The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-13
All rights reserved.

| usiIts OF the north and long winter
or inactivity race out onto the open
ing dozen balls around.
lhe veterans, chary regarding their
arms, throw with slow. long arm
swings, while the youngsters, proud DOS.
SCISSORS Of ''strong whips,' begin to
throw harder and harder The crack OF
the ball against gloves beats steady
saftco above which the warning shouts
OF the manager rise.
save some of that ginger-you III
heea 1t IN a couple of days.
:, FOR. an hour the players warm up,
throwing, running easily, scooping balls.
The warmth tempts them to greater
chorts, but experience warns them to
resist. Suddenly the high-low" game
starts.
High low" ism t game, properly
speaking; it is torture. 1t is the bali
| player s invention for tormenting the
body and limbering the muscles. 1t
looks simple, almost childish, but it is
one of the greatest conditioning exer-
clses ever. invented. The game consists
either Just too high, just too low, or
Just too far to the right or left for
the victim to reach it without a sud
den movement, leap or dive. Half a
dozen men play at once, and the prin-
clpal skill lies in looking at the top Of
Jones s head and throwing the ball at
Smith S feet. 1T looks easy, but out
| siders who attempt TO stay in the circle
fall exhausted in five minutes trying
to hold the pace.
BY noon the individual players are
beginning to drop ont of the groups,
and start some form of exercise de
signed to fit their own needs, slow run
nlng, gymnastlc exercises, or some like
hobby. One clock comes. The play
| NJ in h01 wv
hannels and sweaters have forgotten
time, and some OF them have forgotten
caution. The ball cracks harder against
the gloves, They are hard at work
playing.
Everyone run in orders the man
ager, and before the words are out of
hts mouth line wheels across tthe field,
struggles out the gate. and starts on
the long jog through town TO the bath,
house, perhaps two miles away, For
half an hour they jostle, slap, and
scramble around under the showers,
throw themselves down, one after an
other, for hurried massage by the
overworked trainer, dress rapidly and
are off TO dinner.
"Nothing doing this afternoon. =
says the manager-and the first day s
| training is over.
After dinner that evening jerks, the
star pitcher, cautiously fexes his sal
ary wing and remarks TO Biornsen;
81 DOM think she's going to be so
very sore. BY ten O'Clock all the
players except the interested recruit
from a country town are in bed, and
iDsistent calls for the trainer from d
half dozen rooms provo that the ath.
letes already are feeling the effects OF
the first day.
If ever walters suffered for their
sins those who attempt to serve a ball
club on the morning Of the second day
| OF training are the ones. The breakfast
room at ten clock is like cage of
sorc-headed bears, each suffering with
| -heamatism The athletes limp down
stairs, hobbe around the lobby, nurse
sore arms and strive to revive quarrels
two years old The wretched trainer
confesses to a sympathizer that thirty
ball players wanted to whip him be,
cause he could not rub them all at the
same time, By eleven o'clock thin
red line Of cripples hobbies into the
park, limos onto the diamond like n
G. A. r parade, and the sound of creak
ing muscles and groanlng swear words
ari-cs. The manager. who has been
waiting an hour, grins and says nothing.
Ec Unie:si ands.
There is no flnching Every man
knows he must work the soreness out
of his muscles as quickly as possible
With much grunting and many tacial
contortions the PLAYERS throw and run,
stiffly at first. but as the muscles warm
up the aches disappear and by noon the
squad is going faster than ever. AZ
one O'Clock the manager again calls
off work for the day. The third day
thew are sitter than ever, but not SO
sore. and on the fourth day they have
so far recovered that morning and
afternoon practice is inaugurated and
the bats. forbidden up TO that time, are
produced
The collective work Of a team, which
is here described typically, is only
part of the real process of condition
ing. Massage, baths and the use OF
every conceivable device, goes on stead
ily fourteen hours day during the
preparatory season. The players are
working for individual condition and et-
fectiveness IN thu, ,ir own way. Ihcsl
persons who imagine tlat baseball Is
"snap' or som" epecIai glft pt nature
should have been in the training cam
ago and thor ideas w9rll have
changed Early in the training season
the word had flashed around the cir
cult " Matty's arm is gone.
Translated, that meant revision OF
all the ponnant calculations Of all tho
clubs in the National league. If Math
ewson' s arm really was permanently
| IN
a championship factor.
On the training field few days later
nearly forty men were hard at work
over at one side a graceful. handsome
boyish looking man was throwing SLOWLY
and with evident caution TO a young
catcher Slowly, and studying every
move in order to avoid Jerking or twist
ING damaged shoulder, he kept pitch
ing. trying to throw the soreness
out, - lie had drawn a little eros!
\ in the dirt upon which he .pivoted hi,
right foot, and two feet in front oi
fiat and n foot 10 the left was "A hol'
in the sand As he threw he swunt
, ION his stride. and instead Of plant
ing his left foot straight in front n NJ
swung it into the hole to the left. III
had changed his pitching motion TO ac
commodate the sore shoulder and pre-
vent adding to the strain Present.
he swung his arm slowly overland
c The ball hoated away, seemed to hesl
tate in midair, dropped downward an'
70 the right with slow, twisting curv