Jack Doyle was smart, tough and one of the most respected players of his generation. Born in Killorglin, Ireland he went on to attend school at Fordham. This interview was written just after the Wagner’s had acquired him from Baltimore. His stay in Washington would be short; he would soon be sold to New York. Four years later Doyle would be back for another short stay in Washington.
The New York correspondent of the Sporting Life has the following paragraphs in this week’s letter, which will no doubt prove interesting reading to the Washington enthusiasts. He says: Jack Doyle is spending a week or two at the Colonial Hotel, where he also has many friends. He says he is in the city on business, and also declares that under no circumstances will he be in a position to play before June 1 or possibly not before the 15th. When one of Jack’s friends intimated that Jack would be on deck when the gong sounded the Holyoke boy gravely offered to wager a $100 suit of clothes that he would not play before June 1 at the earliest. As Jack pulled out a neat little roll of the long green the doubter ceased to be in a betting mood. “I am satisfied with the terms offered by the Washington club,” said Jack by way of explanation, “but I am in a peculiar position, and as I never believed in this business of making players go from place to place whether the surroundings were congenial or not, I am in no hurry to play. When I went to Baltimore I told Ned Hanlon that it was a mistake to make a man go where he did not want to go, but he assured me that all would be well. I have nothing to say against the Orioles, but I never put in two such hard years as I did during my connection with the Baltimore club.” When asked what he seriously thought of the movement to suppress rowdyism Jack said: “It is my opinion that the cry raised by many was overdone, and that it has resulted in discrediting ball players. In order to work his way into a good club a player must stand many hard knocks, and it must not be forgotten that players are not college professors. They must begin at the bottom of the ladder, and have no opportunities to enter academies and colleges. The cause for all the howling can be traced to those players who in recent years have tried to imitate aggressive players, and have thereby appeared be unnatural that they become ridiculous in the public eye. As a result of one player making a bad break, the entire profession is made the target for abuse from all quarters. I am proud of my calling, and believe that in this greatly exaggerated movement ball players have been shamefully abused. There is no game on earth as honest and clean as baseball, and despite many temptations the players who really make the game have always proved honorable. There are no better behaved men in any branch of sport, and yet how often are they abused because they play the game with their hearts as well as with their hands. Criticism of a player’s work is all right, but when it comes to assaults on his character the blow strikes home. It must not be forgotten that ball players have mothers and sisters and wives, who feel the cruel thrusts aimed at them outside of their work on the field. The double umpire system will do much to prevent kicking, as base decisions will be better than last year, but to stop a real aggressive player from demanding his rights it would be necessary to cut his heart out.”
Regarding the Doyle matter, it may be stated that Mr. Wagner told a friend while in Washington last week that he had but the day before sent a contract to the Senators’ new first baseman, and that he had not heard anything from him, one way or the other. The New York correspondent of the Sporting Life, Mr. Koelsch, enjoys the reputation of being one of the brightest and most reliable baseball writers in the country, and for this reason his interview with Doyle, published above, can be considered thoroughly accurate. The best part of the interview is that Doyle is thoroughly satisfied with the contract sent to him by the Wagner’s. The problem that now confronts the owners of the Washington club is to make Doyle change his mind about reporting late, and be on hand to help hammer the Orioles on April 15. A good beginning is everything to a club, both from a financial standpoint and as an elixir to the players. There is no question that Doyle will strengthen the Senators wonderfully in the matter of earnestness and backbone. Casting aside the comparison between he and Tommy Tucker, the fact that the opening club at National Park will be the oyster shuckers lends additional strength to the argument that he should be in Washington before the season opens, and get into shape with the other players. With Doyle on first, the opening games between the Washington and Baltimore clubs will be worth coming or going miles to see. And will he play his best against his old associates? Well, it is a foregone conclusion that the tactics the oyster shuckers adopted hero last season will be stricken from their book of instruction, and if they win a game at National Park it can be placed among the hardest battles they have run against since they have been under the management of Edward Hanlon. Jack Doyle has always been a thrifty boy. Dissipation is stricken from his visiting list from the time the season opens until it closes, and, as a result he has acquired quite a nice little sum of the long green. Naturally, the more money a man gets the more he wants, and, knowing this, there is yet hope that Doyle will be with us before the season begins. Where Jack would be making hundreds the Wagner’s would rake in thousands, and the latter are too sagacious to let a good thing slip through their hands.
