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My dad doesn't want me to be a ballplayer. "'Don't you worry, said Mr. Kilfoyl 'After you sign with us and get into the Big Leagues, he'll think differently about it. "'Well, I said, 'I'm not signing with you or anybody else until I hear what you're offering. I've been taken advantage of before, and it's not going to happen again.
An uncle of his had once been a ballplayer and he had taught Willie the fine points of the game. And this uncle's ballplayer friends, who occasionally visited him, had imparted to Willie the vernacular of the game.
His ability as a ballplayer was no less of a surprise to them than it was to himself, for he had not played ball since his junior year in high school. His pitching proved to be clever and varied, his delivery of the horsehide sphere being as good as Tom Sherwood's -which is no faint praise.
"No," sighed the ballplayer. "It was hardly an improvement over Howard's letter. So I just went upstairs to my room and closed the door. Then I wrote back a long letter to the Waterloo manager, explaining that I didn't have any money for transportation.
"'You mean first base? I asked. "'I don't know, he said. 'I don't know what they call it. I was sitting in the middle there. "'How many ball games have you seen since I became a ballplayer, Dad? I wanted to know. "'This is the first one, he said. "Well, he stayed in New York with me for a few weeks, and we had a great time. Finally, he had to go back to Cleveland.
"'Never saw you before in my life, he said. "'Well, remember about three years ago you caught me sleeping back of that stove there? "'Oh, are you that kid from Cleveland that said he's a ballplayer? "'Yes! I told him. 'Remember me? My name is Marquard. Richard Marquard. "'Of course, he said, not really interested. 'What are you doing here? "'I am in the Big Leagues, I explained.
So right then I signed my first professional contract, with Indianapolis of the American Association. "When I got home that night I had to tell my dad about it, because I was to leave for Indianapolis the very next day. Oh, that was a terrible night! Finally, Dad said, 'Now listen, I've told you time and time again that I don't want you to be a professional ballplayer.
"Then one day I got a postal card from the Cleveland Ball Club, asking me to come in and talk to them. Mr. Kilfoyl and Mr. Somers, the owners of the club, wanted to see me." "Hurray!" said Hootsey. "So then, your father must have come around by then?" "Hardly!" said the shadow. "My Dad saw the postal card and became very upset. 'So, he said to me. 'I see that you still want to be a ballplayer.
I want you to go to college when you're through high school, and I don't want any foolishness about it. Without an education, you won't be able to get a good job, and then you'll never amount to anything. "'I already have a job, I'd say. "'You've got a job? What are you talking about? "I'm going to be a ballplayer, I'd explain. But Dad was not very receptive.
"'A ballplayer? he'd say, throwing his hands up in the air. 'What do you mean? How can you make a living as a ballplayer? I don't understand why a grown man would wear those funny-looking suits in the first place. "'Well, I'd answer. 'You see policemen with uniforms on, and other people like that. They change after they're through working. It's the same way with ballplayers."
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