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In 1906, I developed pleurisy and was unable to get into condition. So I asked for my release and obtained it. So ended my Major League career.
We played for the love of the game; there were few holdouts. We wanted to pitch every day; to win more games than the other guy - not for the money, but for the glory of winning.
The day after we had pitched a game, it was our duty to stand at the gate, and afterwards to count the tickets. I remember counting 30,000 tickets one day at the Polo Grounds in New York.
If the arm got sore, we went out and pitched until the soreness left - we had to, or we would have been dropped from the team. Nothing short of a broken leg could have kept us out of uniform.
I consider Billy Keeler, Mike Tiernan, Ed Delihanty and Larrie La Joie the toughest hitters I had to pitch to, but I did not dread them. Remember, Hughie Duffy was a member of our team, so I did not face him. In my opinion, Duffy was the greatest hitter.