Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-12-24
BY George StaIIinss.


] one of the busiest and most criti-
cal Of the year for a ball club, for it
is then that a manager must begin to
get acquainted with his new men.
make his selections from his flock OF
recruits and start to build his team.
The spring OF 1913 will always be re-
garded by me as the most important
in my baseball career, since 1t was
then that | faced, for the first time,
the Boston club. with which | was de-
stfned in two years time to win
worlds championship. ! would never
have thought it possible at the time.
Observation will do more in the
first week Of spring practise than all
the instructions ever complied. Long
ago ] discovered a very satisfactory
process by which | could test out the
steel OF a recruit in the spring. Near
ly every youngster comes to train
ing camp full OF ambition. and he
looks for attention from the manager.
Come of them will lose their ambition
and pepper after d week or two II
ignore them entiTLy. Then ] know
this sort of man lacks the stuff to
make a real big Lacquer. But If !
don't say anything to a recruit for a
week or two, and he keeps fighting
all the harder to make good. / know
that he is the reIl thing. and / start
to work with him. He has shown he
has the courage TO plug away and
force me to recognize him.
Why One Pitcher Was Let Go.
A young fellow came to me in the
spring of 1913 who had made big
record in the minor leagues as pit
cher, and l looked for him to be a
wonder. / left him alone during the
first week OF the spring training, and
he seemed to sulk, and that looked bad
to me" He had so much STUFF when he
got the winter kinks out of his arm,
however, that / began to coddle him
q little, and thought ] might have
been wrong in my preliminary diagno-
sis. With little petting he came
along through spring pactise in good
shape, and thought / had a find to
help out my scanty collection OF pitch
ing talent. II must be borne in mind
that at this time Rudolph. had had lit
tie or no big league experience, and
"Biilr James was absolutely raw. : -
Well, this young fellow worked
along and started the season with my
club. Two months alter the champion
ship race had begun ] let him, go be-.
canse be was such "a temptation to
me. Perhaps that sounds like q strange
reAson to the ordinary follower sof
baseball, but It is the true one; The
young fellow just lacked gameness,
and my first test, that of ignoring him
in the spring camp. had revealed this,
but had refused TO be convinced and
had carried him along. -.
Lacked Nerve In Pinehes. :, =. j
He had everything a successful pit.
cher needs. He fieided his position
smoothly and possessed good .balk
motion toward first base SO that rum
rlers could not get any lead on him.
He would warm up fine and look like
q million dollars in practise, but he al
ways weakened in the pinch. When
one pitched ball might win or. lose, he
would shoot 1t up in the groove" and
a game would be bowed for me. This
boy would have been a Mathewson ex-
cept for the one. big weaxness-he
wasn't game. So this temptation of
mine went back to the minors. =
The reason call him temptation
is because could not let him warm
up without starting him, and when
did put him in the box knew he was
going to blow the game unless the
team struck lot of runs under him at
the getaway. This young pitcher is
dead now, but IL he had lived to be a
million years old he would never have
been anything but busher. So / soon
saw one bright looking prospect fade
into the minors that year of 1913.
But must get back to the spring
practise. At the first meeting of the
players always make 1t rule to take
my seat in the middle of the group
and talk to them. lay down and ex-
plain the regulations which will gov.
ern the club during the season and
tell them about hotel arrangements,
the conditions under which they will
work, etc.
Never Fines a Player.
i know that have accumulated
quite a reputation for ''bawling" men
out since / have been in baseball, and
perhaps do say lot of things on the
bench in the heat Of game that
don't mean. But have never fined
player since l took charge of my first
club, and l tell them all this frankly
at the start. / have never taken a
nickel of a players money. Other
managers contend that / am all wrong
in this and that l cannot expect to
have any discipline without some pen,
atty which hits player in the peck
etbook; but have got along this far
without finding 1t necessary, and am
going to continue in the same old
route, for 1t has brought me some re-
turns. The result is that have be-
come a sort of father eonfessor to the
men on my team, and l am the first
one that a player comes to when he
has any troubles. ~ -