Show HOFMAN WAS LONG ON BENCH star centera elder of ch cago nation als was many years in securing permanent job artle artie hotman hofman who Is one of the greatest mainstays of the cubs Is just about rooted in center field these days excepting when he cuts in on the first base job ob vice frank chance you don t hear any more of long arthur as a bench warmer or as a utility man he has to be in the game all the time and there Is s an awful howl when he Is disabled and yet it took years for hofman to gain this regu lar occupation he was vas so classy as an all round performer so clever when placed on adv one of the seven lobs jobs outside the battery that chance wouldn t work him regularly artl had the distinction of being the best utility man living b it he wanted to be in the game all the time and yet chance wouldn t put him there chance maintained that rabbit ciagle with hia his ability to negotiate bases on balls as well as timely hits would be the goods for the regu ar center field er but after slagle passed and hot hof man took up the regular work in C cen en ter it was evident that he ought to have been there long before he hit harder than slagle he made in more ore runs he covered much more ground with his long strides and his throwing arm was infinitely better in short the cubs had been beeping keeping a star bats man and magical fielder in utility roles for years and never realized that they were neglecting an element of power queer how baseball works wor ks its ways isil t if |