The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-02-15
BEST STARS FROM
THE SOUTHLAND
WITH WEAKER CLUBS

1t seems the sad fate of Southern
ball clubs to furnish their best stars
| to teams that are never contenders.
There are exceptions--Tris Speaker for
one. But Russ Ford and Ed Sweeney
are clubbing their lives away with
the hopeless Yanks. Nap Rucker, best
of the eft-handers, is hopelessly bur
led with Brooklyn, as are Jake Dau
bert and Red Smith. Derrill Pratt
Is lost in the oblivion of the St Louis
Browns. And Joe Jackson has been
buried and all but smothered until
last year with the usually slow Maps.
Another example. and right now a
brilliant one. is Charley Stengel. last
year with Montgomery. this year with
the Dodgers.
Concering Stengel center fielder ex-
traordinary of the Brooklyn team in
the National league. 1t may be re-
marked in passing that he is no mean
hitter. Nay, 1t would not be stretch
ing the truth to assert that the young
ster who whanged a four -sacker TO
center in the first inning recently of
the second ball pitched by Hess, and
repeated in. the second with another
Miller was on third and two were
out, Is all to the whole-souled and
broad minded in his clouting. He
plays no favorites. banging the ball
Just as hard against the lowiy and
uO"utIUQueH SQstoI ID dFtS us lie dlu
against the New York Giants and
the New York Americans and the Rich
mond, Va. leaguers. He would just
as lief demolish a tailender as a cham
pion.
Stengers career this season has been
peculiar. He hit well on the training
trip, and kept 1t up against the New
| York Americans. He made not only
| the first home run, but the first of any
kind ever made on Ebbetts field when
he slammed -four base hit to CEN
| ter off Caldwell Ia the fifth inning
on April 5th. The next day he got a
double. Fine.
Then came a slump, In the first
three games of the National league
strife Stengel did not get a hit, but
| in the game in Philadelphia on April
10th he drew three passes. reached
first on an error, and sacrificed once.
I His initial hit of the regular season
was a single off Seaton on April 18TH
at Ebbetts field.
The boy has ever been A pitcher
/ since he cast himself upon cold
world after leaving high school In Kan
| sas City, Mo, in the gladstone spring
| OF 1910 He attracted so much atten-
! ton as a fair haired boy and gave
| rise to so many repetitions of the
school yell that he attracted the no
| tice Of the management of the Kan
sas City club in the American asso-
| citation, which was owned by George
Tebeau. who also picked up Joe Wood,
the Boston American pitcher. George
Is a great picker-up of unconsidered
+! trifies in baseball. and what he picks
he salts down for future use. When
anything escapes him 1t pains him so
! deeply 1t takes two doctors to probe
to the seat of the trouble. They are
| probing now every time George thinks
/ ri Stan gal toll n
him.
Stengel first made his reputation
as pitcher and hitter. Tebeau la
bored under the impression that he
was no hitter and knew he was no
pitcher, SO he shunted him to Kan
kakee, ILL.,. in the Illinois-Iowa league
| 1t was. also one of the well known
Fourth of July leagues, expiring amid
a tremendous roar of creditors on the
evening of the fourth. 1910. Getting
hastily thence. Stengel Joined the Mays
! Vile team in the Blue Grass league
which was really the original Horse
and Buggy league. Jim Nolan organ
lied a circuit in the blue grass region
away back in the days when the
earth was young and Cap Arson was
in doubt whether he would make good
on the Forest City. Jim used to Wis
1t the clubs driving horse and bug
gy, and sometimes see two different
games on the same day. Hence the
name. 1t is one of the most pertina-
cious and tenacious leagues known to
science. holding all records for blow
! ing up and recognising. 1t stayed
reorganized long enough in 1910 for
Stengel to finish the campaign and
be recalled to Kansas City.
! Stengel had at his own demand
been put in the outfeld in Kankakee
and Maysville. and sought a job in
20 ~ xx-jsh
but the dust from the Kansas City
diamond had blinded Tebeau to his
merits and In 1911 the boy was shunted
to Aurora, Ill.,. in the Wisconsin-Ill-
inois league. where he attracted the
notice of Old Scout Sutton and others