Show Shoeless Joe Always Good COpy By GRANTLAND RICE NEW YORK YORK YORK-No No other game has turned out as many odd or different characters as baseball has fur fur- The list of distinct personalities is isa isa isa a long one I mean such players as Dizzy Dean Germany Schaefer Rube Waddell Ossie OSie Schreck Larry McLean Babe Herman and many others One of these was Shoeless Joe Jackson who died die d i e d recently Shoeless Joe Oh the brave song his Ws black bat sung was wason wason wason on the quieter side But the Carolina was always a n good story There was the time Ine Joe lifetime l average reported to some small mall team in East Tennessee Some Sometime Sometime time ime ago 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 a n d dA A t s old cans can s. s Finally after the fourth in in- inning inning inning ning Jackson came back to t the h e bench t and said aid s he was L 11 through He was w a s playing pIa y i n g barefoot l What's the th e a mat mat- matter matter matter ter the manager 1 asked Rocks and glass hurting your Grantland Rice feet ct Naw Shoeless Joe oe said But they're up the he ball so much I cant can't throw it Cobb Ruth and Speaker each told me on radio interviews that Jackson was vas by all odds the greatest natural hitter that ever lived Joe batted left handed I decided to copy Jackson Ruth told me one day because he looked more like a good hit bit hitter bitter hitter ter than anyone else I couldn't copy Ty Cobbs Cobb's hand action be be- because because because cause Ty was looking more for than for power Jackson stood with his feet fair- fair fairy fairly fairly ly y wide apart his right foot shoved forward and the left foot back of the right This gave him a good turn to start with I r changed this a little I r kept my feet closer together I could get more leverage that way But I was also more easily caught off balance by a left I r had more trouble with left-handers left than Joe ever had He never had much trouble rouble with anybody Jackson lackson Jack 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 lis coat to be sure he had some cash when needed The years where he h le hit over brought him small increases I doubt that Jackson ever got over a year and most of the time he played for less Jess This isn't as much as a big league rookie gets today It wasn't too hot for a 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 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 fre fre- frequently frequently fre- fre frequently it wasn't anything to laugh at like asking for dough Ty Cobb one day told me a tragic story about Jackson They had been good friends in the major leagues Long after Ty was through with baseball he dropped by Greenville where Jackson lived Cobb talked a few minutes about various unimportant things Finally he said Dont you know V me Joe Im I'm Ty Cobb Yes I know you Ty Jack Jack- Jackson Jackson Jackson son said But I didn't think anyone I used to know V would want to recognize me 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 a game in that series series and and I saw them all To me he was a great hitter hitler and a good guy The Training State Citrus fruit and sunshine bowl games and flowers are not Flori Flori- Florida's Florida's Florida's das da's only contribution to the human race I have discovered again in roam roam- roaming roaming roaming ing its highways that Florida is also keen about its record as a condi condi- conditioner conditioner conditioner of men men especially especially ballplay ballplay- ers Who trained at St. St Petersburg last spring Well the Giants the Dodgers and Cardinals for exam exam- example example example and they ran one two three in inthe inthe inthe 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 west The Yankees You dont don't suppose a Florida resident said that the Yankees could have survived Arizona to come along and win another pennant if it they hadn't been in Florida 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 training in Florida they survived an game 11 losing streak and a deficit of 13 games in middle August and yet won the pennant |