The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-07-23
.ARL|E LATHAM
ON DAYS Of OLD
coMIsKEY WAS GREAT MANAGER
WHILE Won DER AHE SUPPLIED
ENOUGH AMUSEMENT TO KEEP
THE TEAM IN A GOOD HUMoR
"REMINISCENCES OF THE DIA-
MoND.

Chicago and the baseball world IN
ger eral are well acquainted with
Citizen Comiskey, as his business RI
val, Mr.. Murphy, of the Cubs, gra-
ciously spoke Of him one night at
banquet as the greatest man in base
ball, says the st. Louis Globe Demo-
crat, but it remained for Commy s
old star third sackeT, ATlie Latham,
who was here earlier in the week with
the Giants, to give some inside iB-Or-
! nation concerning the "Old Roman"
as a player and leader of men, says
/ Charles Hughes.
Whenever l see Ed Geers driving a
wilmer down the stretch in trotting
race l think Of Comiskey," said Lath-
am. 'Geers never lays on the whip.
He never yells at his charge, but just
sits quietly in the sulky and gets
everything out of that race horse. 1t
was the same way with Comiskey
Why, in all the years | played with
] Commy be never urged me on but
once. That was to get base on balls,
But somehow he kept that old team
OF st. Louis Browns lighting until ne
hao won four pennants in a row.
ITO be sure, Commy had a great
team, and willing team, but it was
his genius that made it great, and
his way of handling men that made
them willing. think it must have
been his teaching our pitchers, es-
pecially Foutz and Carruthers, to COW
er first every. time a ball was hit &C
the left of the box that gave our in
field the call over all others of thai
Iday-not barring Anson's stone wall
There never was a game ended with
out the score showing three or foul
put outs at first base for the pitcher
Commy would dig up those hits to-
ward right field Geei how he did
get over the groundl
comiskey Always Serious.
"And possibly Comiskey's stronges
pcint was his serious demeanoF al
the time Now, the Browns were :
great bunch of kidders. With oil
Kris Won der Abe on the bench there
were a hundred screams in ever.
game. But the richest jokes neVe
got anything more than a quiet smile
out of Comiskey, who would have hi
own. dry sarcastic shaft of wit-uS
lualIy at the umpire's expense-whel
ever the spirit and the occasion NOV
ed him. But his general appearance
meant business. His players too
their cue from him and fought on
T no matter how funny Won der Abe
r breaks sounded.
. 1 L
! years old there never viii be any
thing half so funny to me as Won de
Ahes actions on the bench. We USE
to kid him so much he got to think
ms we were making faces at hiT
/ while out in the field. He got pal
a OF field glasses through which to de
= tect us making faces. One day 4
picked up the glasses and locke
through the wrong end. Curt Wele
out in center field looked two mile
: away, and Kris yelled in great excite
e ment TO stop the game until Welc
s could get back near the scene of &C
ton.
Things like that we're happenin
every minute. One of the best thing
: was to watch Kris squirm when on
side hit a fly ball out into the nell
He usually SAT- at the end or U
bench and would use so much bod
english" pulling tor the ball to "a
:. safe that in most cases he finished
: a heap on the ground.
}. incidents of that kind never faile
II to convulse all of our fellows exec
2 Commy. He would smile a little, 81
e never allow his attention to get
the game Of ball.
Won der Are Loyal 70 Players.
with all of Won der Ahe's ecceI