Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-28
CANNEDANDCRABBED
BASE BALL PLAYERS
Cullen Sympathizes With One,
Has No Use for the
Other.
BY CLARENCE L. CULLEN
.i,l Correspondence ~ The Star.

] mean who because il is ineNitablel are
timed from the majors 10 the minors.
There's kind Of a slow-music obligato TO
that stuff believe me II IS TO feel sort
o. sorry for the timed ones when you get
right close to their cases and study them
Not long ago at Jawn McGraws bill
Hard drum. / met a famous old-timer oil
the American League-a great outhelder
in his day before he became too heavy
10 case the hot cneS-who had just re-
ceived his thinning papers and with them
the notification that he'd been auctioned
of to a certain minor league club He d
dropped into New York 10 sort Of ran
things over with the bunch at MugSy s
which is winter league headquarters in
this town-and he'd got the bum yaller
envelope with the punk udlngS after
reaching here.
Had a hum with that Teller off in quiet
corner of the billiard shack and sure felt
some sorry for him. Not that he was
making any means. Nope. There WASH
a moan in him. lie was taking his medl-
cine like man with d plumb proper giZ-
card. Said that lie felt as fit as ever he d
felt. and all like that, hut that maybe.
after all, he had sort OF pulled up on
speed since he'd taken On all that meat
and that the manager of the American
League club who'd canned him to the
minor league club no doubt knew his Dusl-
ness So. YOU see, lie wasn't whining.
That's why ! felt all the Sorrier for him.
You never do muster up much sympathy,
YOU know, for the chap wha puts up the
big whimper when ne gets his little taste
of the Az
Y'see it's a whole big drop-down. this
thing of ball player being tossed from
the majors to the minors. It's sure
enough hard wallop. It's bound to come
sooner or later TO all ball players. of
course. even if they have been diamond
stars of the first water, but that conSld-
J. loo
thetic, in way of speaking. when the
blow does fall.
Suppose we look at it this way:
You're selling hardware, we'll say, In a
Washington store. You've been a good
hardware salesman right along. You like
Washington. You like your Washington
job. But you're thirty-ffve or forty years
old. we'll go on saying for the purpose of
the illustration, and maybe-mebbe. you
know-you have slowed up just teenchy
little bit hardware salesman. You re
not quite so sure-flre and get-thar and
hustling at the hardware salesmaniZing
thing as you were quite a few years back
yonder But YOU feel great all right
enough and YOU like your work and YOU
can't see any reason why you shouldn't
stick along indefinitely at your job.
Get all that?
Wen. some evening. after the dapper
Young fellers who are working their way
up in the store have beat it for home. and
you're hunting for your hat SOS you can
beat 1T, too. why. the boss sort of nudges
over to you. and, looking kind OF hang
Dog says to you: 'Jim. I've got little
something I want to say to you Come
into my office. Will you?'
You drop back to the Old mans office,
not thinking of what's coming off. The
old man sort o. huns and haWs and twid-
dies his thumbs and looks everywhere but
snackdab at you. He feels mean ABOUT
what he's going to do. He hasn't got any
thing against you. understand. oh. moth
ityo hour
I'm fast company. so to speak. has struck.
''Er-I've been going to have a little
talk with you for some time. JIM. says
the boss. still looking sheepish and then
he outs with 1t.
He's decided. after lot OF reflection
leetle I'm your work. you know. Jim. Well,
that won't do. of course. He's always
liked YOU Jim. and all like that but the
Younger fellows in the store-spry. ener-
getic, hustling young fellows. you know
why. they feel as if they're entitled to q
certain amount of advancement. and
they've got 10 be recognized of course,
and
Well the upshot of It is that the old
man tells you that he's made up his mind
TO put you in the branch store at Alex
andria or Laurel or Hyattsvile OF Point
O. Rocks or Anacostia or some place like
that.
Get it,
How would YOU feel If you got that kind
protuberant point of the chinnsky"
Well. that's about the way of it with
the timed ball PLAYER. He feels about it
lust about as you'd feel in the circum-
stances I've tried to picture. Although
Ire may still be quite youngish sort of
chap tsay if Teller of thirty-eight or
forty is Old why. look a-here. lot of US
are in mighty DutchD-he may. / say,
feel Just as perky and chirpy and timber
and spry ever lie DID. Therefore. TO
have that cold clammy hand OF the cam
smith slapped onto his neck hathaway
oh. well. you know how il I'D feel, of
course you do.
And SO, knowing and approaching these
things. why. l kept the off wick on this
Just-canned veterans curves. and | could
not help but feel right smart sorry for
him, honest
He sort of took it 10 heart-I could see
fhat-about the smaller towns he'd have
10 circulate around in during the season
He'd always been in the habit. along with
the rest of the major league players in
the heydey Of their power ard glory. Of
sort of making cracks and tossing mud at
these cities of the smaller circuits. He
had no use for those towns. that was
plain. They didn't offer any invitation to
him. He'd been used, for more years
than he cared IL remember. 10 lolling
around in hotel Hobbies in the finest big
cities OF this hemisphere. 10 Ininsliug up
with the cracks OF the business 10 ex-
hibting his diamond kinks and fine
points 10 the wise g.nks OF ali fandom
and all like that.
Well here he was timed To the No .
stuff. the second-fddle row. the discard
rack so to speak. No wonder there was
q wistful sort of a CLEAN in his wicks as
he talked ii over in a subdued sort of
tone. The young sh perky players. still
hiSh-notchers because they've got their
youth with EN-, strolled over and mitted
the just-tnned oid-timer, and some of
them had the punk taste to mention the
thing and TO say. Hello. there, Teller.
to limo.
sa-and-so club this year. and So on.
The oid-timer didn't say much in reply
lie wasn't Garrulous with the Holsters of
The game whr were there with that men
tinning thing. But I'd be willing To gam
BILE one whole cookie that lie was saving
10 himself. Don't you worry. younsster-
YOU re little old houK for the timing thing
is writ down in big letters on the book
40 matter how many pages IL may lie in
front yet. and just YOU wait till that leaf
with Your name on il IS turned ovrr and
see how you'll feel about il. that's ALL
Yep there's something about the case
o. a canned ball player. especially if he's
always been a nice sort of an hombrey.
that's always got ma Just a teeny little
hit around tie neckband III the way OF
sympathy. Because. y'see, his drop is
30 big anG hard. The gink who's never
had much 10 speak of doesn't take il so
hard when something of the little that
away from him. But when the chap who
has had a lot--the best going. the APP
plause the coddling. the pamperng. the
whirling around on the sure-enough mee-
tropoItan crcut-and then gets chased
IN tho country of The little cactji i'm a