Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 140, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1917 — CHANCE IS PECULIAR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CHANCE IS PECULIAR

Differs From Other Managers in Handling Players. Artie Hoffman Relates Instances of Idiosyncrasy of Former Leader of Chicago Cubs—How He Called Pitcher Ritchie. The conversation In a Chicago fanning bee turned to Frank Chance. “There * was a great fellow,” said Artie Hoffman, former utility star'of the Cubs. “I used to travel around with him, keeping tab on our players, three or four times a week. “One night Chance was loafing in the lobby and Insisted on my remaining with him to keep him company. We were all supposed to be In our rooms by eleven o’clock, but we sat and sat and sat Finally it got to be half past one. “ ‘Why don’t you go to bed, Frank?’ I said. ‘lf I had as nipch money as you, I wouldn’t worry whether the fellows got in on time or not.’ - “Chance glanced at the clock. ‘Go to bed yourself,’ he snapped. ‘You’re breaking rules.’ And me sitting up to keep him company! Can you beat it? “And could Chance call a fellow?” continued Hoffman. “Well, rather. I remember we had a three-game series with the Giants one week, and Ritchie went in to pitch for us. He won It. “Right after the battle Chance told him he’d have to w’ork the third, too. Meaning he’d get only one day of rest In between. Ritchie was willing. “The night after he won Ritchie stayed out late, and what he didn’t get in the clubhouse was a caution. Chance landed into him proper. He told him there wasn’t a chance for him

to pitch. Then, five minutes later, he told Ritchie he had decided to send him in. “Ritchie pitched his head off, and won, three to one. As soon as the gang reached the clubhouse Chance dug into his locker, before he’d even changed his togs, and drew out a fat roll of bills. He stripped two fifties and handed them to Ritchie. “ ‘You’re a funny guy,’ said Chance, ‘but you can certainly pitch.’ ”

Frank Chance.