Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-09-03
Bv Percy II. Whiting.

Georgia Institute % Technology.
there was the usual response. A
hundred or more young men turned
out--and one little boy The boy
was clean cut little shaver, in
short pants. about the size Of
half-grown bat boy
when Coach Hesman looked
them over he saw the mskings Of
fine tean--and ne also noted the
kid
Il hope he doesn't get in the way
and get hurt. III have 70 eliminate
him at the first cut" was Coach
HetsDan's comment
Then followed a lot OF indoor
work For days the candidates
worked as best they could in the
restricted space OF the gymnasium.
doing such small things in the
baseball tine as the scant room
affoTded.
When the time for the first cut
came Coach Heisman welded the
pruning knife with reckless aban-
don. as usual. But when he came
to the name of the Kid he didn't
use IL,
Il IwslesN III SEQ THAI boy work in
the open" was his comment.
Another cut came And then the
final one.
When the first game was played
the smallest man ON the squad was
AT shortstop. He had shown such
q positive genius for baseball that
he had stuck through.
The name Of the boy was Tommy
Mcmillan.
NJ OW, Tommy Mcmillan was un-
doubtedly the very littlest boy
who ever got on real varsity
team in the South He won his
place because he could bat fairly
well. because he could field excel
lentiN. and most particularly be-
cause he had a baseball mind
Mcmillan has" says Coach
Heisman, who perhaps knows him
better than any other man. that
rare faculty Of knowing where a
BAN is going TO be hit He seems
To give the matter no thought. No
doubt he divines the thing by the
wording of his subconscious mind.
Given a batter he knows and given
some hint OF what is to be pitched
70 him and he can come nearer 10
telling where IL is going To be hit
than any living man who has ever
come under my observation"
1t ls this faculty that has given
Mcmillan positions on three big
league teams and that has made
him, with the sole and glowingly
brilliant exception OF While Keller.
the greatest ball player Of his
Nshes who ever graced diamond
HE faculty of knowing where
ball was going TO be hit was
McMnlan's most troublesome weak
ness at first. When he figured out
that the sphere was going to be hit
between first and second he didn't
hesitate at all TO run over back
Of the pitcher and take il away
nom the second baseman.
And this peculiarly irritated the
second baseman-who was. the
year Mcmillan broke in. that ex-
cellent performer Fred Richardson
II took all OF Richardson's patience
and all of Coach Heisman's author
tty to confine McMillans activities
to a territory about twice as large
as any other shortstop in the
Southern college world covered
And TO this day he can come as
near 10 playing the entire infield
unassisted as anybody YOU ever
saw.
JUST how dimiuutive Mcmillan
} was in his first year is hard to
realize. Coach Heisman estimates
that at the time he was probably
FIVE feet. FIVE inches tall and that
he weighed perhaps 10 to lis
pounds.
How young he was is best illus
trated by story told by one OF
his team mates that year
The Tech team was off on trip.
It doesn't matter particularly
where; and after game the boys
went out for an evening at girls
college