Evening star., 1907-08-18

give him what he's worth, and pet and
pamper and coddle him!
And yet there's no satisfying the ball
player who's got the elephantiasis of the
/ l-top-block. There's no squaring things with
him. He develops that thing known to
head pathologists as the "delirium of gran
are not ball players and who get that take
to imagining that they are julius Caesar,
or the Little Corporal, or Charles the XII
Of Sweden, or somebody like those. and.
where they're kept they Just run around
in circles and have the bulliest imaginable
sort Of time with all their greatness.
Ball players with the delirium Of gran
nut works when they become that way.
They go right on playing ball, and acting
the peevish clips, and making nuisances Of
themselves generally. and disgusting the
fans immeasurably-and, after ALL when you
come to get the handicap on the thing, the
fans are entitled to little bit Of consid-
GRAFTON in all Of this ball-playing business.
are they not2
There's another kind Of ball player who
isn't Of much use to anybody.
I fell to thinking about this one after
little conversation l overheard not long
Of his.
This Isn't the Way.
The ball player. finger, had just pitched
and lost heart-breaking game The game
was lost by one run. and it was the fling
er's fault, for he had gone to pieces in the
last inning. You'd naturally suppose that
ball player would feel bad about q
thing like that-most Of them do, when
1t comes to that. But this one didn't. He
belonged to the type of ball player that
I'm mentioning.
"Too bad, old man." said the fan to the
pitcher after the game. Rotten luck, eh?
The game belonged to us and was on ice.
Too bad, 1t sure was"
Jaw, what's the difference?" was the
prompt reply Of the finger, just like that.
And he meant it. The loss Of the game
didn't make a bit of difference to him. He
didn't care. Care was running for Fin
negan so far as he was concerned. He'd
done his stunt on the lot and he'd got
the Job off his hands, and he could loll
around the hotel for another week before
he would be asked to work again, and
everything was ali right SO far as he was
concerned. There wasn't any difference to
him. He put it Just right when he said 1t
that way to the fan.
OF what imaginable use Is ball player Of
that sort to any ball club? The ball player
who doesn't take the loss of close game
to heart, even II he himself hasn't been In
any way responsible for the dropping of
the game. doesn't belong, that's all. He
has never begun.
Joe Wants Hard Losers.
The dead-wise managers like to have fell
lows playing ball for them who behave
gloomily around the hotel for the balance
of the evening after their team has
soughed off q game by a narrow margin,
either through bad luck or all-around boot
ing 1t. Joe Cantillon is Just crazy to have
hard losers on his team. He likes en- The
hard losers are the fellows who are always
trying, and Cantillon knows It, He hasn't
a particle Of use for a ball player who
isn't a hard loser The boys who laugh off
the dropped game. and who, when asked
about It, nudge in that old base ball crack
about the factory whistle having blown
O oclock and all that sort of thing are not
out to win for their club. They're just out
to get by for themselves. They have only
their own interest at heart 1t doesn't
make a particle Of difference to them
whether their club finishes down in the
cellar or up near the flag tower, so long as
they themselves nudge by.
And there are plenty of ball players these
days who don't care" They go through
their little performance on the lot with
whatever animation and brains they feel
like devoting to the thing. but they never
work themselves up to 1t that they are
playing for keeps, that they are out to
get runs and win. that they are fighting to
give the fans their moneys worth, that they
are striving to improve their clubs position
in the race that they are due to make
good to their employers for the money paid
to and spent upon them.
Any base ball manager will tell you just