Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-01-05
BOOZE AND BALL
PLAYING DON'T
HANG TOGETHER

West that "Rube" Waddell was dying
from tuberculosis. The report that the
once famous "Rube" was dying has
been sent out many times before, and
each time the plucky down-and-outer
gatho~ed hi'nself together and rallied
But the fight must end soon. The
weakened constitution of tr.- one-time
star can not hold out much longer, and
he must soon bow to the inevitable,
and this despite the fact that Waddell
has an abnormally powerful physique.
The many encounters between the
RUDE and John Barleycorn have not
been without their effects.
What has gone before serves as an
| introduction TO our story, which has
to deal with booze in baseball. The
terrible havoc that has been wrought
in the ranks of other sports by booze
has been recorded times without num-
Der. Very frequently a champion in
the ring, on the track or in some other
branch of sports slips back before his
time, and the cry is passed around:
"Pooze did it," In many cases booze
did do it. But not so in baseball.
Does Not Last. ,e..- ~, 80 .s
AS a rule, the drinker does not last
long enough in the latter game to let
him go to the eternal bow-wows in
one leap. He finds out his mistake
or somebody else does-before it is
too late to take back seat The
game, as it is played today, is proba.
| bly, the most nerve-racking of all &C.
equations, hence to be at his best all
the time the player must be clean
liver. .-.-..... 57f.s-
The few heavy drinkers who have
made their appearance and exit-in
most cases--in the big leagues in the
past few years furnish the best proofs
of the above assertion. Fans who will
look back several years will remember
the late lamented Bugs" Raymond,
who was about as good a pitcher as
there was in his time-when he left
the stuff" alone, and who drank him.
self ont OF the good graces of his man
ager, John MeGraw, of the Giants, and
out of the big leaguers. to die from the
effects of wound received in a.
drunken brawl in d Chicago saloon
Then there was George MctluiIIan,
who, as member of the Phillies some
few years back, was considered one
of the best pitchers in the game. Nc
Quillan was very seldom in condition,
and was constantly kicking over the
traces. The result was that he was
traded to Cincinnati, from which team
he soon dropped into the minors. II
was only after several seasons of the
hardest kind of work that he was able
to secure another chance in the big
show. He joined the Pirates last sea-
SON and did good work - .
Idea Was Dropped. ~.
Last winter there was much talk of
inserting antf-drinking clauses in the
contracts nf the players for the 1913
season. There was much argument
pro and con, and the idea was finally
abandoned. 1t was held that If a.
player really wanted to dring he
would drink more on the ely than he
would were he permitted to do so in
public.
During the agitation thus raised til
was asserted that drinking had lost
the 1912 pennant for the Cubs. This.
however, was looked upon as just one
of Charley Murphy's little alibis, and
was not given much consideration. 1t
is a fact, though, that Murphy sus-
pended one of his most valuable play
ers during that season on the grounds
that he was not in condition"
I'm that same season, 1912, many
ether clubs climbed aboard the band
wagon with Murphy and used the
same alibi for not coping the gon-
talon. 1t was even claimed by outsid-
ers that this was the reason why the
Red Sox and Washington beat the
Athletics out in the pennant race.
They based their belief on the fact
that toward the end of the season
Connie Mack benched several of his
veterans for a few weeks.
Never Touch Liquor.
Whatever truth there may be in |
this, if any, it is true that the Ath-
letics could put on the field now al
team of players who never touch liquor |
in any form. To say that this has
nothing to do with the phenomenal
success of the club would be absurd. |
Such players make for the success Of
4 team, and what team is not after
success?
1t is a sure bet that baseball is no
place for those pho indulge I'M
spirits, and any man who hits the |
stuff hard. might just as we'll quit the |
game at the start, for it will surely !
set him finally. 1t was booze, as sta
ted before, that gave "Rube" WaddeIl
the dreaded consumption, and that
brought many other stars to an un-d
timely end, but its victims in the great
American game are gradually decreas.I
ing. The players of today have pro-
fitted by the experience of those WhoI
have INDUCED and gone the route, and /
are wise enough to keep away from
Demon Rum, knowing, as they do,
that a baseball players career at best
is very short one.