The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-01-18
PIrCH
MlrItOl a
THREE R's.


ity In baseball What man can 6'
supposed TO manifest an intelligence
OF high order i'm his play ON The
field who has not. even IN spite o.
, handicaps OF birth and parentage
succeeded in mastering enough ol
I ,he udiments OF spelling. 10 peruse
. intelligently words OF one syllable
and 20 sign a contract otherwise than
by making his marx?
Perhaps the fact may be explained
i'm a way By the statement that these
men are pitchers and exist III tas'
company solely on account OF thel'
strong right wings. Three OF the four
are noted for ;neir bOne-head procliNi
ties. while the iourta. though obvious
Is OF big.league standard. hasn been
with us long enough for the experts
10 get any line OIL mis- mentality.
or course, none OF the illiterate
quartet is anxious for the public or
his teammates 10 become wise TO tue
fact that he can't decipher the mean
ing OF a printed or a written page
Their efforts in this direction nav.
caused many funny incident. y
certain Chicago pitcher invariably
spends large share of each morning
with his mates in the lobby or the
hotel. newspaper in his hands. II
is always notable, however. that h-
never keeps il open except TO a page
on which there is some sort OF a cut
The pictures are his guide and enable
him To avoid the pitfall OF the luck
less pitcher OF years ago who adopted
similar tactics but failed 10 get awas
with them on account OF his predliec'
ton 10 handling the sheet bottom
side UP.
\ st. Louis hurler who has sim
iliarly side-stepped the elements oil
an education has probably kept his
mental informity more nearly sec
ret than any OF the other three. In
fact il is said 10 be true that he
has kent the knowledge or his defic'
iency from his wife who is young
woman OF excellent education. lie
writes" home regularly when on tins
road. debating his letters 10 one oil
his trusted teammates or hotel
stenographer. \ Cleveland pitcher III
his anxiety TO make a blum that VIII
save his distance, frequents the press
boxes II the other cities on days when
he is not scheduled for slab duty. ana
peers knowingly over the shoulders
OF the correspondents who sit ON
either side OF him. emitting from ume
To time. ostentatious chuck!es at ire
alleged humor which he is apparently
discovering in the communications OF
the scribes.
Lest some OF the speculative read
ers who may be quick at drawing con
illusions think that the fourth membet I
of the illlterate quartet mentlonea
swears allegiance 10 the jennings pan
ner. Il ought TO be stated in CLOSING
that the fourth men mentioned on TINS
list is not Tiger but member OF
the band which Jimmie McAieer VIII
pilot this season. with Washington
as q base OF operations. The Cham
pions may not include as many col
lege men as some of their rivals, but
the BOYS all manifest a very capable
" orking knowledge OF their letters.
From incidents which keep occur
ring almost weekly both in and out
side Detroit, one seems warranted IN
drawing the conclusion that about
every gymnasium in our common
wealth shelters den OF thieves.
Detroit is still listening for the story
of that chance blow by Tony Ross
which eliminated from the list or
aspirants the name OF
Tommy Dugan. alias Kid Sheer of our
beautiful city
The magnates will soon have mat
ters down 10 so fine a point that the
ball PLAYERS on their lists won't dare
to get up early in the winter time and
replenish the furnace fires.
Along with the countrywide an
OF athletes in the pink OF
condition and ready TO play The games
OF their lives. We note paragraph In
an exchange stating that Sir Thomas
I.ipton Will surely challenge for the
americas cup in the early spring.
The passing from the big leagues W
RUDE Vickers and Claud Rossman,
both in one week. removes both mem
bers OF a baseball controversy which
was one OF rhe funniest bits OF dia-
mond comedy ever perpetrated.
From the highly esteemed Nash.
Vile Banner We note an article oh
viously alleged as original. in which
The joys OF ice-yachting are interest
ingIy depicted This is surely rec
ord winter.