To me, baseball is as honorable as any other business. It is the most honest pastime in the world. It has to be, or it could not last a season out. Crookedness and baseball do not mix. It has become immeasurably more popular as the years have gone by. It will be greater yet. This year, 1919, is the greatest season of them all.
Baseball is the greatest sport in the world. It is the cleanest, besides affording more people the right kind of amusement than any other. I do not say that because I have made my living at it. I say it from the heart.
No one has any license to brag because he is honest. That should be natural instinct and, besides, if you are not, they put you in jail. Honesty is merely a form of insurance.
I was perfectly satisfied with the West Side of Chicago when I was in knickerbockers. I hope it was with me.
I had some great pitchers while in St. Louis. At first, they only 'pitched' the ball fifty feet. They had an allowance of six bases on balls, which was neutralized to some extent by four strikes. Later on, the 'throw' became a free-for-all, overhand, or any style the pitcher chose.
I would not be on the level did I not confess that I always have believed that the old Browns were a great team, one of the greatest ever organized.
Chicago is the greatest of all baseball cities. I make no exception, although I have been treated well wherever I have been. It is the greatest city because the fans will stick to a loser season after season. I have had my share of defeats, so I should know.
The fellow who can pay only twenty-five cents to see a ball game always will be just as welcome at Comiskey Park as the box seat holder.
There is nothing I enjoy more than to see others enjoy themselves.
It is the small things in life which count; it is the inconsequential leak which empties the biggest reservoir.
With me, baseball will never grow old. In my own estimation, it may not have improved so much as many believe, but regardless of everything, it is the same good old game. If I have contributed to its success, I do not refer to this in the sense of boasting. I had to or fall out of the ranks.
