ough the season. As I have
said, however, the Rockford team was not a strong one, and of the
thirty-two record games in which we engaged we won but thirteen, our
winning scores being as follows: May 17th, at Rockford, Rockford 15,
Olympics of Washington 12; May 23, at Fort Wayne, Rockford 17, Kekionga
13; June 5th, at Philadelphia, Rockford 11, Athletic 10; June 15th, at
Philadelphia, Rockford 10, Athletics 7; July 5th, at Rockford, Rockford
29, Chicago 14; July 31st, at Rockford, Rockford 18, Mutual 5; August
3d, at Rockford, Rockford 4, Kekionga 0 (forfeited); August 7th, at
Chicago, Rockford 16, Chicago 7; August 8th, at Chicago, Rockford 12,
Cleveland 5; September 1st, at Brooklyn, Rockford 39, Athletics 5;
September 2d, at Brooklyn, Rockford 14, Eckford 9; September 5th, at
Troy, Rockford 15, Haymakers 5; September 16th, at Cleveland, Rockford
19, Cleveland 12.

In the final revision many of these games were thrown out for one reason
and another, so that in the official guides for that year the Rockford
Club is credited with only six games won and is given the last position
in the championship race, several of the games with the Athletics being
among those declared forfeited.

I learned more of the world that season with the Rockfords than I had
ever known before. Prior to that time my travels had been confined to
the trips away to school and to some of the towns adjacent to
Marshalltown, and outside of these I knew but little. With the Rockford
team, however, I traveled all over the East and West and learned more
regarding the country I lived in and its wonderful resources than I
could have learned by going to school for the half of a lifetime. The
Rockford management treated the players in those days very nicely. We
traveled in sleeping cars and not in the ordinary day coaches as did
many of the players, and though we were obliged to sleep two in a berth
we did not look upon this as an especial hardship as would the players
of these latter days, many of whom are inclined to grumble because they
cannot have the use of a private stateroom on their travels.

I made acquaintances, too, in all parts of the country that were
invaluable to me in after days, and though I had not finished sowing my
wild oats I think the folly of it all had begun to dawn on my mind as I
saw player after player disappear from the arena, the majority of them
being men who had given promise of being shining lights in the base-ball
world.