Show aa I 1 illy rampa PAMPA FLA A session with dark clark griffith th the e gray fox of washington carries you back many a day and many a year outside of connie mack griff can take you deeper into the thrills of the past than anyone else in baseball my own first training camp thrill came in 1898 in nashville A tall broad shouldered awkward looking party came into the locker room wearing a pale blue suit with brass buttons A short while later against vanderbilt he showed us a buzzing medley of speed and curves that no one had ever seen before and not so many have seen it since ile he was over six feet two weighed 00 pounds and he was lanky in looks in addition to blazing speed he had bad the fast fastest est breaking curve ban ball ive ever seen his name was george edward rube waddell even when he was fading out with tuberculosis he still had enough left to strike out 16 of connie macks athletics grifs top thrill grifas top training camp thrill arrived in atlanta around 1904 griff was waiting that hat morning to 0 o n meet beet a young first baseman just h heading in from california hie he had no other first baseman on his yankee roster so the rookie had to be good suppose hes a flop you do I 1 asked the old fox A flop said griff hes going to be the greatest first baseman that ever lived you wait and see the kid arrived around noon or a trifle later he was well built CLARK GRIFFITH on the lean side with a quick friendly smile the personality part was all there how many days before be ready to start griffith asked him 1 I thought you played a game today the rookie said we do griff told him when id like to start his young first baseman countered countered im always in shape that afternoon he made at least three plays around first that left your scalp sizzling they were plays no one but a great artist could make with a runner on second someone laid a bunt along the first base foul line the kid was on it like a bounding kangaroo in time to nail the runner at third it took less than his first ball game to know that another star was on his way to the headlines the rookies name was hal chase another fair entry there was the day back in augusta around the same period when an 18 year old stripling came along first time up he laid down a bunt beat it out stole second and then third he finished out the day dai with a double triple and home run the lion ilon oliver babe hardy was among those present not a bad afternoon for an 18 year old kid his name was tyrus raymond cobb of royston ga later on he only made over base hits and stole close to 1000 bases before he took off the spikes after 24 years there were training camp days in the old southern league also I 1 recall two outfielders who caught and held the eye they weri were great ball players the first time you saw them looking back a long long way this was around 1907 as I 1 recall time now shrouded in mists one played for little rock the other for new orleans the first was the best looking outfielder id ever seen in in ac action tion and one of the best hitters his name was tris speaker the other was the best looking actor with a bat around the plate anyone had ever seen his name was shoeless joe jackson and there was the spring training season 21 years ago back in 1919 when the boston red sox decided to make a regular outfielder out of their crack left handed pitcher they had an idea he might turn out to be a first class slugger in one of the march games here in florida he mauled hauled one that carried over feet into a pine thicket beyond the field the longest blow the oldest inhabitant had ever seen not even barring the top hurricane I 1 w was as on that trip and I 1 was looking at a fellow by the name of babe ruth mith |