The Washington herald., 1911-02-09
WALTER JOHNSON LEAVES
FOR HOT SPRINGS MONDAY
Nationals Big Twiler Will Need Plenty of Hard Work
to Reduce Weight-Other Gossip.

much persuasion had been used that W.
succeeded in buying him. Elliottis a
thick-set young man. twenty-five years
old. who knows right now how to play
first-class baseball. He is not only a
corking good third baseman. but Ne car
hit the ball and run the bases with great
speed He is in the habit Of leading of
in the batting order. and Is a fine run
getter. II he doesn't take Jimmy Aus
tins place I shall be very much sur
prised."
Why is it so many followers Of base
ball persist in confusing aggressiveness
with conversation? Although some fans
refuse to believe a player can have In
itiative unless he outbattles Tennyson's
Brook" to my mind the relation be-
tween "ginger" and the vocal cords is
rather a myth. In fact. there is a strong
temptation to believe that the gentlemen
who chatter profusely are precisely those
in need Of "pep;" that. in fact. they are
talking to keep up their courage.
The man on the third base lines Is
not considered a coach unless he can re-
iterate stock phrases at a given rate OF
speed and with sufficient vocal power
to make an impression on the grand
stand 1t matters not what is said, or
whether the signals the chatter some
times covers be right or wrong-it is the
volume and continuity Of the sound. as
sisted occasionally by a few physical
antics that make said coacher an "ag-
gressive" player in the eyes Of the on
lockers.
Nobody seems to take kindly to Char
ley Murphy's suggestion that base rum
ners be allowed to overrun all bases as
they are allowed to overrun first base.
without being in danger. Of being touched
out. OF course. men who don't have to
play in the infisld or to catch or pitch.
meaning (maybe) the outflelders. might
like it. But they are outnumbered. II
it came to a vote. they would be no
where.
No doubt baseball would be improved
by some change that would give the base
runners a chance very slightly greater
than they have now. In other words. a
little more base running would enliven
the game but a lot more would make a
farce Cf it.
And surely the Murphy scheme would
result in a very great lot more OF it. for
it would be at least 25 per cent easier to
steal second and third than it now is if
the runners did not have to hang on to
the bases when they arrived there.
No matter what team wins the Amer
lean League pennant. the fan can gener-
ally win IL he bets that the Chicago
pitchers lead the league in the number
of put-outs. When Charley Comiskey
was a first sacker he always played a
deep game. and depended upon the pitch
ers covering the bag on numerous occa-
sions. Now that he Is a magnate. he
still insists on the pitchers going to the
bag and taking the throws from the first
sacker.
Nationality cuts but little figure in the
ability OF pitcher. For instance. Addie
Joss is a Swiss, Bender an Indian. Wal
ter johnson a Swede. Walsh an Irishman.
ReuIbach a German, Coombs a Yankee.
and Christy Mathewson a Scotch descent.
And take It through baseball. John King
Is German. Billy Sullivan. Ira Thomas,
and Larry Mclean. Irish. and Chief
Meyers a full-blooded Indian. Then an
all-star infield could be formed of ko-
netchy. Greek: Lajoie, French: Wagner.
German, and Devlin. Irish.