Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / March 20, 1909, edition 1 / Page 12
Part of The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
CORBETT GIVES RED-HEADED MEN STAR ATHLETES J7e American ImimBmmmM " 1 ' . .'. .' . .'. Sorrel Crowned Boys Have Made Big .Names-imrny Lee an Example Records of Eisele, Driscoll, and a Few Others Will Prove the Statement Bobby Kerr "The Pride of -Canada," Crack Long- Distance Runner Many a fond mother who has brood ed over the fact that her hopeful ha3 locks of flaming red will take heart v hen she reads the resume of athlet ics for 1903 and notes the fact that the fact that the chief honors on cin der path have this yea fallen to red headed runners. . Who won the junior cross-country championship at Celtic. Park recently, out-classing a field of fourscore run ners and winning in record time? Why. "red-headed JImmie Lee. of Bos-tor- And it was Lee, too. the week previous, who showed the athletic fans a streak of gamenes that softened the heart of every man and woman that saw the race. Lee ran the whole last two miles in a condition bordering on collapse, and flopped over helpless tha Instant he realized that he had com pleted the journey. Who won the 10-mile championship the very race in which Lee show ed all this grit? Why. red-headed Jack Eisele. from Newark. r. J-. Eisele ran the fastest ten miles since the days of Willie Day 30 minutes and 16 sec onds. Eisl is some game, too. It is not so long ago that we read about his running the English three-quarters to a standstill at the Olympic games and giving the British athletic experts the scare of their lives. And this after having tha nail torn off one of his big toes. 'Eisele ran with his foot, bandag ed and suffered excruciating pain at very stride. . Who was the star at the distance raoee at the outdoor championship las summer? Why. red-headed Mike Driscoll. from Tonkers. the Hill City. Driscoll has defeated such champions Reilly. of the Mohawks: Lee. of Boa ton; Bellara. of the New York A. C: Bon hag. Joyce. Daly and Collins, of the Irish-Americans, and Haskins. of Pennsylvania on the "cinders, and at the indoor championships he thrilled the -whole athletic world with a per formance of 9:28 2-5 for two miles on the boards. When Uncle Sam needed a sprinter to uphold his name in the 200-meter CURRENT NOTES PICKED UP FROM SPORTING ARENA Lacrosse on skates may be tried at Montreal. Fred Welsh is 21. Springfield. Mass., chauffeurs have organized. Dan Kelly, it is said, wants to re enter Oregon University. A .London report has it that John son and Bums will fight again there. Michigan will basketball. very likely drop Spring football practice is in order. - Amherst plans an exclusive foot ball field. Jimmy Gardner is after the welter weight boxing title. May Sutton will play in the Mexico national tennis tourney at Mexico City April 5th to 10th. Spokane has a baseball named Teddy Roosevelt. pitcher The transmissisippi Golf Associa tion's yearly tourney will be held at Dea Moines July 13th to 17th. The Aero Club of. California will give its first show at Los Angeles March 20th and 21st. Fritz Hanson, the Worcester welter weight .wrestler, will try the boxing game. Mexico will have six Sundays of horse racing at Aguascalientes, begin ning next month. A derby try-out at hal fa mile will take place April 18. -Billy" Brady, ex-pugilistic mana ger, has secured the American rights for the Johnson-Burns fight which oc curred about two months ago at Syd ney. The American Horse Register Asso ciation credits 24.313 trotters with standard records, and 16.193 pacers. .The annual ei?ht-oared shell race between Cambridge and Oxford will t rowed over the regular Thames river course, from Putney to the ship at Mortlake, April 3d. New York Yacht Club's larger boat have wireless telegraph systems Installed this season. The big Eastern college soccer eleven la now playing :t yearly sched ules. Yale divided championship hon ors wtth Haverford last j-ear. Birmingham. England, boxing pro moters have bid 37.500 for a 20-round oout Detween Owen Moran and Jem Driscoll. ! Cincinnati will try baseball by electric light, the Reds and White Sox playing there April HtftM. Five light towers have been erK$i on the grand stand and onfci.j" field fences, and the promoter sirthe scheme will permit the spectators a fine view of the play. Ax Marathon race will be a feature of an athletic meet to be run off on . . .1.. o A tln.ll. . 29. ' Thev Canadian - gdvernment ha agreed td set apart 1.000 acres of land In Ontario for & game preserve. This land will be .contiguous to the 1.000.000 cre recently set apart by President Roosevelt In northern Mlr nesota, aa a forest preserve, to be known m Cleveland National ParkIt is said this is to be the largest game preserve in the country. . The American Bowling Congress will.be followed by the National As sociatlon aCalr at Madison Square garden, May SUhMnwhich the New Also James Archer. raco at Xjonuon, wno o i . . - . i 1 . hir and, after one of the most stirring Af th nivmnic. Dlunced through 1IUIU LUC ... morv iik-A a. sireait. the tape a bare three incnes Denmu m.hhv itorr the Dride of Canada? wh-i. that was red-neaaea aoouy Clcughen, of the Irish-American v. .. A .Via Stars and A. V.WUjiicu Ul-ut.u i - ir Slrmes in other countries, too. th 200-meter events at Interna trr.al meets in Dublin. Edinburgh. o". M lmn. xorKODping uuu Stockholm all in tiptop time. J V " - rimiehen made srood on the boards. too. by winning both the 60-yard and 7ii-yard indoor championships in re cord time. When the year's work Is summed up thrre will b fewer men with better records in the longer sprints than Jim TSu-nrv.fiecond Regiment Engineers. Viae Is a brick-top. too, and a pride to the order. When he comes flying around one of the Indoor turns all Cocked out in his red "Twenty-second tosre and that name a-tlapping in the wind you can put a bet on one tntng; that is. 'McEntee gets in the money. He has won more 300-yard and 440 yard prizes from short marks this year thart anv other athlete in the district, Cornell University has a sorrel-topped I rtar. too. His name is Taylor and In another vear so says jacic .vioamey he is going to show a brand of run- I ning that will startle the wnoie or am- i letic America. Taylor was probably I held back this falL Moakley knew he had a winner In Capt. Young and saved the new star for anomer jear, t that Taylor materially aided Cor- I nell in winning the inter-collegiate CrOSS-COUniry Cnampionsnip uy ratius i home in fourth position close behind I Paull. the University of Pennsylvania champion. Taylor was the second cor- nell man to cross the finisn line. Jim Archer, the Irish-American tipr'nter. is another red-headed run ner who is good. Of late Archer, has been off his form, but look up his re- cord, and you will f.nd nm a junior champion In 1906. as well as the win ner of many handicaps in lightning 'time. York committee pledges $1,000 to the five-man team rolling the highest score. This organization is run on the individual membership plan, each bowler paying yearly dues of 50 cents. Each spring since 1891 "Jack" O'Connor has taken the baths at Hot Springs, and he says that "Cy" Young's long stay in the game is due to the good condition he was in each spring after a course of baths. This year the veteran pitcher had his usual arrangements made for taking the baths, but changed his plans af ter becoming a member of the Cleve land club, and will practice at Mo bile, Ala. O'Connor is interested to note the difference, if any. there will be in the work of the Peoli star. Wrestling champion , Gotch. who ha been talking of retiring, will meet Hackenschmidt in Australia next fall. Homer Hubbard, former Ida Grove and Amti. Iowa, footoall star, has signed to play ball this summer with a team which Gotch will organize and manage. An extensive schedule will be arranged, and with Gotch himself a big drawing card, it is thought that it will be one of the most successful amateur teams 'ever gotten together In Iowa. Harley and John Davidson, former ly of Toronto, and Allie Moore, the American champion roller' skater, competed in the international roller skating race in London recently. Elimination heats were skated in sev eral of the English -lties, and the final occurred in the big Olympic rink in London. Moore was favorite In the final, but was beaten by Har ley Davidson, whose prize was $750 and a $200 medal. THE NAPS LACK : A LEFT-HANDER Joss Says a Star Southpaw Would Cinch . Pennant Declares "Cy" Young Greatest Pitcher in Game To-Day. ' MOBILE, ALA., MARCH 19. "With a good southpaw to mix up with Cleveland's right-handers, there would be no question as to where the Nap would finish thle season,' re marked Addie Joss Ihe other morning. "I believe that Manager Lajoie has gathered in the greatest corps of right-handers in the business. No one can even imagine what the addition Of Cy .Young to the Cleveland Club will do, but in my opinion it was the best move ever made in organized basebalL "Young is the greatest pitcher in the business to-day. and he has a few more good years left in him. If he only pitches in his 190S form for us this summer, what, will happen? Why, we will walk right in with the bunting. But it would be like stealing the baby's candy if we had a good left-hander to serve them up once In a while. . "We were beaten out for the pen nant by a fraction of a game last fall." and this year the team that beats us will have to step even faster. All of the players .were taught a lesson last, fall, and you Just watch them this summer. There will be no dull days of that don't-care spirit. They will be up and .doing all the tlm& from the tap or the gong on April 14th to the final day In October. " ' " 1 .; "I cannot pick a team In the, American League that has a license to beat us. "Every one Is looking for Detroit to turn the trick again, but we beat Detroit in the eeries last year and will ao so again this season.. No. siree. he wfn v. me.: mELrk m. Young otIe ,mD?ant bearmg on the wmwrvLI racThe other players will work better beKi2 him." ; , j. .. BY HENRY TEX EYCK WHITE. The "American trotter dominates the world, harness races now being an MtahMshed feature of faslonable win ter lira on the continent. . Austria Italv. Germany and France, of late vears have taken up the sport in earn est, England being the only European country in which trotting meetings of I no erlv-An CI It rt 1T1 nS lwucviudii.; a o" - - , i last two seasons ine eivihk ui a m ' " " - tor trotting meet at BU Moritz has met with such success that it now is the fashionable evenfof the year. Some idea of the hold trotting has taken in Austria may be - had ty reariinsr the' accounts the 1 European I newspapers print of" the meet. This I t. ,. weV in February The track, a mil 'course.- made . , im - ,,. . , j " . .. . ards In such matters, was in excellent condition, and one report adds that the paddock, with the impatient. steeds carefully tended by grooms, ahd in several cases their owner-drivers, all bedecked in gay racing col ors; the royal. box, with the Austrian colors waving over it, the judges' stand, the . tribunes, thousands of spectatorSf tne plcture bathed in sparkling sunshine and set like a sparkling gem in the heart of one of the' most beautiful scenic jewels in Europe, formed one of those scenes memory always recalls with feelings of delight years after." There were 105 entries in the races, owners sending their nags from all Dnrta of Switzerland. Austria and Germany, and society was. out in full force, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand Qf Austria. Princess Hohenberg. Count and Countess Lonvay, Countess chotek. Baron and Baroness Rumer- akirch. Count Festerics and others of the nobility enjoying the sport The judges ver Dr. Holland. British con sul at St. Moritz: Lord Wodehouse and Herr E. Taube , All of which means much to the American breeding interests, as the already strong Austrian demand for aiuci va.i. uviuug siunuus aiiu uiai ca is certain to'be greatly increased now mat tne sport nas been given tne so cim sanction oi me nusirmn couru Apropos of trotting In foreign countries there is a belief amon; horsemen that the stallion Fleming Boy, recently bought Dy "Doc" Tan ner, of Cleveland, a clever trainer, who had charge of the Billings mati nee string when that collection of trotters and pacers held a lot of world's records, ultimately wfH go to Russia. Last winter Tanner made a trip to that country, and through the friendly offices of Will Caton. an American trainer, who has for many years been located In St. Petersburg. became well acquainted with some of the leading breeders of trotters. I am told that several mares in foel to J. A. McKerron. a Cleveland stallion, are to be shipped to Russia next fall, and the chances are Fleming Boy will accompany them. If the son of Camara goes to Rus sia he will "make good" there unless Russian methods of training and stable management do not agree with him. One thing that will commend him to foreigners is the fact that after a most strenuous campaign in this country his legs are in the pink of condition. In the matter of condi tioning, he is an easy horse to train but he is a rough and tumble nag on the track and in the stable, and it re quires a combination of patience and firmness to get along well with him. In his spring work Flemming Boy is "edgy." and so anxious to tear away at full speed after he has had a slow mile or two that it is not al ways possible to. restrain him right away, and during the three seasons i The Personal Side Manager George MACON. GA.. MARCH 19. George Stallings, the present manager of the New York American League club and, the man In whom several hundred thousand Eastern fans have placed dependence to lift the Highlanders out of the rut of last season, is not a baseball man like Cobb, who has attained a leading place in a few short years. Nothing of the meteoric kind of ascent to the top of the base ball ladder has fallen his way, and when he stepped from one club to the next higher up he did so only af ter hard work. This kind 'of progress means a great deal more in the long run than the lightning like success that has been tossed across the paths of other play ers. By going up slowly from the Richmond academy team of Augusta to the major leagues, first as a play er, and then as a manager. Stallings had time to learn the baseball game from end -to end, and he has never allowed a single point to slip from his memory. To-day he is one of the best informed moguls in the game and he has often been sought for Infor mation by older managers than him self. By paying attention to the details, of the game Stallings has ac quired his present extensive knowl edge that stands him In so-well. ' Had Good Judgment. If Stallings had not been one of those ambitious kind of baseball men and had he stuck to the playing end of the business he would, by this time, be among the minor leagues, fighting for a place on some Class B or Class c team. As it was, he saw future to the business, accepted a fighting chance and won. He felt sure when he -was playing his best game as a catcher that he could con Naps Have Five F lingers Over 6 Feet ( Tall. MOBILE. ALA., MARCH 19.If build, height, and weight are any crl terlon.'the Cleveland Club is well for tified in the pitching department. There are five members of squad at Mobile who are 6 feet and oyer in height. They make a formida ble quintet and & hard one tb beat at any time. Fred Falkenbarg towers over, the entire party With his 6 feet 6 Inches, and when he ijoes on the diamond he looks like. the pennant pole that may help - carry the bunting -some ; day emblematic of the American rLeagu champions. , . , , , , " : Then comes AddU Joss with 6 feet and $ inches, and a better man could S-Xrt askel to compete for tfce pen nant honors. For years Joss has been " , - Charley Dean trained the 'st'alHori pri his home track . there : always .was a doubt or two about the horse haying his own way. , 1 s, : ' ' . In the matter, of pure speed Flem ing Boy . will be the best , thing the Russians ever-gpt .hold of in the trot ting line. Most of the nags sent to that country have been a shade passe in the . speed line,-. whereas, the Aus trians have taken . over somer fxeal cracks, and the Winans brothers, of ; England, have now on hand the two freshest and best trotters in Europe in Allen Winter and Siliko; the last named having the European ' trotting record. 2.08 ; 1-2.:, ; ; ... f J ". , .Neither, of these ftorsesrvhawever. has ' shown . the brush : Fleming Boy had on -tap lacst summer.' Dean dtoye hihv a hilf mile in ' 1: 00 1-2 and a quarter in :?8 1-2. -'After the hose had been sold to - Tanner, 1 Dean - said to me that, in his-opinion,. Fleming Boyr.at one time during the campaign of 1908, could have trotted a quarter in :28. ' i V - ; i As he was but a 5-year-old at that time and was sound as a-bell, Deani figured that' from the- way he finish ed miles around 3:0t the stallion, if prepared specially for a mile dash against .time, had a good chance to equal or excel the 2:02 1-4 of Cres ceus. It is possible that Tanner, who is a great admirer of Fleming Boy, may have had in mind when he pur chased the horse the plan of fitting him for a record-making mile next fall, and. whether he went to Russia or staid in this country, a fast .mark would add to his value; - Tanner is a man of much experi ence In the matter of fitting trotters and pacers for fast miles, and the wonderful ' performances of the Bill ings .horses in the matter of making world's records were due in a great measured to his skill as a conditioner. He made the horses go well In double hitch., as well as siiigle, and he also retained a pacer to beat the world's record under saddle. Wandering horse traders have been responsible for the dissemination of a lot of good blood in various parts of the country at one time or another, and from these strains have sprung some of the best stock of the present day. : Something like 30 years ago there came through Dade county, Mo:, an itinerant horse trader, whose little caravan "was followed by a footsore black yearling colt.. It was evident the little fellow could not go any farther, so he was traded for a trifle to a farmer, no pedigree being given with him. nor was it asserted he was of good blood. The colt grew up, and as a 3-year-old was used under the saddle for herding cattle, and, like many anoth er nag under like conditions, he took to pacing as a relief from the gallop and canter. Then he Nvas broken to harness, showed he could pace fast, and fell into the .hands of James Longshore, who "trained" the pacer and came North with him for a campaign. v He called the stallion Clinker, and he was a sure-enough fast pacer for those days, winning a number of races in the middle West, and finally taking a record of 2:20, which was the best for a pacing stallion. Then Clinker returned to Missouri, and went into the stud. He got some pacers, too. and his blood must have been better than the common, be cause It "carried" a little. Sally Slinker, 2:13,-- daughter of Clinker, is a great brood mare, and others of the tribe have done well. And at this late day a man down East is trying to prove that Clinker was by Young Nailer, son of . Sam Hazzardr the last named being a well- known pacing sire. But the Missou tinue on in that position for years, but the future failed to reveal the prospects it held as a manager. Then he switched. Since then he has won half a dozen pennants ,in different leagues and now stands a chance of making a splendid run for it in the American. The New York chieftain was born and reared in Augusta and had his first lessons on the vacant lots of that city. His first public appearance was as a.. catcher on the Richmond acad emy team in Augusta, and while back-' stopping there his general all around rood work attracted the attention of different major league players who happened to be passing through that city. Two years latea found him with Philadelphia. The Quaker City ap preciated his services, but within Stal lings breast there awakened a long ing, for the Pacific coast. He had heard' of the orange groves And the perpetual sunshine of California un til -Jie decided to pass up .more . East ern engagements until , he had made the' trip. - . . ; It was easy for him to catch on at San Jose and there he. .made , good. Between seasons he operated a money making cigar store, at San Jose,f Tlhen he was assailed with a- longing for Georgia and back he came. It was early in the nineties : then and, he stepped into the game at once, this time as manager of the Augusta Southern League team; His return was made famous as he captured the first pennant that year In those days two pennants were played for each summer. It was - the first pennant that Stallings tucked away as a tro phy. Among the players who aided him pull' down .this flag were the cel ebrated Jerry Deiiiiey, Park r Wilson, the star fllnger of the Naps. He now believes that luck, is going to turn his way and he will pitch finally on . .a pennant winner.. . Ed ' Foster, 'the v South Carolina youth, will have to be watched. Last fall he surprised all by. his excellent 'showing and . coolness in -the one game in which he was given a thorough trial. Those who watched his work at that time .believe he : has a" good. chance to remain in the 'majorB. He is rather crude yet and not,. a finished ball player, but the polish will come if he has the stamtna.: ; -. ;.i: - -' - , The grand old man 'iof the -national game, Cy Young, is next in line, being Just over the, 6-foot line, and hi' past work i. peak fori Itself. vhe? .comes "Billy"' i yVrl ht, - .secured -from the riarts will not have it. Too many are alive' who khow Jin Longshore and his black stallion to 'permit any tai about horw he was brea to go uncnai lens-ad. . .. ." ' " ' ' '' '- ' " Even so famous a horse as Elec tioneer had i an unknown cross close ut - in , his pedigree. His second dam; was a marn known as Shanghai MaTy. She - came to t New ; York f rom Ohio,'' and was obtained from' a Dana . rovinar horse traders urfder circum-: stnees which would make almost any: of the numerous, theories subsequent-; lv evolved r concerning her probaPie blood lines look good. But after; the theorists has exhausted their arts ' in an effort to show' why the blazer faced chestnut mare belonged to. this that or the other ramiiy not one un portant fact had been discovered.' One of the dreamers believes Shanghai- Mary ".was a Tuckahoe -pacer, and other people believe other-things. On account of the mystery surround ing' her early life, and blood lines there always has been a lot more credit giv-, en the mare than would have been the case had her history been well known. Her daughter, Green r . Mountain Maid, dam of Electioneer, was a wild, scary thing that never "could be brok en to harness, and as soon as the son of Green Mountain Maid, known as Electioneer, became a great sire of colt speed, and the other sons and daughters of his dam showed speed the theorists -began to give all the credit to Electioneers work as a sire to the runaway -juare that produced him, and that herself . could not be. driven in harness. They discovered that Green Mountain Maid was a wonderful fast trotter Jn the pasture, and that her Owner used to set dogs on her just to "see her hike it -off. All of which may be so. But everybody but a neophyte at the trotting game knows that" "lot trotters" seldom make good when broken to harness, and at the present time some of the wisest ones go even further than this. They assert that when a yearling is trained to lead by the side of a sad dle horse it will, as a rule, show a whole lot more speed in the sale ring than It ever has after It is broken to harness, and plenty of people will not bid on a youngster that is . shown with a runner. , ' On the Palo Alto farm of the late Senator Stanford, in California, there was reserved by him before his death a plot of ground in which certain bred there, and that had made the farm famous, were to be buried when they died, it being . provided that none of them should be sold. Up to a short time ago two old mares wandered through the fields at Palo Alto in company. They were Manzanita, 2:16, . possibly the fastest ever bred on the farm, and Mamette, which earned a place in the horse cemetery by giving to me turf Arion, whose 2-year-old record of. 2:10 3-4 to high wheels still is unapproached. The other day Mamette died, and now Manzanita is left alone. . Mamette had a total of thirteen foals, and while some of the others had speed above the ordinary. Arion was the only real star of the family. The mare herself was a daughter of Nutwood, and at the time Arion put her in the limelight by his wonderful speed her dam was given as Addie, by Hambletonian Chief. - But a man who knew said this- was not so. By this time Arion had been sold for SI 25.000. and the new owner accepted the revised pedigree, which showed Mamette's dam to be Tattler; second dam Mambrino Chief. The reg ister association, when the proofs were submitted, changed the books to correspond, but Senator Stanford stuck to the old pedigree as long as he lived, and saw to it that the Palo Alto catalogues were not changed. of Stallings Jim Stafford and Lester German After winning the first pennant Stallings was wise enough fto foresee breakers ahead for the Southern League in Georgia that season, so he began disposing of his players for neat sums. Some were sold to the major league teams and others were placed in different Southern League towns. By these sales Stallings made a neat sum of money, enough to place him at the head of the Milwaukee club. There he duplicated his South ern League performance by annexing a banner. , - . i Yearning for a, still bigger field for operations, Stallings pulled up stakes at Milvnaukee and went to Detroit. There he was vfound eight or '' nine years ago. He had with him. then for the first time Kid Elberfeld and ever since the two have, been the-very closest of friends. Stallings' next city-was Buffalo and with the Bisons he copped another brace of rags. Last year found him ... at the head of the Newark club . of the Eastern. League and owner of more than one-half of the stock for which he paid $30,000 When he retired .from that club he sold his holdings at a profit of $20,- 000.- " : . ; r ; . " ..; ? Stallings is reputed tpbe worth at least $150,000 now and he made it all, Or nearly all," in baseball. His plan tation and stock farm, Ideated at Had docks is valued at $80,000. It is hand somely equipped with nothing but the most improved implements. He owns one stalllon'-for which he would' not accept $5,000 in cash. ; On and off the ball field this 'spring Stallings .has appeared a very, quiet yet studious kind of man. .. He is a big man,- over six feet, and. weighs more than 200 pounds. ? - Oakland (California.) team. He is the last , of the 6-oot 'twirlers on the Cleveland Club. : - The fans will -open their eyes when they see the five go. on the field to gether.: 'J, . "Bill" Armour was the man that started to get the,big men in Cleve land baseball.. As a : atarter he had "Gene" ..Wright, joss and Earl Moore. ,. These , three were considered the greatest In the business on their first appearance. , Since then Wright has dropped put rof the majors, I while Earl Moore Js now, with the Quakers.: Jogs is L to-day considered one of . the star heavers. of, the American League." AH Of the other pitchers areY stock ily. built,, Gpugh , being, the, lightest ?V e, pa,ny. f:-;t:- SOME 'ADVICE Former" Champion . Tells How to Enforce Hygiene Fa. mous Heayyiveight Says That Any One Can Be V Physically a, Leader if Possessing Stout Lun-s T ... . Keej); in'ihe .Open. Air as Much as Pos v sible Running-and-Yelling Also Good ;stv-louis.: : Uo.i smarch : ti 9:-?tt- does not take any very severe exercise to keep a man in. good: .physical : condi tion, and therefore irt. good health," said J ameg" J. Cor bett "to a friend re-T cently. -v .. . . .. ."When I am not training for a box ing contest I always xnanage to hold my shape by several' methods, -which could not be called training, as, boxT era understand the term." ' ' "Be as much in the open air as you can. Don't you remember", when you were a .boy, how crazy you always were to get outdpors? Nature taught ypu that- gave ypu that desire. : And iryou follow nature's promptings you will not go very. far astray. "When you got out of the house what did you do? )Tou ran about like a little savage, which you were, and savages do not have tick at the drug- stores. You also yelled. That's the best kind of exercise." "Running and yelling," continued Corbett. "Running develpps the big muscles and yelling opens the lungs for the reception of the pure air that, means life to them." "You'd look nice dashing down Broadway and. giving vent to war whoops," ventured his friend. ' Corbett laughed. Long Walks the Thing. "Yess wpuldn't I? I wouldn't get very, far before a policeman would tag me. But you can get the same re sults, even on Broadway, pf the run and yell game without anybody be ing wiser policeman or civilien." , "How?" "I'll tell you. Walk all you can. and wnne walking take long breaths. There is nothing like a long walk with a congenial, companion, who likes walking, too, and plenty of gab during the trip. Talk away. It's a good substitute for the yelling, besides oemg more dignified. If you must take your walks WHY THE BA ITERS DON'T MAKE GAINS -: Bill Lange Points Out Weakness di Players There is Too Much Science Batsmen: Seem to Prefer Base on Balls to Home v Run Griffith. Bets Anson He Could Not Catch Three Straight Knuckle Balls Hoy Dahlen Used to r Annoy Manager With Low-Throws. SAN FRANCISCO. MARCH 19. Bill Lange, who from '93 to '99, as a member of th e Chicago National League team, was perhaps the most sensational outfielder and one of the finest batsmen and. oaserunners in baseball, has been looking over the White Sox during their preliminary practice here, and to-day took oc casion to remark lhat the batsmen of the present' time had hot advanced in any way over the form ; shown by the stars of fifteen years ago. "Instead of waiting f Or a base. on. bails' when the count is three balls and one -strike, I claim the batsmai-t should walop the next ball up against the fence if it happens to be. over the plate," said Lange. "That' was the system in the old days, and I think it had its advantages. At any rate, t worked successfully, and that ia the main thing. v' ' "I have noticed that the habit nowadays is to be too dog-goned scientific. And tjiat science lay is ruining the batters. There used to be such things as .400 hitters in the big leagues, and now j.he managers are spending fortunes in the " hope 'of finding a .250 hittsr. The reason that they are so hard to find is because the ; batsmen don't follow but "their, natural inclination to wallop the ball;! but stall around at the plate .in the artificial hope of' drawing a pass in stead of breaking a board in the back fence. . i "No batter who has any eye at all. ought ever to wait when he has three balls and - one strike , on him, unless the pitcher , is uncommonly : wild. Think of the advantage of hitting when three balls have, ben called. You are dead sure that the .next one will be over the plate if the pitcher can get it there. , If he doesn't, let it $o and take your base. But if you let a good one go then you are up against another proposition. Then the bats man is in a worse hole than the pitcher and his chances of making a safe hit : are at least 4 to 1 . against him, for a nervy pitcher will, take a chance on a curve or a. high one," in the hope of making the batsman bite. He wouldn't dare to do that very of ten when the count Was only three and one. The batsman who waits too long is Just giving himself the worst of the deal." ;; - Players Work Harder. ,v:;i' "But "Lange has-noticed another fea ture of baseball that . Is an improve ment over the old days. That is the matter of working hard during the training -season. - , "f'Gee, it "use4 to be a cinch with us, said Lange. ' "We didn't hustle like the .s players - of today ; 'dd".T?We'" would shirk morning practice all the time, so-we could -sleep late In the morning. And take H from1 me, a lot Of us needed the sleep, " for most all of the boys belonged to the Ancient Order Of Owls. ! ; " 'The -tea,ma of to-day. report at the grounds " at 9:30 in Ithe, morning and WQrk to beat the bind for. two hours. In the old days after ve had stalled the manager off as long as possible we would finally; show , upA fori morn ing practice. ; I don't , know all the systems the players Uan, other teams had for dodging; morning; Work, but with -the- old Chicago j bunch , We left it lip to Dahlen to break up the prac tice after about ten minutes of hust iing. ' X; :-V; .. , , , . . 'Daflilen 5 could turn the trick mightyi easily. All he had to do was whiz four or five low throws' at An son's shins. "Pop" used to bawl Dahlen c out ; fpr: a. few . minutes, but Bill; would keep . up the bum throw- insr unui - Ansa (would - sav. -FiTwm.h fJothing like-that goes In "the big or alone, keep reciting something i tone low enough not to be heard bv the passersby, and in the noises of thl city you may make it pretty Cm without being noticed. Singing fn tl same modified key is even better tha the recitation. Whistling may be vui gar, but It will add to your ches? measurement. 1 "If I am pressed for time or hav a long ride in the suburbs. I havt a scheme or lung calisthenics that do fies detection: I get in an open car" "I: hold mV breath and count the telegraph pofte as we pass them seeing how mahv go by before I have to Open my lungwagain. "It is somethingStf a contest, and thus engages the mind. The mind should alway3 be occupied when tklng exercise of any kind.' Holding One's Breath. "Does holding the breath helu th lungs?.". v n "Not in itself. But holding it givei them an increased de3ire to fill UD with the air of which they have been deprived. You will find that after holding the breath as long as you can that you will have to take long and deep breaths to replace the empty space. It is this deep breathing that does you good. "You can practice the same thlnr without the aid of a trolley car. Take out your watch and see how long you can hold your breath. - t "A minute is a long time unless vou are used to the game. Johnston, the professional champion swimmer, could stay under water four and a half, minutes. There was nothing the matter with his lungs." "You attach great importance to the lungs?" "You can't attach too much. The lungs are the things that give you all power. If your lungs are not sound, you may -have the muscular develop ment of a Sandow, and you won t be worth a cent for any. exertion." small leagues now. It is a question of work and buckle down to business. In the nineties nobody ever tv.ht anything of telling, the manager' to go chase , himself. I. haven't heard of anybody doing . anything like ir-.it of late and getting away with it ; "tange "admits that outbid. batting the game has tnad r-ai strides, and pitchers, especially, are using' foolers never heard of in : old "days. i " 'We old-timers wore ;i long; Um- la believing that there wa. ar.vth ne in the so-called spit ball.' er.M Lang. 'But results have "forced us to .idmlt its existence and itg power to Jceiv. Now they are talking about the knuckle or finger oall. prr a lonj time I supposed that was n y ke. But Just this morning I had a letter from Clarke Griffith, telling about a discus sion he had with Anson during tha schedule meeting at Chicago over th knuckle ball. Griff ought , to know what he is talking about, and he con vinced me of the knuckle ball's ef fectiveness, but his argument with Anson must have been funny. Griffith Bets Anson. s 'You know Ane has to be shown on every proposition. Griffith told him : that Summers, of the Detroit team, had the best command of the knuckle ball and that it came up to tha Opiate in such peculiar manner that it fooled not only the batsman, but the catchers, too. , " ' "That's all rot," Anson said to Griffith, but Griff came back with the willingness to bet Anson $100 that Anse couldn't catch three out of five Knuckle balls as thrown by Summers. Anson jumped at the chance and took the wager, and it will be decided soihe timd this year if Summers. An son and Griffith, happen to be in the same city at the same time. M 'I sruess Griff will win the money, for he told me in his letter that he couldn't catch half the balls Summers had thrown to him in practice. I can hardly -believe any pltoher has suon a funrty delivery as that Of course, " the knuckle ball worked all the tim there wouldn't be any hitting at all. except by accident.' "Speaking of Lange, it Is lnterestlnf to note that he is one of the three great ball players who retired from baseball while they were still at their best, and that the other two. Mike Griffin, of .Brooklyn. nd Fielder Jones, of the White Sox. were alo centre fielders. The retiring gfffl must inoculate- the middle gardeners first,. Lange quit to marry a San F1-?"" Cisco girl, who wouldn't stand- for her husband spending most of the year "J the East playing ball; Griffin quit when , he couldn't reach a salary ; agreement with the owners of tne Brooklyn club, and Jones has qu" to look , after , his lumber Interests the Northwest, passing up a salary oi $io;ooo. T . 5 ''Comiskey still Insists that Jones Will return to the White Sox, t"1 there Is no longer any doubt that ne is in earnest about wanting to retir. ana it 400KS as maugu f.il mantle was absolutely certain to u upon the shoulders of Catcher Sullivan. Greenville, S. C Mills Organize Baseball League. i Greenville, S. C March l8-f Greenville Mills Baseball League" een organised with Mr. Htfjld tille News,' as president and Mr. Hollis. secretary of the Monagha" M. C. A. as retaiLvoSan. The league is compu Rrandon Camperdown. Poe. Sampson. B and Mills Mill. - This mu oe - ond season. .- will oper Harry Pulliam's eyes td on. . . :
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 20, 1909, edition 1
12
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75