| Show J w MAKES T BI Leader of Giants Believes He Can Make Star of Great Athlete Athe BY BOZEMAN BULGER New York Feb 15 Jm Jim Thorpe the iho great Indian athlete who ha has a ft Giant has one characteristic that will bo 10 a 1 strong pont point in his favor even before his physical dexterity or knowledge knowl edge of the game begins to develop Did you notice said en- en that trick or habit heI he I ha has of out of or the corner of ot his eye and In the i surroundings I before he expresses himself on i L sub subject After talking with this wonderful athlete a fe few minutes one couldn't help noticing IU That Is a sure sign of a added McGraw I q Rues gues you have observed Mathewson doing It when apparently he was paying no at at- at i iball According to McGraw the ball pl who studies out details Is nearly iii That Thorpe is an observant fellow was shown when I asked him hini why I h preferred to Join the Giants He glanced out of the corner of his eye at ot a large framed picture of the New York tain which Included all the substitutes last spring I I could have gone to St. St Louis ana and according to what the scout toll told mo mu 11 l ttA 1 n fl r lie said But it occurred to me that I had never neverseen seen any startling newspaper stories stone about what the St Louts Louis team had done That Is what decided me In fa favor a- a vor of the Giants If the St. St Louis club was witting willing to put an untried man Inan like me ne on the regular team they would likely put other untried men on it and it wouldn't be much of a team I think I would rather sit on the bench a good team than to be on the field with witha a bad one olie After seeing what good players do I might be lie able ahe to do It myself FIrst l I have never heard of u a hail player who sat at on the bench with th the Giants turning out badly he added A lotof lot lotof of good coaching I figure Is worth more to a young player than J a little bad playing a a. great crowd of reporters nd photographers around him It could be 10 seen that the Indian athlete was do- do uncomfortable He laughed politely at the Jokes he he has haH a keen sense of humor humor but but would never vol volunteer ol- ol a comment of his own It was all strange to him and he wanted to be bemire beure mire ure of his footing before befort opinions of his own He lie posed for Cor pictures for an hour without a murmur of complaint McGraw explained to him that It wa was the custom Once On ho lic had started stalled ns as a big leaguer the In Indian indian in- in dian made up UI his mind to go through When it was all over Thorpe naively remarked that It was the tue longest contract con cor- tract he had ever signed For the benefit of the photographers hw he kept the pen in his hand and signed the for nearly two hours For every new camera man he lie would oblige I I didn't play much bad bull ball down In North Carolina he remarked after some come one had cracked a Joke about that league I I had to play In so many different positions that 1 I was never able to find out exactly I belonged be be- longed You see I would pitch one day and then f would fill In at first base base-ami In the outfield when the other fellow were pitching I think th iU h that I would prefer first fIrt base to any other position But that's entirely up to Mr McGraw Hell He'll find out whore 1 lr belong j Dont you care for pitching I naked asked him Well Ill I'll tell you and Thorpe showed that he had a fl pretty good inside knowledge of the game I like to pitch but In that position I dont don't set get a chance to play more than one day a week In hi other positions I might be in the game every day If I made good One Ond thins thing In favor of pitching though lie he continued Is that I wouldn't be ex expected expected ex- ex to be iC a a. great hitter In other positions I would to lilt hit tho ball up to bIg league form or lose my Job Were rere you a pretty good pitcher 1 i inquired I l won half of iii my games with a tall tail end team was the answer and I see that's considered pretty good In the big big- league I had a lot of speed but I depended de do- mostly on my curve I 1 had pretty good control of It too I dont don't know whether I had what you Jou writers call a Jump on my fast ball or or not hot I I 11 guess If I have that there will be no Question about me being a pitcher 1 always liKed to play baseball Thorpe went vent on and that is one of the reasons 1 Joined that league in North Carolina You know we ve haven't had baseball at Carlisle for two or three years If we had baseball at the college I might never HoVel have become a professional Thorpe explained that he had a small Income from his in Oklahoma but that It was not sufficient fur for a good living In lii other words ho lie Is in going Into baseball purely for the money there Is in it iL Contrary to time the general impression Thorpe is not a full blooded Kox and Sac Indian Ills His parents parens are both half half- breeds Ills His Is a well well-to-do farmer In what was time the Indian Territory Jin- Jin was vas born near a little place called Prague Ho Ike Is a ward of the United States Slates government and owns a tract of land which Is a part of th tho grant to the Indians Though there Is a general Impression that McGraw signed Thorpe forthe for forthe the sake fake of having a i. i world wide f- f attraction for the Giants the New NewYork ew York manager Is really enthusiastic over his chances as a player Thorpe Is the ideal build for u a ball lall ballplayer player saw McGraw Ito Ho Is broad broad- shouldered limbed clean and weighs pounds His mind is quick and his ample evidence of Jils game game- ness I like tile way ho has of ot studying studyIng study study- Ing things out Of course I realize realise that he will vill be a big big- novelty for the public but I also expect to turn him Into a good player Ho will go south with me and work out omit with the first squad of When the business of signing and anI posing for the tho photographers was as all allover allover over and Thorpe and Glenn Warner were about ready to start on their re return return re- re turn to Carlisle McGraw was feeling In fine spirits and Invited everybody to togo togo go down Into the restaurant There It was suggested that we drink a toast to tile the new player Thorpe hed the Jolly gathering ing with interest interest- Mr Thorpe said McGraw with a smile you know this N is not the regular regu regu- lar everyday thing in the big league Wo We don't dont do 10 this often elton Thorpe caught the drift of if the tho remark and laughed I understand he replied You notice no no- tice I am drinking water |
