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

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In the first week of December, Evans and Peckinpaugh traveled to Toronto for the minor-league winter meetings. It was a time to catch up with old friends and maybe buy a player or two. Evans did not waste a moment in purchasing thirty-four-year-old pitcher Jimmy Zinn from Kansas City. The Indians wanted to add an experienced pitcher to the staff to complement such youngsters as Willis Hudlin and, possibly, minor-league hurler Wes Ferrell. Zinn had won forty-eight games the previous two seasons and did have some big-league experience with Pittsburgh and Brooklyn.

With the business completed, Evans and Peckinpaugh spent time chatting with old friends, including Tris Speaker, Steve O’Neill, and former Cleveland Spider Jesse Burkett. Speaker was present as the new manager of the International League’s Newark Bears, while O’Neill was set to manage the same league’s Toronto Maple Leafs. They swapped humorous stories about their playing days and incidents that had happened on the diamond. The best story told was about Joe Cantillon, the former umpire and manager. One day Cantillon brought two friends with him to Comiskey Park in Chicago. When they reached the ticket taker Cantillon said, “These are two friends of mine. I’d like you to pass ’em in.” The ticket man yelled upstairs to Charles Comiskey, “How about passing a couple of friends of Mr. Cantillon?” The reply came down for everybody to hear: “It’s a lie! No umpire has got two friends!”