The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-03-10
HOOK SLIDE GIVES
WHITE SOX RECRUIT
A RECORD IN SOUTH
BY Harold ID. .Iohnson

Oakland. Cal. March 10.-Any time
q athlete steals eighty-one bases In
go games IN company such as the
southern association lay a little bel
on said athlete. That's what Jimmy
claimants White Sox did last season
wni!e neiping the Birmingham team
copper the Dixie nag. Always a swift.
footed young man, Jimmy frankly say.
soinetnlng more than natural speed
must be had in order to carry OF The
oas~e-stealing honors Of his circuit.
ABILITY to execute the hook-slide ia one
OF the reasons that attended his sue
cess last year..
Il didn't know the difference be.
tween hook-slidfng and aeroplanina
wnen l started with the Seattle team
OF the Northwestern league in $780,
saio immy his afternoon. II wae
a. last on my feet as any other fell.
to take as many chances as the nex1
one. but 1t seemed I was forever get.
I'll tagged at n sack or another.
FINALLY. n afternoon I took q
SHINE to n way in which Jimmy Ad.
ans nrst baseman Of our team, slid
into the bases and decided to copy
MIG style. At first I found 1t a simple
natter to hit the bag. hooking as
slid on my left hip and touchina
me base with my right arm. The day
after I experimental I was as sore al
a boil on my left side ana was uuick
to take the advice Of an older player,
who suggested that I wear a sI:dina
pad. made Of bath toweling. on my
ieft nip. When my sore spots had
healed I determined to learn every
thing about sliding. SO I made pads
out OF ~sheepskin and soon found NV
self hooking the bases from the right
LETT side as though I were falIine
of a log.
Later when / went to ottumwa
improved rapidly. and in ninety-two
sames with that team In 1910 I stole
forty-six bases. Then I was shipped
back by the White Sox in the sprine
OF 1911 to Birmingham and in that
seaso I stole thirty-three bases in
eighty-four games before being beaned
by RUDE Benton, the big southpaw
now with the Cincinnati Reds.
n n realizes more than I how
u damage can be done to q youna
payers career and prospects by the
bean ball." continued Johnston. Il
wal going great in 1911 until the day
when our team (Birmingham) was
playing Chattanooga at Chattanooga,
which. by the way. is my home town.
! was up at bat with two strikes call.
ed when Benton whizzed a fast inshoot
at me. and before I could dodge the
ball crashed against the left side OF
my head. about an inch above thu ear,
Il dropped like q sack Of flour, and
for ten days lowered between life and
death; That accident happened Au-
gust 20. 1911. and I was of no earthly
use to the barons during the remain.
der Of the season. In fact, l find
myself 'gun-shy' every time I get into
action on a Oark dav."
Jimmy isn't the only ball player in
his family. His brother Wheeler.
alias Doc" Johnston. former first
basernan Of the champion New Orleans
team OF the Southern league ia now
playing the initial corner for Joe Biz.
mtnshaln's Cleveland maps and is rated
z hxture at that post. James saya
doc" got his nickname as the result
Of a promise made by their father
70 make an M. D. out Of Wheeler.
Jimmy says he came within an ace
Of being a Methodist minister. but
switched to the national pastime al
the eleventh hour.