Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 134, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1912 — HOW CHICAGOS LOST O’BRIEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW CHICAGOS LOST O’BRIEN

Carl Lundgren Gave President Murphy His Opinion That Buck Would Not Do for Cubs. "If it hadn’t been for Carl Lundgren the Cubs would have Pitcher O’Brien today,” says President Murphy ofr£b*t Chicago Cubs. “Lundgren played for the Chicago team many years and was a most excellent pltcber. He was uniformly good during the cold days, when most twirlers can scarcely hold the ball. Ho won many games for the Cubs at such times and was a factor in our success. “His judgment slipped up in the case of O’Brien, however. I had beard a lot about O'Brien’s wonderful work in the Connecticut league. In fact, many persons had written me advising his purchase by the Cubs. 1 picked up an eastern paper one day, noticed where Lundgren was playing on, the Hartford club, tbe same that O’Brien was a member of, and decided to get Carl’s opinion of tbe youngster. “Carl had pitched for the University of Illinois before joining the Cubs, and as George Huff was coach of the Illinois, in addition to being our scout at that time, I decided to get busy. First of all I asked Huff to write Lundgren and find eut what he •thought of O’Brien. The answer came back In due time: ‘O’Brien is only a fair pitcher.’ “That settled O’Brien for me. If he didn’t look good to Lundgren, I didn't see where he could be used by the Cubs. Yet that same O’Brien pitched amazing ball for the Denver club of the Western league, and was grabbed up by tbe Boston Red Sox before we could, get another crack at hlm r Jack Hendricks, manager erf—the—Benvevclub, and one of the best developers of young ball players in the business, according to my way of thinking, considers O’Brien the best young pitcher he has ever set eyes on. “For that matter, a dub owner has to pick and choose diamonds in the

rough for himself. Take the case of Gandil. Two experts have told me Gandll was a world beater—two said they wouldn’t have him on their club. What can you do in the face of such conditions? Just trust to your own insight and luck, I believe. ■ “We have had several youngsters whom we let go, believing they would not do. Yqt these same players went' to other major league clubs and were whales with the bat and in the field. Really, you know very little after aIL"

"BUCK" O'BRIEN