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Show M BY J. B. SHERIDAN. H fsm-Lr ALKING baseball" has for H v yf) 'many years been the favor- H itc paatlmo of the American It '' man. No doubt, at tills H II """ time, the American should H I be devoting his deeds and B V. Nl -& n's sPcecn to "war- War and mz2 sport do not mix. RudyarJ H Kipling complained bitterly during the Boer H war that British sportsmen, cricketers and H football players had muddled matters horribly H In battle on the veldt and among the kopjes. In his famous book, "Germany and tho Next H War," Gen. von Bernhardt is at very particular Hl pains to warn Germans that athletic sports de- H tract from tho power and spirit of a nation H which proposes to make war. Bernhardt speaks H contemptuously of tlio British idea that play- B lng cricket, football, etc., prepares men for war. H Going back four centuries, wo find that tho H kings of England did not approve of athletic H sports becauso they Interfered with martial H practices. King James I., who flourished In 1 the seventeenth century, forbado his subjecta H to play at football because It took up time H which would be better devoted to practlco of H marksmanship. H Times have changed. They say that the H great desire of tho Canadian troops In the H I trenches In France and of ouch American clti- 1 ) zons as may be found taking part In the great 1 European war, was to ascertain how the big H baseball races were going on in tho United States of America. 1 Tho soldiers of Canada and Buch Americana B as are to bo found fighting in France, Insist B upon playing oaseball just back of tho firing B line. Tho Canadians are making tho Amcr- HftVMVa lean gamo popular In Europe. H So, while talking war may bo a favorite sub' H ject in the United States, this summer, wo may B be pretty certain that folks will talk baseball HKVMVa J just as much and as eagerly as they ever did. VAVAh H Comiskcy the Biggest "Fan." H Unquestionably, even tho most blaso baseball H man, reporter, manager, owner, player or fan H enjoys "talking shop" with a man who really knows whereof he speaks. I havo seen men B who have played, managed and owned clubs fo- H thlrty-fivu years, "fan" like schoolboys when H Ihcy met congenial "fanning" company. The best talked of baseball, the biggest "fan" 1 H know, is Charles A. Comiskcy, owner of the H Chicago American Lcaguo Club, which bid:; fair to win its owner his third world's cham- H plonship in 1917. Comiskcy was a player frorr H 1370 to 1897. During that porlod ho won .foui H lcaguo and two world's championships. H managed some of tho greatest teams that hav, H ever been put upon a baseball field. Ho has owned the Chicago club slnco 190' B and had won two league and one world's cham' fl ) plonship with it. lie is thrlco a millionaire). H- H i really knows more about baseball than an H man in the world, and ho can talk more inter H cstlngly about tho gamo than any man allvo H When he finds himself In congenial compan: H , he loves to tell what ho knows, to "fan." H T bavo known Comiskcy to spend tho nigh H talking about his adventures with tho fnmou; B St Lou I.i Browns, whom ho led to four lcagu H and ono world's championships, 1SSC-86-S7-88. H I do not remember exactly when tho natlonn H game attained its pro-omlncnco as a topic .i H conversation. I think it was In tho early 80 that baseball first becamo a general subject o H discussion. I bellcvo that Mike Kelly was th H first man to mako baseball a favorlto topic, A HBVHHHHJ far as I can remember, Spalding, tho "Wrights, Auson, Asa. Bralnerd and the stars of tho 70s did not attract national attention. These were brilliant players, but they lacked the personal equation. Kelly was like former President Roosevelt In that his personality appealed to the people. They talked about the things ho did. Tho artists caricatured him. Tho actors of tho variety theaters the vaudovilllans of that day .cracked Jokes and sang aongs about Kelly. The famous song, "Slide, Kelly, Slide," did moro than any other ono thing to make baseball base-ball a subject of popular discussion In the United States. When you talked baseball 'n the 80s. you talked of Mlko Kelly. Tho things he said, the plays ho made, the wine ho was supposed to drink, tho money he spent, tho life ho led, were subjects of dally discussion ani argument among tho mon of tho time. Kelly was to baseball what John L. Sullivan was to pugilism. Great in Personality. There wcro greater pugilists than Sullivan, but no greater personalities among pugilists. Thcro woro many greater players than Kolly, but no greater personalities in baseball. Sullivan Sulli-van made pugilism. Kelly raado baseball in tho United States. Talk there was of An6on, of Spalding, of Georgo and Harry "Wright, tho cricketers who did so much to lay tho foundation of America's Amer-ica's national gamo, but no such volume of talk a3 thcro was of Kelly. Miko appealed to tho baseball reporters and tho baseball reporters appcalod to tho people. Sullivan and Kelly were greater than tho games they played. Sullivan Sul-livan made pugilism. In a somewhat lesser degree, Kelly mado baseball. The first great baseball subject of general discussion 1 remember was tho salo of Kolly and his battery mate. Pitcher John CInrkson. from Chicago to Boston, for $20,000, In 1SS6. Ton thousand dollars .was a huge sum to pay for a baseball player or anything olso outsldo f a railroad In thoso days. "Who, of tho time, can ever forget Kelly's sobrlquot, "The Ten Thous.-uid Dollar Beauty?" It wi3 a tribute to tho personality of tho man that, though Clarkson sold for $10,000, too, only Kelly was- known as tho "Ton Thousand Dollar Beauty." Clarkson might as well havo been 1 thrown In for good measuro for all tho pcoplo cared. Wo hove established that baseball, ns a BUb- 1 ject of conversation, began with Iffclly, as pugilism, as a subject of conversation, began 1 with Sullivan. Then came discussion of great teams and great players. ' I do not remembor that tho public bothorod Itself greatly with tho merits of tho players uf 1 the 00s and '70s. News of them was not gon-' gon-' erally distributed at tho time. Tho Wrlght3 1 and Asa Bralnerd had been great players in the r 70s, but it was not until Kelly camo along In 1 tho next decade that tho Wrights and Bralnord 3 and Lip Pike and all othor pioneers camo up for discussion. ) ... j A "Great Ballplayer." f Tho first great playor I renYombcr was Kelly, . though Kolly never was really great as a ,. catchor or In tho outfield, or anywhero olso, or f ovon a groat hitter. Ho had some good yearn with the bat, but many plnyers of his time ex- t ceedod him in batting skill. Kelly was a groat a base runner and a "great ballplayer." Prlncl- o tally he appealed to tho people Ho possessed the "championship aspect." .1 Ho looked and he acted like a great ball- f playor. You might never havo scon Kelly, but a the moment ho stepped on tho field you felt f Instinctively "That's Kelly." Big, bold, hand- o some, confident, majestic, ho looked tho part. s Kelly-started us-talklng about great bosoball players and wo love to talk of great baseball players yet. Lot us begin by admitting that Cobb Is the greatest of all players. Thon wc can talk about the others. Anson wns, undoubtedly, tho greatest falr-away falr-away hlltor that I remember. Gee! How that old boy could hit! I remember tho old boys. I think that tho boys of tho present day far exceed ex-ceed tho old fellows in all ways, but I will not admit, no proper Judge of such things will admit, ad-mit, that any man of today at all equals Anson as a hitter. There aro scores of great hitters today, Cobb, Speaker, Jackson and Chase, but none of them equals Anson. Cobb, Speaker, and Jackson are loft-handcrs, fast, and beat out a lot of Infield hits which Anson, relatively a slow mpn, would no; oven attempt to run out. Yet Anson ha3 a better nverago thon any of them. And in a pinch! No man evor equaled Anson there. He did all of his hitting In pinches. Bunlap a Great Player. After Anson and Kelly, tho next great individual indi-vidual I remembor was Fred Dunlap. You have seen and heard of Lajole, E. Collins and othor great second basomon. Dunlap mado them all lcok bad. Ho was tho acmo of grace. Dunlap Dun-lap was tho only man I havo over seen who would take a ground or fly ball in cither han . and then throw It, right or left, to a base for an out. You havo seen or hoard of tho greatness and grace of Lajole. Dunlap wns far and away Lajole's superior In grace and Inflelding ability. abil-ity. Thej did not wear gloves in Dunlap's day. He did hla work with bare hands. Dunlap could hit, too. Once tho lato Henry V. Lucas, a St. Loulsan, who did moro than any other man. allvo or dead, to bring bascba'l out of tho back yards of saloons, offered $100 for a baso hit. Dunlap mado a triple nnd won tho game. Lucas gave him tho $100 and said: "NIco hit. Dunnle." "I can do that any time I want to," said Dunlap. "And," said Lucas, tolling It twenty years afterwards, "I bellovo that when Dunlap made up his mind, no pitcher could keep him from hitting 3afcly. Dunlap always sent 90 per cent of his salary to his mother. Ho could not read his own name on a check, but ho ,dled well to do. Thoro wore other great second basemen in Dunlap's time. Thoro was Fred Pfcffor, who played second to Anson's first for many years. I do not soo any moro fioldora llko Pfoffcr and Dunlap and "Bid" McPhco, who still lives In Cincinnati. They did not wear gloves, but the ground thoy covered and tho ease with which they did ltl Groat, big, handsome follows, with military mustaches, flno dressers, good livers, thoy gave prcstlgo to baseball. I know that Eddlo Collins is a great second baseman, yet I can scarco bring mysolf to com-paro com-paro him to tho giants of old. It seems to mo that cither Dunlap, Pfcffer or McPhco could take up Collins on hla back and play a better second baso than tho wonderful Eddie. Weighs 200, Active as Kitten. My, my, my, when I think of tho giants of old. I run my mind over tho shortstops of tho day and go back to Ed Williamson, who played that position for Anson, thirty years ago. Williamson Wil-liamson must havo weighed 200 pounds, was actlvo as a kitten and could throw a ball "through a now battleship." And hit! Geel Whoa I think of tho fcathorwclghts of tho present day, Lavan of tho Browns, Bancroftof Philadelphia, Barry of Boston, all fast and clovor players,, thoy scorn to bo mere plgmlos when compared with Ed Williamson. Still, 1 think that tho greatest shortstop was Bob Wallace, a 155-poundor; or Herman Long, who. was about tho samo weight. i Honus Wagner undoubtedly was great, too, but thorf were certain little points of play 'n which Wallaco and Long exceeded tho great German. Hitting and baso running considered, Wagnor, of course, was greatest of all, ono ?f the thre- or four greatest players of all time, probably tho greatest. But not the greatest shorcfleldcr. I can't remember seeing any really great third basemen prior to 1895. Latham was good, but would shirk hot oncH. Tom Burns of Chicago, Chi-cago, was llko his mates, Anson, Pfeffer and Williamson, great and handsome. Billy Nash camo along about 1839 with a beautiful throwing throw-ing nrm. Yet I would not call Nash really great. In 1895 came Jlmmle Collins, by chance. Collins. I think, was tho greatest third baso-man baso-man of all tlmo. Ho was graceful. All great players, save Wagnor, havo beon graceful, for grace moans stylo, nnd without stylo you cannot can-not be truly great Collins could do all things easily. He could go back, como In and then go back, hardest of all things to do. Ho had nerve and he could hit. Later camo Devlin, with New York and Bradley with Cleveland. Theso men were groat, but not at all so great as Collins. Strange to think of, I can remember but three great third basemen Collins, Devlin and Bradley, ono for evor ton years of tho thirty years I have watched basoball played. I can remember scores of great players In other positions. Which goes, I think, to prove that great third basemen base-men aro scarcor than any other players. Oh, Wallace, when he played third In 1S9S, was almost al-most as great as Collins, but ho was moved to tho shortfield in the next year. Thon I should-count should-count Billy Nash. Turner of Clovoland would bo among tho truly great third basemen had ho a good arm. Ho can flold tho bag to perfection. perfec-tion. There have been many great catchers. Tha first I remember was Tom Deaslcy, who played In St. Louis, and thon, poor ohap, becamo r. norvous wreck. Deasloy was a flno receiver. Thero was Silver Flint, with Anson, who on dured terrific punishment In tho days bofore tho mitt nnd protector woro used. Thcro wore Bushong. tho star of Comlskcy's Browns, an average catchor, and Jack Boylo, his mate, a good one. Thoro was Buck Ewlng of Now York, who, hitting, base running, playing ball considered, was greatest of all. Jack O'Connor of St. Louis was a great catchor and an all-around playor, tho quickest and clovcrcst wit over in baseball. Zlmmer, O'Connor's mato In Cleveland, waa not clover, but a rocelvor, thrower and hitter for your lifo. Thoro has boon Brosnahan, a great hitter, baso runner and ballplayer, and n. great catcher, too, tho best all-around playor tho game has over known, a big lcaguo pltchor, catcher, Inflcldor, outfielder, base runner, manager man-ager and hitter. Thcro was Archer, a wonderful wonder-ful thrower. Kllng, a great catchor In ovory . way; Mike Kelly, himself; Bennett of Boston, a mato of Kelly's in Boston twenty-flvo ycard ago; poor "Kid" Baldwin, a great catchor, but a wild lad; Hay Schalk, one of tho grcatost. Oh, the great catchers aro numberless as tho sands of tho sea. ' Ewlng wns greatest of all, batting, baso running run-ning and playing ball considered. But when you speak of just rccolvlng and throwing to all ! threo bases, I rato Martin Bergen, who caught i for Boston In tho middle 90s, highest. Bergen l was a picture bohlnd tho bat. Medium sized, dark, slender, keen-oyed, a perfect pair of i hands, ho caught the wildest pitchers with con- 1 cummato case, never dropped a pitched ball and could throw to any baso with caso and ac ( cult .t i . i Radbourno a King. You can talk pitchers for a month. Thero havo been moro great pitchers than any othor players. Radbourno was the king of tho old chaps. Ho would bo a star today. Spalding was a king in the underhand-"call for your ball" fjays, but this was prior to Rad-bourno's Rad-bourno's tlmo. Wcro Radbourno alive, now, he would bo such a pitcher as Rudolph of Boston, only bigger and stronger and with a hotter fast ball. Ho was about that class, though. John Clarkson followed Rndbourne. Clarkson wns of the samo sort, good speed, clever, a nlco curvo, fino Judgmont, a slim, slight fellow. Jim Galvln, a St. Louis boy, was of tho akin -to Iladbourno and Clarkson, but not so clover-looking. clover-looking. Charley King, who resides In St. Louis, and who looks for all of his 52 years llko a man oi 30. enmc with terrific speed, a Bldo-armer. Bldo-armer. wicked. Elton Chamberlain was cool, calm, had speed, Judgmonf nnd curvo. There aro few of this sort nowadays. Jim McCormick. Chicago, was of tho same stamp. Theso fellows woro righthanders, right-handers, about the sizo of Earl Hamilton of tho St. Louis Browns, keen, clovor. shifty. It Is a typot tha- Is becoming vory rare. Big men now hold tho contcr of tho diamond. Chamberlain, Clarkson, Galvln, Nichols nnd othor stars of the late SOs and tho early 90s woro small mon. Rusio camo in 18S9. Ho was heavy, short-armed, short-armed, short-fingered, and ho had the greatest great-est curvo ball over seen. That curve ball came right at your ear, then broke and camo down over tho plate. Rusio could whisk the hair on your temple with that curvo. yet never touch you. It broke nlmo3t nt right angles. It was tho greatest curvo ball ever seen. No othor has approached it. " Ruelo had great speed, too, but not tho great speod that Waltor Johnson had when that boy wa3 fresh. Jouett Meokln, who was Ruslo'a team mato with New York In 18.94, has greater speed than tho great Amos. Meekln pitched oft his hip. Ho gave a hitch of his body, a hair turn and tho ball was past the plate. Whow! His spood was hardly as great as Johnson's speed, but the ball scorned to como much faster from Moekln (han from Johnson. Walter takes a long, wide swing when ho pitches his fast ball He winds up and goea back to his heel for speed. Meokln gave a sudden twitch of his hip, a half turn and you hoard It hit tho catchor's mitt. His fast ball had a shoot as -rrido as tho av-orago av-orago pitcher's curvo. Ho had speed, but not so much speed as Johnson or Meekln. I give tlrat to Johnson for speed, but Meekln Is not far behind. Rusio had tho best curvo ball I havo over seen, Johnson the most speed. Tho best fast lall I have over seen was that owned by Rube Waddell Waddell'a fast ball was best bo-xiuso bo-xiuso It took a "shoot" that made It impos-alblo impos-alblo to hit. When Rube waa-good, his fast one took a "Jump," up and in, to a left-handed hitter, that was positively marvelous. j I havo seen good left-handed hitters reach j over to hit it on tho outside of the plate. It I would come apparently letter high on tho out- j side, then tako a "Jump" 6 Inches high and a A foot wide, and almost take off tho chin of tho J batter. When Waddell had that ball "Jump- rffj lng," you might as well leave your bat In th ,; bag. Rusle'had the best curvo ball. Waddell ' the best fast ball and Johnson tho greatest speed. Tim Kccfo, who was with tho Giants In the 80s, had tho greatest slow ball, but Clark j Grimth, now manager of Washington, had a j real slow. Eddie Plank has a dandy slow ball, too. So did Win Mercer, for a few years a star with Washington In tho mlddlo 90s. Cy Young, with his twenty-two successful seasons In tho major leagues, must bo account- 4 cd very great. Young was for his first ten j years a fast-ball pitcher almost exclusively. Whon he lost his best speed ho acquired n 3 curvo and change of pace. All told, Young would bo rated the greatest of all pitchers were It not for tho fact that Mathowson. who worked but sixteen years to Young's twenty- ' two, has done such wonderful work In exceptional excep-tional games In throe world's series. Mnthowson's great work in the scries of 1905, ? 1912 and 1913, stamp him as the greatest of all r. Ditchers. Ho was a bettor "money pitcher" ; than Young. So I would rato Mathowson -J greatest of all pitchers, with Young second and Charley Nichols third. Nichols did seventeen years of great pitching In tho National League. Ho pitched what wat, nearer to a puroly straight ball than any othor man I havo ever i seen. His delivery was a perfect, pure over- Ja hand. He rarely used a curve, depending al- J most ontiroly on tho "shoot" or "wave" on hla -13 fast hall. Ho was a "money" pitcher, too. II Evor hear of TQm Ramsay? Ho starred In 1 tno middle 80s. His "drop ball" was the won- ,tV u ,H tlmc' U camo hSh as your eyes, then broke flat over ho plate. No such drop Dan had been scon before or since. ' Ramsey, however, lasted but a year or two. I know why Mathowson was best of all ' Pitchers. If I had to select a pltchor to win ono X enmo and had my choice of all the pitchers I i -kuo evor scon, T would choose Mathowson. He f.nmKSt rCl,abl of alU y seco"fl olco i would be Alexander. My third would bo Ed alsn. but Walsh was purely a spltball pitcher. im career was short, throo years of greatness. 1 um pinncen was a man of Iron nerves. Mor- dccal Brown wa3 right In this class. So wau Nichols "ioung was not a money pitcher. i Of all outncldcfs, Speaker for mine. Curt ' r A on Aleep and D,ck Johnson, tho stars i or tho 80s. were strong on fly balls and good on ground balls, nono of them worn letter- on fly alls than Speaker and Speaker had the'T andthroX0 rords-ound baI fl I' !1 |