I still had some lapses of con- -"It's just a few days until payday, While predicting is always hazardous, straight and true on his program for trol. I started my first game against John," said Mr. Giles. "I want you to I cannot help but feel that Cincinnati me. He told Hank Gowdy to take me Pittsburgh April twenty-second and know now that your old contract has has the makings of a championship to see that day. had to be taken out because of wild- been torn up. Here's your new one. team—sometime very soon. Manager Grove pitched to batting practice, ness, in the fourth inning. Then came Your attitude and the way you worked McKechnie has polished up the team and I watched every move he made. two relief jobs against the Cardinals. leave no doubt about your being on the until it is a smooth-working unit. It Then when Grove headed for the club- On May second I started against the club June fifteenth. You are with us to takes nine guys to make a champion- house he yelled at me to follow him. Pirates again and had them beat, going stay." ship team, and always will.

EZCIEFUL WK110 AREN 91 POSelligL)

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I became aware of the activities of I visited the headquarters of the In- peace societies which already existed At this first glance, the International the International Peace Campaign ternational Peace Campaign, located throughout the world. So this group Peace Campaign did not seem to me to soon after I arrived in Switzerland last in the Palais Wilson, which once housed met at Brussels, in 1936, and founded be very important. It appeared to be • December. The campaign seemed to the League of Nations. Here it oc- the International Peace Campaign as just another well-meaning organiza- be doing an incredible number of things cupies very modest offices, three or a sort of clearinghouse for the inter- tion, to which well-known men and in a surprisingly large number of coun- four plainly furnished rooms with a national peace movement. They elected women had lent their names. But as tries. It was directing a world-wide small staff of hard-worked men and as joint presidents Viscount Cecil, of the months passed, and I looked into boycott against the Japanese, it was or- women turning out notices and pam- England, and Pierre Cot, former French the setup and activities of this organi- ganizing parades and protests and mass phlets. Minister for Air. Viscount Cecil, win- zation more closely, I became convinced meetings, and addressing petitions to A youngish Englishman received me, ner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, that it cannot be ignored in estimating governments concerning the war in and patiently answered my questions. has tremendous influence in Europe. the prospects of another world war. China, the war in Spain, the situation A group of men interested in "collec- He is justly regarded not only as a very The International Peace Campaign in Abyssinia. In spite of its name, it tive security," as he put it, had gotten great man, but as a completely selfless is the outcome of an idea which bears seemed to be an extremely belligerent together and decided to make an effort and public-spirited figure, ideally fitted the simplicity of genius. This idea is organization. to co-ordinate the activities of those to lead an international movement. (Continued on Page 47)