Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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Not only did the Indians pay out the $30,000 for Porter, they had to award him a decent salary. At Baltimore he was collecting $5,000 a year. Evans would have to up the ante to get Porter to sign his new contract. In addition to his baseball salary, Porter had a sausage manufacturing business he ran in the off-season. He was not a starving ballplayer by any means.

While the Cleveland faithful were buzzing about their new outfielder, Billy Evans was on a train to California. His mission was to have a conference with Charlie Graham, the president of the San Francisco Seals. There were two star ballplayers on the Seals that had caught Evans’s eye. Number one was Smead Jolley, a power-hitting left fielder who batted .404 during the 1928 season. Due to the favorable weather, the Pacific Coast League played a considerably longer season than the Major Leagues, and in 191 games Jolley had pounded out forty-five home runs. The other player, Earl Averill, was not as prolific but did bat .359 with 33 home runs and 270 hits. Evans had some trouble deciding which man was a better prospect, but a letter from former Indians pitcher Walter “Duster” Mails had urged the team to pick Averill. Mails had been one of the stars of the 1920 World Champion team. He pitched tremendously in game six, beating the Brooklyn Robins 1–0. The next day Cleveland won it all. Mails did not last long in the big leagues, but knew talent when he saw it. In the letter he told the club Averill was a fantastic hitter, especially when he had two strikes on him.