Show I I Shoeless Joe Always Good Copy By Bv Br GRANTLAND RICE NEW YORK YORK YORK-No No other game has turned out as many odd or different characters as ba baseball has fur fur- The list of distinct personalities isa is isa a 3 long one I mean such players as Dizzy Dean Germany Germ ny Schaefer Rube Waddell Ossie Schreck Larry McLean Babe Herman and many ot others ers One of these was Shoeless Joe Jackson who who died recently Shoeless Joe Oh the brave song his black bat sun sung vas ras vason rason ason on the quieter side But the Carolina was always a good story There was the time Joe lifetime average reported to some small team in East Tennessee Some Sometime Sometime Sometime time ago Hyder Barr related the following yarn about Jacksons Jackson's first game there The ball park was terrible Barr said It was full of rocks broken glass and old cans Finally r. r a after the fourth inning inning in in- A f ning Jackson came back to the bench and said he was through He w was a s splaying splaying pIa playing y i ng barefoot What's t the h e matter mat mat- ter the manager asked Rocks and glass hurting your feet Gr Grantland Rice Naw Nate Shoeless Joe said But they're up the ball so much I cant can't throw it it Cobb Ruth and Speaker each told me on radio interviews that Jackson was by all aU odds the greatest natural hitter that ever lived Joe batted left I decided to copy Jackson Ruth Rath told me one day because he looked more like a good hitter hitter bitter hit bit ter than anyone else I couldn't copy Ty Cobbs Cobb's hand band action because because because be be- cause Ty was looking more for than for power Jackson stood with his feet fairly fairly fairly fair fair- ly wide apart his right foot shoved forward and the left foot back of at the right This gave him a good turn to start with I changed this a little I kept my feet teet closer together 1 could get more leverage that way But I was also more easily caught oft off balance by a left I had more trouble with left-handers left than Joe ever had He never had much trouble with anybody Jackson and Money Shoeless Joe was never a big spender but no man was more underpaid He used to sew a ten or ora ora ora a twenty dollar bill in the lining of his coat to be sure he had some cash when needed The years where he hit over brought him small increases I doubt that Jackson ever got over 1500 a year and most of the tho time he played for less This isn't as much as a big league rookie gets today It wasn't too hot for a n hitter Charlie Dryden one of the great baseball writers of all time certainly certainly certainly the most humorous one found Jackson an endless source of copy Joe didn't read too smoothly y Dryden said one day So when he got a letter from his wife Joe used to chuckle as he pretended to read Then hed he'd slip me the letter and say Want to read something funny Id I'd read it back but back but frequently frequently frequently fre fre- fre- fre it wasn't anything to laugh at like asking for dough Ty Cobb one day told me a tragic tragic- story about Jackson They had been been- good friends in the major leagues Long after Ty was through with baseball he dropped by Greenville Greenvill where Ja Jackson lived Cobb talked a few minutes about various unimportant things Finally he said Dont you yon know me Joe Im I'm Ty Cobb Yes I know you yon Ty Jackson Jackson Jackson Jack Jack- son said But I didn't think anyone I used to know would want to recognize me mc again Joe Jackson took a small amount of gambling money largely because he knew he had been far underpaid I dont don't believe he ever threw w a in that series series and and I game saw sate them all To me he was a great hitter and a good guy The Training State Citrus fruit and sunshine bowl games and flowers are not Florida's Florida's Florida's Flori Flori- das da's only contribution to the human race I I have discovered again in roaming roaming roaming roam roam- ing its highways that Florida Is aIs also also- keen about Its record as a conditioner conditioner conditioner condi condi- of men men especially especially ers Who trained at St. St Petersburg last spring Well the Giants the th Dodgers and Cardinals for example example exam exam- pIe and they r ran ran n one two three in inI inthe inthe I the National League pennant race last season What team got its basic training in Florida for several years and had enough left to survive the vest west The Yankees You dont don't suppose a Florida resident said that the Yankees could have Arizona to come along and win another pennant if it they hadn't been In Florda for ten tenor tenor tenor or fifteen years before All we know Is that the Giants had trained all around the map without winning any pennants They never seemed to be physically fit But last year after alter training in n Florida they an game 11 losing streak and a deficit of 13 games in middle August and yet won the pennant |