Evening star., 1914-11-26
Only One Asset Visible.


with the idea that they were playing
the New York Giants, and for this
reason there was no use in trying.
Practically the only asset visible to the
naked eye was d franchise in the
league.
"Of the men who came under my
charge when / first took the reins in
the late fall of 1872, Tyler and Hess,
both pitchers, are the only two who
remain with the club at present
Much has been printed in the news
papers about how l scold and abuse
my players for mistakes that they
make. They themselves term it get
ting bawled out 1t is true that I do
so after some of them red-handed at
whether they are game, and 1 haven't
room for any man on my team who is
not game.
Although 1 have 'bawled out every
player on my club often, they trust
me. and if any of them has trouble of
any sort I am the FIRST one that he
comes to about it. I am the father
confessor to the team, and l believe
a point to stay around where my ball
players are.
Had One Big Advantage.
I'VE intended to go into the world
series with the percentage on the Ath-
letics. and. I might add, succeeded. 1
knew that Mack's club did not regard
us as a strong team, and probably
would be more lax in its preparation
on this account. This in itself was a
big advantage. Also this warning was
repeated over and over again: Don't
let them get your signs
From my experience in the American
League, 1 knew that this team was a
dangerous signal-stealing club. This is
no charge of unfairness, but rather a
boost, as base ball is played, since the
coachers on the lines get the catcher's
signals to the pitcher and pass them to
the batter. and the Job requires great
Quickness of eye and mind, and the
practice also is risky for the hitter.
should he be tipped wrongly. In this
way the hitter knows when fast ball
as we call it in base ball. l also knew
that several Of the men In the Ath-
letics' batting order, reputed to be
sluggers, could not hit their weight if
the coachers did not have chance to
tell them what sort of a ball to ex-
pect. A batter, of course. cannot set
himself for a curve ball as well as he
can for fast one.
Framed New Signal Code.
AT the time we got these repeated
warnings we were perfecting a code Of
signals which no one. ! believe, would
be able to understand even if the
coaclrers did get glimpse at them. but
for fear there might be a leak some
where we discarded this set and began
work on a new collection 1t was
rather intricate and complicated set,
but pobody could have told what the
catcher meant if the signs enabled him
to look straight into his glove as he
gave them. Our pitchers and catchers
y. p..tcticed these constantly both on ana
OH the field.
An this time I had been carefully
pve pa ring the minds of the players to
iace the Athletics, rated and widely
;,G.ertised as the greatest club In the
history of the game. Fred Mitchell
the veteran coach whom l have called
my right eye-and 1 framed up two or
three jobs on the players to give them
confidence. Also We worked out plan
which convinced the men that they
could win any game that they wanted
to put away.
Gave Them Confidence.
"After the pennant had been cinched
I did not push the club to victory after
victory when these were not necessary.
but let it ease off. always endeavoring
to keep up the pepper however.
would let the club go along and lose q
game or two. stopping through them
Then would say:
~ want this one. Let's get it They
would go out and win, and these vic
tories convinced the players that they
could take any battle that they made
up their minds to win.
Then came the final piece of luck.
asked Connie Mack for the use of his
park for practice the day before the
opening of these series. so that my
players could get used to the sun
which is bad on that field. He refused
and this refusal made all the Boston
players indignant.
'it was worth a lot more to US thar
the hour or two of practice ever could
have been. They went into the games
mad, and they fought all the way. II
was an ideal mental attitude. Mack
himself had touched Off the temper oi
my team. and he got bad bareback
But there was no let-up when the series
began after all those days of prepara.
tion. Every move was made carefully
to get the percentage.