Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-09

ball the more honorable title Of "the
/ sport Of presidents" for ex-President
Roosevelt In his youth wss a diamond
expert of advanced ability.
| And, as a matter Of fact. it may be
that even now he is planning a home
run to the White House.
Foreigners visiting the United States
look with amazement on the amount
of money spent on baseball and the
number Of people who In a year go
| through the various turnstiles. True,
there are immense crowds at the foot
| ball matches In England, but the real
Iy big matches are necessarily few in
number during the course Of q year.
When It is considered that in but one
baseball organization in this country
there are comprised no less than thtr-
! ty-two different leagues, each league
having from four to eight teams. some
idea Of the magnitude Of the develop
ment of the game may be had. That
organization is the National Agsocia-
ton of Professional Baseball Leagues,
( the teams of which are entirely dis
tinct from those In the National and
American, leagues.
Heroes and hero worshdpers are the
| natural products Of a baseball cam
| pa19n. The story is told in Boston OF q
young had who was cautioned by hts
father against wasting his time play
| ing with his friends. willie, you
must learn all you can, because you
will have to take all Of your fathers
money and business when you grow
| up."
ooh, ybotherP' cried Willie Beacon
Street. 81 don't want to be a million
aire. 1 want to be q shortstop like
Terry Turner when I-grow up"
That is one kind of hero worship;
the other brand Is illustrated by the
example of the president Of the United
States. Players like Hans Wagner, Ty
Cobb, Hal Chase, Chrtsty Mathewson,
Cy Young, Frank Chance, Bill Brad
ley, Larry LAjoie, Johnny King and
Mordecai Brown have achieved a
measure of glory akin to that OF the
gladiators Of old. And, in fact, the
baseball and football and hockey play
ers OF today are the modern proto-
types OF the ancient fighting men who
pitted themselves against mighty foes
in the arena.
Country's Greatest Ball Player.
Among the names of diamond heroes
mentioned that of Hans Wagner, the
PittSburg shortsop, who has Outstr1p-
ped Lajoie and Cobb In the race for
the Individual premiership OF the sd1a-.
mond. Some marvellous statistics are
revealed by a diagnosis of the record
80 hn- III
jor league baseball since 1897. The
records show that IN thirteen years
the Flying Dutchman" has taken part
in 1,743 games. He has scored 1.263
runs and 56S stolen bases. He has
played an average OF 1874 games each
season.
Had Wagner played In all the games
the first year he Joined the Louisville
club his average would have been
more than 100 runs each season, but
In 1897 he was not obtained from the
Paterson On. j. club until the cam
paign was well under way and took
part in only sixty-seven,gam
Hans has never had lasting slump
in his hitting in all the years OF his
career. There have been times each
season when his battingfeye was dim
med, but it was only temporarily, and
he always came back sand hit the ball
so much harder after the. slump was
over. His consistency asa st1cker is
shown by the fact that In thirteen
years he has averaged virtually $50
singles per season. His best years
were 1900 and 1908, tnt each of which
he made POI safeties. With the ex-
ception of his first year In fast COM
pany he has never made Hess than 40
hits year.
Wagner has been just las consistent
on the bases as at the bat. He has
purloined an average offabout forty
four bases every year. His best sea
son at sack thievery was In 1907. when
he stole sixty-one.
Last year was the poorest he has
had since 1898, but can be partially
accounted for by the fact that Hans
was under orders to save hts strength
as much as possible and to take no
unnecessary chances.
Origin and End Both Uncertain.
Both the origin and end Of baseball
are matters of doubt Just as soon as
somebody proves that the game came
from England somebody else demon
strates that it originated In this coun-
try as a granddaughter of the old
game of zone old cat" and a week
later anotiser searcher produces a6a-
davits that the Indian tribes of the
HuronS, Cherokees, Senecas, Sioux,
Objibways, Mohawks, Semfnoles. Crees
and Comanches played the game orig
inally with a ball made Of roughly
sewn deerskiR.
The Indian tribes used to have teams