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Show low the Veterans in Ike BIG SHOW Receive Re-ceive the News That frhey Are Booked for ifthe Discard Trying to I Come - Back and Its Victories and Tragedies BY BILLY MURPHY. Poulbly it la out of mere ven-;l ven-;l eratlon to their years, but the lay j cbierver Is struck by the fact that j f al selection! vt tt.'.r baseball teams s made b; experts, ball players, um-' um-' plrci or mere fans this fall Include I the names of those doddering old gentlemen. Christopher Mathew-4on. Mathew-4on. Hor.ja W..gner jdJ Edward , I Plank. I lit Is a fine tribute to the so-l so-l celled veterans that they arc still j naked among the leaders of their it kind In an era when new phenoms re almost of daily occurrence. Still another comparative eteran I hoe name appears In All-rfelec-f tloni. Is Napoleon Rucker. the 1 Brooklyn Express, greatest of all 1 the left-handers (with apologies to I those who think the title should go I to Eddie Plank i True, Rube Marquard is a won-if won-if derful southpaw. So are Yean Gregg dn'l Ify" Hamilton and George T le but the-;, ha.e yet to tand the- tf-st r,( time, and Na-I Na-I poleon Rucker has stood It. Sooner or inter old Pop Time Hps everybody the bluo envelope, j For year? it appeared as if Denton Den-ton Tecums-h Young would pet It. tut he dldn t. for quite a ecrlcs of ienioha. I Cy always was one of the greatest great-est pitchers m 'he gn.-r.e- and he never was in condition. He was from i.r, to 2 0 pounds overweight Ivery year. I And to this very fact that h nr-Med nr-Med so much extra poundage la probably 1-je to hlg long career In the big arena. Plavers who must take off welcht Undergo the h.-ii deft work of the Stsson in the spring. They strain and rack tbc.r r.rr.oi - irnl inu.-.;u-Btr ej-stems Few players who ( I have more th.-n o pounds to taVe I oil each ?prlng last six or eight I year?. I Old 1 : - fTtra r,n mda gave him I txtra ti-so.- in.) aiengih. Tie had " lomething to iir.iT. mi. i ; always kpt hia weight a .'fret. What's the use of . ... in. (:out weight when you ran pitch good ball? How great men mis the blue en-1 en-1 velope or re-eie It and later ; "come buck" Is one of the mti't In-lUrestlng In-lUrestlng studies of the great na- tional game Every season a Knat number of 1 Ilayer ;. re h .pe.1 '. the minora I Some .ire men who have ben bought and drafted and some ha" ecn in the "fiig Show" for some time, but ha-, e outlived their ue-i ue-i fulness r Of course. ihcp players, bought r drafted, are as a rule, young men ' nd the, wen- i ii hased vsiih the I v'ew of having them as an asset to I. - &e used when ripe I I The ilaver1 that have been In I the hii, ',,:., f,,, ., 'i: e however. I find thn are shipped to the minora pe the ones to which special rof-i rof-i "nci i. n 1. 1 eh--u IXnTFFT.RKN'T PLAYERS i Sever sitceed. fter ening a while In tlie big HaTUe, these players becomo care-Bp care-Bp in their work They do nM to bafk Fiiffn-ient to Keep them i ut. but tho take It for gr.mte.1 that the arr there to stay and Ihcreforr- ln'.ome lndlfTerent to , elr work.-' Before they realize . . hat ii,-.c h . pp . nc'l. they are back p the minor? I The fa.-i thi1' tlie are- back houi.j not 1P t,,r,.ked upon by them 4 '"proof tlr.t the... re "going." but ; nouid be taken as So much medl-'fr'- This medicine when taken ' judiclou.il;.-. ret ri-i-Mi . When th Se "0",'ar ' r! a vcr Into "le minor I.--ip-i. the-. -.nf rally ji Bf the mistake of their lives, for lamedlatelv the-.- t.egui 'to play ftWlnor league bail. Inst- id of put-jnx put-jnx their shoulder to the wheel lWcktrl'ln? 10 hf" mC a 'come LBicbali is a SAme for th) am- aSL. ' t' bilious man. It always la been and always will be The players that go about their work with indifference, indif-ference, never succeed When you see a player run half way to first and walk the reel of the way on an Infield hit or when he hltr a Mv, Jogs to the bag, ?ct It down, ho will never make a star. Ered Falkenberg of the Cleveland Cleve-land Napa proved last season what a man can accomplish In the gume of 'come-back." The big "Slat" had been shot to the minors w.thout ceremony but. put it down that considerable ceremony cere-mony attended his games last season sea-son In trte American League and most of the ceremonies were the BOBBY WALLACE. last rltoa for the clubs that oppoacl the once "has-been." But not all who try prove successful suc-cessful "come-backs." Slowly but surely the etnra of yesterday nro passing from the Ulg Show," their placet) to be filled by ambitious jroungatera win-are win-are corning up each season for trial. Lust season saw three fade from the glare of the majors, yet their paaalnC cnused llttlo comment. Jiff Overall, who tried to "comeback" "come-back" after laying off two season.M, was let out by Manager Evcrs of tho Cubs, i A few days later his teammatu. I,fiv Rili hie, lio was turned loose. N'o surprlsu was occasioned by Even actions. Overall, although ho got away to a fair start after Joining the Cult:-, WSJ unable to show anything near resembling his form of three nnd four years ago. He was one of tho mainstays of tho Chicago hurling staff, when Frank Chance was winning pon-nant.s pon-nant.s foe churle W. Murphy. It was pointed out at the time that BIr Jeff was going to have the time of his life trying to hold his own in fast company. Overall said at th lime he signed a Cub out met, that hid arm felt as good as ever aud that he would show Evcrs that he was still able to travel some. Johnny took him at his word, bi ciuso he felt that tho Cub twirling htaff wasn't the strongest In the leaguu by any means and gave the big Westerner an opportunity oppor-tunity to make good on his own dope. l It VLL 5 1 RPRIsl D Ji vr s i GHTERfi ARE. verall whs fooled, just as lighters light-ers are. In believing that they can come back. RUchie'a release was no huge surprise, for outside of be ning iho I "..., Ms now- ml then. Lew was of llitlo use to Even. "Lefty" Lelfleld was the third member of the great Cub trio to be sent buck to the minors. Leifield was a wonderful southpaw, south-paw, but Is perfectly contented with his San Eranrlsco berth. lark Orlftlth. tho great manager man-ager of tho Washington Nationals. Is a pitcher Who fooled old Pop Time, after he had slipped Clark the blue envelope. Grift had taken advantage of the baseball war In 1 S91 to Join the St. Louis Browns. In August he waas traded to the Boston club of the American Association, Asso-ciation, but later wan dropped on account of a sore arm. Griffith ih.-n signed with Ta-coma Ta-coma In ISO:', but the club punctured punc-tured its bank roll in August and he finished tho season with the Missoula, Mont., lub, because his i uniiy moved there and he wanted to be near the commissary department depart-ment In the event of untoward happenings. hap-penings. His arm had regained its -'r. nKih and tho following ear he was thought good enough tor the Oakland. Cal , club. As a matter of fact. Griffith was too -,iud for Oakland and his re-! re-! iBt waa ol. limed In the middle of the season by his old boss. Jim Hart, who hud become president and part owner of the Chicago Nationals. Na-tionals. Griffith jumped Into national prominence In 1S94, when he and Bill Hutchinson practlcallj alternated alter-nated on the slab for an extended period while the rest of the hurling hurl-ing taff was ' rippled. While with the Chicago National Griffith ranked with tho leading hurlers of tho league and it was considered a great haul for the American League when he nnd Callahan Cal-lahan flopped to Comlsl ey's White Sox at the beginning of the second sec-ond baseball war In 1901. Griff piloted the White Sox to the league pennant that season, led the league pitchers with 2 4 games won. 7 lost, and hatted over 360. H( ilso acted as manager In Ifioj. lmt became manager of the .' w York J Ilchl.inders when tho American league Invaded New York In 190.3. A w lid pit. h by Jack Chesbro lost the pennant of 1904 to Boston ir th- final game of the season. In 1907 Griff quit active duty on thr mound and In 1908. following trouble with the club officials and Internal dissension in the club, he ieelned manager in New York and was succeeded by "Kid'' Elber-feld. Elber-feld. SPENDS WIN 17SRS ON 10,000-ACRE FARM. Griff cast his lot with Cincinnati In 1909 and served as manager for three years. He refused a renewal of his contract when offered B chance to nuy a block of stock In the Washington club. When freed from baseball cares In winter. Griffith spends most of his time at n 10.000-acro ran, h n-r t'raljr. Mont , which he owns jointly with hip brother. The ranch is BUltable for crazing and la slocked with horses and cattle. ORVAL OVERALL. : r if tlth is a Eplendld example of a "come-back" of the first wdter. Eddie Blank is the greatest example, ex-ample, of a "hold-out" when it comes to refusing to accept the blue envelope. Tho hero of the recent world s championship series has every man In the big leagues shaded in tho matter of age. According to our records, the only ones who cn compare with him and are present-day performers, perform-ers, are Jlans W.isner. who is nearly near-ly the same ago. and Christy Math-cwson. Math-cwson. who is five years younger. Blank v as born at Gettysburg. Pa., in 1874. His first baseball ex-perience ex-perience was iimitod to the town lot variety and later he attended Gettysburg College and played on th baseball team there Here he attracted the attention of Connie Mack and In 1901 he went to Philadelphia and has remained re-mained with the Athletics, ever since- Numerous stars have come and gone In his day. During hla early years on the Quaker City toam: the great Rube Waddell. was the star of the Mack-inen. Mack-inen. but tho wonderful left-hander la In the discard, although not as old as the "Gettysburg Guide." Just what an old roan can do was proven by Plank in the recent J World's series games. The veteran had cracked In the I tenth Inning of the aecond same ' and lost out In a pitching duel to Mathewson, ". to o. The defeat was really not his fault. Had the Athletics made any runs behind him. the game would have been over In the ninth, bui they didn't, and ho waa beaten Later, according to press dispatches', dis-patches', It developed that it was to have been PUnk's last game. He Intended to retire for all time after that battle. As ho was beaten In the wind-up wind-up frame, he asked Connie Mack for one more chance flank's opportunity came In the final game, when the Giants were making their last Rtand. What plank accomplished that day everybody knows. lie won the baseball s highest honors for his team by beating the New Yorkers 3 to 1, pltc hlng one of the moft superb games of his career. He held the opposing sluggers slug-gers to two tingles and not a man reached first base off him until he walked .Sliafer In the fifth Inning. Plank h.-d retired fourteen batters in a row before this pass came , Then the dispatch came flitting over the wires that thla game was the la?; that Plank would ever pitch. He intended to retire and spend his remaining 1 - s In le-clusion le-clusion at hs home, Gettysburg, Pa. Plank first figurc-1 that it would be best to retire at the moment of his greatest glory a;id be remembered remem-bered In day to er me as a wonderful won-derful pitcher, rather than wait until the day when he would be buffeted around In the bush leav: lies. Ills departure to tho minors would sooner or later be Inevitable Inevit-able and he deemed It far better to iult as a world's series hero, rather rath-er than as a broken down old "ha.s-been." "ha.s-been." But since making that statement Plank has reconsidered ami come out with another, saying that he has changed his mind and would Join the team for training next spring. He la not ready for the blue en- I' ED WALSH. elope. II ins Wagner is probably the greatest of 'em all, at fooling old Pop Time. lie begun In 1897 and In that most Important of departments of tho game hitting has never batted under .300. He 6tlll is considered the only player fit to be compared In all-around all-around excellence, with Tyrus Cobb. Ty Is faster today than Honus, and he Is younger. Hut Mr. Tyrus Cobb of Detroit will have lo travel a long distance dis-tance before he will outdo the worl Df Pittsburg's great ahortatop, when the record of years Is taken into consideration. Honus Wagner Joined the Louisville Louis-ville club In 1897 and he has played regularly In the National League ever since. In the sixteen yeirs he has been on the turf, he never hit under .300 apd during that time he has led the National League batsmen eight times. That Is surely going some end the old hero of .Sinokevtlle Is still k'-eping up his lick. Since Warner has been In the National League, there have been other slugged who have beaten him out of the batting honors, but they did not last. They were Ed Delahanty. Clarence Clar-ence Beaumont. Jes Burkctt. Billy Keeler, Cy Seymour and Sherwood Magee and the only one of these who has lusted Is Magee. Ed Delahanty Is dead and gone and tho rest are scattered and long ago dropped out o' the Big ihrw. |
