It was one of the things I learned very early in my journalistic career.

I was covering the courts and crime beat at the Mining Gazette in the mid-1970s. One of my chief liaison people in this capacity was the late Gary Beauchamp, who was the undersheriff in the county.

Beauchamp wisely advised me that a story — criminal or otherwise — always contained an addendum.

A rest of the story, if you will.

As I continued on to covering sports for the most part, I learned this was very true.

After doing a story on William “Dolly” Gray, a Houghton native who actually pitched for a time in the major leagues, this rang true.

Gray, who was on the same staff with the legendary Walter Johnson, attended Houghton High School and was a fine athlete by all accounts.

Like many young men of the era, he also put in time working in the local copper mines.

Now, Arizona was alsothe site of several copper mines in the early 1900s, and Gray eventually worked his way west.

During his time out west, the local product played for several baseball teams that were sponsored by mining companies. That included one in Bisbee, Ariz. — a place where Gray excelled on the mound.

Corporate sponsoring of local sports teams was common in days gone past.

In fact, many Copper Country hockey players got their start by playing in leagues that were sponsored by businesses.

Tony Bukovich of Painesdale got his start that way before earning time with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1940s.

Gray was no slouch as a big league pitcher, posting an earned run average of 3.52 with the lowly Washington Senators.

Think of what a player with that kind of ERA nowadays would command in pay. That would make a No. 2 or No. 3 hurler in most rotations.

And that, is the rest of the story, on William Denton Gray.