Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1907-09-12
AMERICAN BORN
PLAYERS BEST
YANKEE BALL TOSSERS SHOW
MOST NATURAL ABILITY
ON THE FIELD.
MANY FOREIGNERS MAKE GOOD
Query OF old-Tlme Fan Brings UP
Nationality Of Most Prominent Men
in the Game To.Day-Laioie and
Wagner Considered Best Of Their
Respective Races.

An old.time fan. whose interest in
the players is evidently OF a keen and
analytic nature, sends In a query con
corning the nationalities OF the vari-
Gus big league players
Several Frenchmen OF great ability
have figured in the game. besides the
wonderful Lajoie. The first French
man to gain lasting fame was Berth
rong, OF the Washington Nationals.
whose record for running the bases,
made in 1868, still stands unbroken.
Others OF French descent now In the
game are Beaumont of Boston. Moren
OF Philadelphia. LAporte OF the High.
landers and Parent OF the Pilgrims.
Two OF the best French players have
left the big league only lately-La
Chance and Mertes.
IL was always claimed that Uncle
Arson was of Scandinavian descent.
and he certainly looked the part, al
though 1t is also asserted that he Is
English by ancestry. John Anderson
OF Washington is the largest Scandi.
navian now performing. Isbell OF the
SoX is alleged to be a Swede, and also
TO be OF French lineage. Lundgren OF
the Cubs is Swedish; Ferguson OF the
Giants is said to be a Swede under an
old irish name; Anderson OF Pitts
burg is either Danish or Norwegian;
Jacobsen OF the Boston Americans Is
a Dane
The first Indian TO gain fame at
baseball was SockaleXis, who drank
himself out of the fast company.
Clarke, the Cleveland catcher. is a
Wyandotte Indian, and Phyle who has
just Joined the Giants, is OF Sioux
descent. Bruce, a clever pitcher for.
merly with the Athletics, Is an Indian.
Indians, from time immemorial, have
played ball games-Lacrosse being
only a civilized form OF their favorite
sport-and any game in which tossing
and catching a ball is the diversion
seems to appeal naturally to the red
man.
A few Cubans are playing in minor
leagues, and the Cubans show great
speed and fielding skill, but are shy
on batting ability. The only Spaniard
ever in the big leagues, II memory
serves Alright, was Vincent Nava, who
was with Providence I'm 1884, but did
not last long.
Foreign-born citizens can do just as
well as Americans, II they are trained
young and set at the game. Ten years
from now there will be any number
of fast men in the big leagues who
were born across the sea. Two big
league catchers-Shaw OF the Boston
Americans and Smith OF Pittsburg-
are Englishmen by birth, and have
found baseball much more pleasing
and profitable than cricket used TO be
The Canadian players are of the
French variety. as a rule, though the
great Tip ONelll was an Irish Cana
dian. LaJoie and Lachance both came
from French Canadian settlements
originally.
1t is almost impossible to count up
the German stars. They have become
as numerous as the Irishmen in recent
years, and play as good a game Fred
Pfeffer was one of the early German
crackerjacks, and another was Charlie
Getzein. Some of the mlghtiest Ger
mans now In the business, aside from
the burly Wagner. are almost the
whole Chicago National team-Slagle.
Sheckard, Schultz, Steinfeldt. Holman,
Killing, Pfster and Reulbach. for ex-
ample-while ii is contended that the
beloved Frank Chance is also Ger.
man. Other Dutchmen Of top-notch
quality are Lobert, Weimer, Schlei.
Dahlen, Knabe, Hartsel, Seybold,
Unglaub. Hahn, Robe. Alperman, AIT.
rock, Schaefer, Schmidt, Hoffman.
Elberfeld Kleinow, Altizer and Hlck.
man.
John King is the best Hebrew play
er now in the game Plank OF the
Athletics, Strang OF the Giants. and
CamnitE OF Pittsburs are said TO be
Jews and are certainly valuable per
formers.
Frazer Of the Cubs and Mathewson
OF New York are the most prominent
ScOtchmen now in the business. out.
side Of Bob Wallace. Konetchy OF st.
Louis is said to be a Greek. and also
a Pole
Abbatichio Of the Pirates is an
Italian The Italian race does not
seem TO care much for baseball and
few Italian names are found in the
score cards Of even the sandlots and
amateur teams
Holly Of the Cardinals Is Bo-
hemian, with a real name ~ long as a
Dcnnant pole. The BOhemians take
we'll 10 the game and will be heard
from in The future Only the dear
Lord knows what Rube Waddell is.
Overlooked in the shums. Barney
Petty is OF Jewish descent Philippe
is Of an old French family. Mclean
and Osborne are Scotch Crlger Is OF
Norman French ancestry. and Duggie.
BY OF English parentage