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Show I BALL PLAYERS A SUPERSTITIOUS LOT all "TgASEBALL players are superatl- II tlous. and boitio go to extremes In J II this respect," nays Johnny Evers. the H r brainy second sacker of the 'Chicago H Nationals. "On the Cubs team, for TM ' Instance, I am, I believe, more Inclined Nj ' to fear the Jinx thnn any other mem- Ml i ber of the club In batting practice m before the came the general belief I? I l that If you ure not hitting the ball hard H or up in the air you will bat well In wt :t the gamo ofttimes as the result. In UJ many cases I have seen a player hit two or three balto hard and on the line ',( and hcn go to the bench and refuso IV to bat any more, saying, Tm saving I mine for the game.' I - "Coins' to tho different parks In the f cars tho sight of a funeral along the 4 road Is regarded as an 111 omen. The ? same applies to a ci Ipplc unless you j i toes him a coin. A wagon load of I j ; empty barrels Is a good sign. Fre-I Fre-I ' quently a man. having gone a mile out 9,1 i of tho way to purchase something on s. day when his club happened to win l will continue to travel the roundabout I j rtw pathway so long as the club Is In that I . particular city or until hla teammates 1 V lose. 7 I , "Watch a man when the Inning Is f j ip over. If the Inning previous was fa- I i vorablo to the player, observe him go , 4 over and bo particular to locate tho t same pot to lay down his glove. You ' doubtless hr.ve often seen a player at- tired In a soiled and far from pre- i i 6entable uniform. Beneath all thai I Jfit lurks our old friend the jinx. The & player will stick to the dirty garment? m so long aa his team Is winning. When K the streak Is broken the laundrj'man r gots a chance at his clothing, but no' mt before. T "Remember how Frank Chance In slsted on starting any one but Brown 9 In the last two world's scries In which ' tho Cubs figured? Well, that was. be- M cause Mordecal started against the M White Sox. and we lost. And then they w say tho ball players don't try to win K early In the world's series. W "It Is also said very often that the j? present prosperity of the game Is duo r to the untiring efforts of the national commission or to some high oinclals I In cither the National oi American J leaffj,?, but you can take It from mo Rnd I bollevc I am a close observer II the present prosperity and the high III standard of baseball today are due to Hfl tho honesty, sincerity and hard work III no one Individual or set of officials jl higher up. but to the players thom- 3jS selves. Getting back to superstitions H reminds me did you ever observe the l-jB conduct of a pitcher after he had bro- LuH Seen one of his shoe laces? K "Not for the world could you Induce BM the average major league pitcher to M resume work with a new shoe lace K He will tie up the remnants and go h ahead, hoping to make the laces last HI throughout the Hesslon. Tho players jB don't want the bat boys to hand them Hi their clubs either. On our home V grounds, o'f couree. Red Gallagher, the V bat boy, has a sort of standing Job jv swinging the sticks, but he alwajs tries hard to drive away tho hoodoo. Watch him salivato tho handle of every ev-ery bat before It goes Into tho hands of Its owner. Tho player, howevor, prefers to pick up his own bat rather than havo any assistance from the club attaches. "Keep your eyes glued on Tinker when ho goes to bat. Joe has a habit of walking straight from tho bench to the plate for tho first time up. If he gets a clean hit that tlmo he'll repeat on the second trip, but If he fans or fouls out or Is tossed to death on an Infield drive Tinker certainly will waltz out In a circle, going back to the plate. This way he hopes to break tho hoodoo 'The catchers of tho various clubs have n great horror of loaning their big mitts to any other members of the club It's all right to loan the old glove the one used In practice but nh on the mitt that serves each day In the championship games That's a bad sign, according to the backbtop. "There are hoodoos hundreds of them to the ball player's way of thinking. Take Pittsburgh, for Instance In-stance The worst hoodoo In that town Is the bug who dally squats back of first base, making life miserable for tho man playing that sack. Time and again I havo heard tho yowls of the individual, in-dividual, but never have succeeded In locating him. "Dcry first sacker In the National league has heard the yowling of this human coyote. It's little wonder ball players often lose their temper during the heat of battle and become guilty of acts that are far' from becoming to tho profession. "Recall how Manager Chance refused to have the Cubs poso for a team pic- Photo by American Press Association. JOHNNY EVERS AT BAT. ture during tho closing days of tho league race of 190S. He was especially espe-cially fearful that the photographer might work a Jinx on the players and Jeopardize our chances of beating Detroit De-troit Reulbach is a mighty superstitious supersti-tious chap. I remember how one of Ed's friends approached him two years ago when the big pitcher was mowing them down for his record of fourteen straight victories The fan wanted Reulbach's cap, tho ono he had worn during all those games, but Ed refused to part with the headgear Yes, the ball plavcr Is to be listed only with tho actor or the sailor when It comes to the superstitious phase of life" |