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Show WEDNESDAY,' JANUARY 9, 1952 The Dreerton Tribune, Dragcrton, Utah , I ; . ' : . ' . .. . Pt-- s 7 SPORTLIGHT - ... . " . , Shoeless Joe Was A Diamond Natural By GRANTLAND RICE NEW YORK No other game has turned out as many odd or different characters as baseball has , fur- nished. The list of distinct personalities is a long one. I mean such players as Dizzy Dean, Germany Schaefer, Rube Wadded, Ossie Schrcck, Larry McLean, Babe Herman' and' many others. One of these was Shoeless Joe Jackson, who died recently. Shoeless Joe (Oh, the brave song his black bat sung) v as on the quieter side. But the Carolina Crashsmith was always a good story. There was the time Joe, lifetime average .356, reported to some small team in East Tennessee. Some time ago, Hyder Barr related the about Jacksons following yam first game there. 7 The ball park was terrible, Barr said. It was full of rocks. broken glass and he hit over .400 brought him small ' V v increases.' I doubt that Jackson ever got over $4,500 a year, and most of the time be played for less. This isnt as much s a big league rookie gets . today. It wasnt too hot for a .410 hitter. Charlie Dryden, bne of the great baseball .writers of all time, certainly the most humorous one, found Jackson an endless source of copy. Joe didnt read too smoothly, Dryden said one day. So when he got a letter from his wife Joe used to chuckle as he pretended to read. Then hed slip me the letter and ; - story about Jackson. They had been good friends in the major leagues. Long after Ty . was through with baseball he dropped by Greenville where Jackson lived. Cobb talked a few minutes about various unimportant things. Finally he said: Dont you know me, Joe? Im Ty Cobb. Yes, I know you, Ty, Jack-so- n said. But I didnt think anyone 1 used to know would want to recognize me again. Joe Jackson took a small amount of gambling money, largely because to Want read something he knew he had been far underpaid. say, funny? Id read it back but fre- I - dont believe he ever threw a quently It wasnt anything to laugh game in that series and I saw them all. To me he was a great at, like asking for dough. a Ty Cobb one day told me tragic hitter and a good guy. cans. .Finally after the fourth inning Jackson came back to the bench and said he was pride, his independent SAMS He was through. and almost belligerent disbarefoot playing position were his stock in trade. Whats the mat- Everyone said so. They were reter? the manager sponsible for his success as a real asked. Rocks and estate agent. He always said what glass hurting your he thought, regardless of the confeet? He sequences. " Naw, Shoeless gave no quarter Joe said. But theyrfe fuzzin up and asked none. the ball so much I cant throw it. But he always Cobb, Ruth and Speaker each told kept his word. me on radio interviews that Jackson Thats why people tolerated him. was by all odds the greatest natural And now hed fallen in love with hitter that ever lived. Joe batted Audrey was a Audrey Gardner. She depended on her mamas girl I decided to copy Jackson, mother for everything. It was alOf course, Rath told me one day, because Yes, mama. ways: hita like more be looked good Well if you think mother, dear. 1 ter than any ore else. couldnt its best, mama. It got under Sams or a copy Ty Cobbs hand action beskin. A yes-ma- n cause Ty was looking more for denoted a weak character, a spinebasehits than for power. less, shallow individuality. But he Jackson stood with his feet fair- had to take it and like it if he was ly wide apart, his right foot shoved going to have Audrey. forward and the left foot back of the He wanted Audrey. Thats why he right. This gave him a good turn to swallowed and suppressed. Secretly start with. I changed this a little. he was disgusted with himself for I kept my feet closer together. 1 doing so. coiild get more leverage that way. After the wedding they went to But I was also more easily caught a cottage close by where r. I had live in off balance by a mother lived. Audreys than Audreys more trouble with over every day. She came mother Joe ever had. He never had much made suggestions; she issued comtrouble with anybody. mands. The dining room should' be done in blue, the living room furniJackson and Money ture was atrocious, the bedrooms ' Shoeless Joe was never a big were cold and barren. Everything should be changed. It was. spender, but no man was more Sam ground his teeth and said underpaid. He used to sew a ten or a twenty dollar, bill in the lining of nothing. And when he tried to sell a his coat, to be sure he had some building lot to a bridal couple they cash when needed. The years where werent very impressed. They grunt- - famed gun inventor, meets Jimmy Stewart on set where Stewart Is portraying inventor in Carbine Williams. Stewart holds U.S. Army 30 M- -l carbine, while Williams grasps its forerunner, rifle he made from spare parts while in prison. old left-hande- d. yes-wom- an . left-hande- left-hande- rs $PK$Dff By Jo MAHONEY ttdScStwas mm mor OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS, HOLDS THE RECORD FOR THE IN FAMOUS GREYHOUND ONE SEASON 54.6 ALMOST forYARDS 2000 . KATHLEEN NORRIS that. It happened a second time and a third. It began to look as if Sams business were going to pot. Three months passed. Sams business was on the brink of disaster. He had not sold a single piece of property since his marriage. He began to wish that he didnt love Audrey, that he could stop loving her. home evening HEto returned had Mrs. Gardener find that one spent the afternoon with Audrey. She had come over for a purpose. The purpose was to rearrange and do over the small room off the living room Sam used for an office and study. Every other room fn the house reflected the personality and ideas of Audreys mother. The study had been left until last. Sam stood on the threshold and stared. His desk had been moved. Papers which he had left on top of it were swept into the waste basket. Pink drapes hung from the windows. The wall was decorated with a picture of a cherub. There as a flooi lamp with pinkish frills banging from its shade. Slowly, then more rapidly a fierce anger mounted In Sam. Sane reasoning fled from his brain. He whirled. His eyes fell on the triumphant, pompous countenance of Mrs. Gardener. He raised a trembling forefinger and pointed it at her nose. Get out! he said, his voice like a threatening wind sweeping down from the mountains and growing ever loader. Get out before I break your domineering neck! Mrs. Gardener gasped. She started to speak. Get out! roared Sam. Get outl Do you hear?, ; Apparently Mrs.: Gardener heard. She gasped again,: but made no effort to speak. Instead, her.eyes wide with apprehension, she backed toward the door and disappeared,' forgetting her hat, parasol and hand bag.' These items, however, overtook her as she was sprinting down the walk. w Sam banged shut the door and leaned against it, breathing heavilr Slowly, very slowly the significance of what he had done struck home. He had lost Audrey (and he loved her) but there was a warm glow of satisfaction inside' of him. jAudreystoodJnfrontof.him.Au-dre- y said: Well, my goodness, its about time you showed a little gumption. J had begun to think Id married a freak. I mean, a man without a spine! The next week Sam sold five house lots. Divorce Is a Dreadful Solution 4- WHEN I WAS DIVORCED, four years ago, I was 21, writes Hazel I Carroll, from Austin, Texas. with Chester intemperance charged and mental cruelty, and with my decree got custody of our son Murray, now seven years old. But rart-l- y because the child was so devoted to his father, I agreed that Chester should have him for the vacation months, giving him to me for winter schooling. While Chester lived with his mother in town this was all right; my own mother lived with me and shared the care of my lovely boy. Both mothers are now dead, and Chester has married a woman raised as he was on a horse farm; he has given up his bank job and lives among her relatives, all horse raisers. He seems devoted to his wife, who is six years older than he, and a pretty strong character. They have two girls. Son Is Problem The problem is my son, Murray. By the present arrangement I have him for the difficult time; lessons, study, winter cold and winter amusements. To Chester he goes to a boys paradise; he loves his little he loves every inch of the farm. He frets over my efforts at culture and instructive entertainment, and cries for all the excitements of training racers certainly not an ideal life for an impressionable child. I have a fine position In a big wholesale house, and often have to make short buying trips. At these times I place Murray with my janitor's wife, and twice he has attempted to run away, once being brought home by the police after a terrible night. half-sister- s, . ; UftgfegS&SS. HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF COMPLETED PASSES Hum. and said: Well well talk it over. And went home. Sam was wild. Iled never let a prospect walk out on him like ed and stalled RACER, HOLDS FOUR OUT OF THE SEVEN AMERICAN DOG RACING RECORDS.' swers that he wants him completes vacaly, except for my to the to him take tion, if I want mountains or shore. , Murray begs to go to his father, but I will not take that too seriously, if the present arrangement is best. Ill skip the agony the parting would be; my only consolation would be that he will feel none of it. But every mother knows what it means. It would take a Solomon tr answer, but I want to know what you think. Rare Case of those rare cases, one is This Hazel, when I truly believe that his mother is not the small boys best guardian. These circumstances are unusual Apparently your husbands immaturity has ended; he has become a responsible person, and the three-week- life he offers his son is not only wholesome for Murray, swept into a big family group, but probably the best check possible on Murrays father, too. Life with you Is lopsided now. You are yourself extremely young and the care of a small restless boy Is confining and anxious. In sending Murray to the life he so craves, you will winjnore than you lose. You can feel comfortable about him, for it is his fathers obligation now to make you feel that the sacrifice was a wise one. But try to keep the arrangement flexible, so that if next summer you find yourself free for a few weeks of shore or mountains,, it will be -- natural for them to grant ii and if in a few. years and they go so fast Murray needs more special schooling than he can secure out in the horse country, he can rejoin you, and you can win his friendship "all back again on a higher level Life is full of these readjustments; full of these terrible moments when we feel that a. realistic and generous attitude demands of us the very hardest thing life can offer. Anything else, we say in our -anguished hearts,7but not this! But time has a strange way of altering values. It doesnt make our children any less precious, but it does teach us when to let them go. It Is very important to you now, in these next years, to develop yourself into a balanced and charming woman, not saying anything mean or critical of Chester. new wife or children, rising above all that, and only determined that when Murray does see his mother, he will regard her as a fascinating gay per- -, son who ha s"ahlntere sting life of her own, but who loves him as deeply as other mothers love the boys ho to run sway . , " Chester has asked me for sole custody, In a letter enclosing one from - his wifer I am siclr trying to think out wjiat is best to do, and want your advice. Should a mother ' ever give up a small trusting son knows. of seven; can anyone else do for Divorce is a dreadful thing, and him what she can do? I've thought the principals involved ought to put of trying to get Chester to shift our the rights of children first. j times of having Murray; he an (Beltaafd by WXD ra(gr.) j , . |