The Washington herald., 1910-01-09
GREED Is SHOWN
IN RESERVE LIST
MagnateS in Mad Scramble
to Corral Players.
WANTED YOUNG BROWNING
Each Club In Both Leagues Loaded
Down with Men They VIII Never
Use, and Also Retired Players
Kept for Fear that They VIII
Come Back 10 Old time Form.

the sixteen big league teams, as IL 4
now made up and reposlng on Ton
Lynch's desk. is striking commentar!
on the greed which the magnates show
IN the herding and corralllng of youthful
stars. Each and every club is loaded
down with men whom it will never use
never even have 4 chance TO use. There
are men who are covered up" TO Oblige
friends in the minors-magnates who
wanted to save certain players for them
selves, and who viii get the men back
again-the poor player. Of course never
even getting a chance to show his speed
in the fast company There are men who
might make good. but who will be passed
over, farmed out. or fred, without the
slightest show for their ability. There
are men who have quit the diamond.
but whose names are kept on the reserve
list either through spite OF a preposter-
Gus fear that they might come back and
play with some other teams And,
richest OF all. there are dozens Of players
whose names were put on there in such
mad haste that the magnates didn't even
get their first name or initials.
That's the funniest freak Of all. That
alone is enough 10 show that the mag
mates could have learned little or moth
ing about the men and merely put their
names down on the whole-hog principle
Oh, biscuits. Oh. chocolate fudge!
Oh, You smiths.
The climax IS capped when it is seen
that on the reserve lists Of about seven
teams appears simply the name Smith"
Just Smith, and nothing more. No first
name. no initials. Nothing to show
whether these Smiths are pitchers. catch
ers or ielders. and no mention as to
what club they hail from. Doubtless
each magnate has papers Of hts own
showing the identity OF the special Smith
he is claiming, but how foolish that re-
peated name Of Smith does look upon
the tabs,
Who are these unknown Smiths. any
how? Next season ought 10 be a great
year in Smithburg-about fifteen Smiths
are reserved under proper names and
initials, and seven or eight without any
monokers save only Smith Long 1--we
the Smiths. and may they thrlve-but
who are these mysterious members Of
the valiant clan. Just listed as Smith.
and Smith alone?
Now and then the magnate= stub a
toe Charlie Murphy has been chanting
gleefully the praises Of Roy Miller, a
marvellous slUgger, outdelder, and base
runner. whom he grabbed from the far
West. But the name Of Mr.. Miller does
not appear on Mr.. Murphy's reserve
hst-the chubby one. no doubt. was 80
busy enumerating Smiths that he forgot |
to put this live one down.
Browning in Demand.
The list of drafts disallowed" tells I
some funny stories too, and the hest /
concerns youth named Browning. This /
Browning, not supposed 70 be a rela-
ton OF the famous Pete. IS a pitcher
out upon the far of Coast He is also
the smallest ball player in captivity.
The little fellow Is said to weigh l2O
pounds uniform and all, and 20 be a
irail kid into the bargain. This midget
eould hardly hold the fierce pace of the
American or National League He
would be up against it severely and II
Is hard TO imagine how long he would
make good. There have been sawed-off
players. like Madden KilrOy. McGm Tot
Murphy, and slagle, but they were heav-
lily built and husky. No player as in
fantile and pUny as This Browning IS
alleged TO be, can stand the strain of
the fastest company. Yet-iust because
some fellow referred 70 Browning as "a ,
good little pitcher"-they all went after
him. Nearly all the magnates claimed
Ia ~ no q
the highest bidder. lie could have run I
his salary 10 to monumental proportions. q
AS it is, everybody got a "disallowed'
notice with one exception. and little
Browning will get a tryout in the spring Z
In all probability he will not make good G
though here's hoping that he proves a
star.
COFbeit's Speed, a
Very few ball players have been good =
pugilists, though any ball player can take / b
care Of himself in a battle Likewise. v
very few pugilists have been better than ~
mediocre bail players though all Amer
ican-born fighters are bugs on baseball a
Otto Sieloff, we'll known around New g
York few years ago, could play great q
Dali and Jimmy Potts, the Western
lightweight. is a rafting good baIl-tosser y
The ore shining light. though. who could
make good In either trade, was James ]
Corbett, Every body knows that Corbett's
brother Joe was classy pitcher In the
Dig leagues. Few. perhaps. know that i
jim, when It came to fielding skin, ability
to cover several positions. and batting
power. was better than his brother and
as good as IS per cent Of the men in the
fastest company.
Jim Corbett TO this day Is doddering II
raving. hopeless bug on baseball. and at p
Iorty-three can still play as good A game Ct
rs most men OF thirty He could NAV nj
first base superbly; his activity and great g,
reach making him a natural first sacler II
but he could cover short or second or 90 n
o the outfeld, with faultless precision. a
Jim could bat, too. He may have bean
light hitter in the ring, but he couId fl
'op the fastest pitching RE had q free d,
ma easy swing, but struck 80 Quickly al
hat he could sting the curves before
hey broke. Some crackeriack was Cor OF
'ett, and one of the handsomest most H
Taceful figures in a baseball uniForD, a
imaginable. p
Do' V'u deOJal breSnahan comes "
through with bold announcement. which Id
5 evidently intended to make the Ct
aouis fans warm up to him and give him 2
ne glad. glad hand. Roj SAYS he WIN ht
stch the whole 16s games next summer a.
very one OF them. ?
He thinks his presence in every game sh
viii be OF material value. that he can In,
ireet the team play better. and that he !
Til bat better when in the combat all sec
he time a
Fine business, but Rojah win not catch S
ny 16S games. For one thing. Roj Is q inc
ender plant He gets disabled easily and Pc
ften He Is par,an annr,cl. - - i II