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Show Last of Original Ruppert Men Wally Pipp, Veteran First Baseman. With a few tears and a sigh or two, Col. Jake. Ruppert, owner of the New York Yankees, dropped a sentence into the mall the other day that sent Wally Pipp, his veteran first baseman, base-man, to the Cincinnati Reds. When New York ball players are discarded and shipped to other less prosperous clubs, they have a way of saying that they have been transported trans-ported clown the river. There is very little sentiment in big league baseball. It is a cold proposition and when the legs of a respected veteran slow him up or when the peg leaves the arm, the open is the only reward. With Wally Pipp and Jake Ruppert, Rup-pert, however, the case was different. differ-ent. Pipp was the only player on the Yankee club who was a regular when Ruppert and his daring former partner, Colonel Huston, paid a million mil-lion dollars for a baseball name. Called Them Crazy. Baseball men, wise in the ways of the game, said that the two colonels col-onels were crazy when they bought the Yankees. They said they were mad when they opened the pocket-book pocket-book for Babe Ruth, and they wanted a lunacy commission appointed when they built a ball park that would seat 60,000 or more. r But the colonels made their critics weep. The Yankees won pennants. The Babe hit home runs day after day, but It was Wally Pipp who was the real punch ln the pinch. Urban Shocker, who Is now a member mem-ber of the Yank -pitching staff, once said, when he was working for the St. Louis Browns, that Pipp was the hardest hard-est batter in the American league to pitch to. "You can take your chances on Ruth," he said, "but you can never figure that Pipp." Two-Fisted Fighter. In addition to being a high-class ball player and a gentleman, Pipp was ranked as one of the best two-fisted two-fisted fighters in the league. He never carried a chip on his shoulder, but when pressed he knew how to take care of himself. It Is related that Babe Ruth told Pipp one afternoon that he didn't like the way Pipp was running , the bases and the Babe went to the hotel after the game with two shiners and a cut lip. From that time on the Babe and Wally were fast friends. There Is a lot of baseball left in Pipp and he certainly will plug up the hole that the Cincinnati club has had at first base. |