Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-01-30
.STALLINGS ON
LAST GAMESOF
REGULAR SEASON
Boston Manager Tells About
Team Spirit That Made the
Braves Unbeatable
tBY GEORGE 7. sTALLINGs.)

WOfl0 series tnau any team ever Wae
before. We went after the weakness.
es of che Athletics as had learned
them when In the American league,
and we figured ut the daily skull prac.
, tise how to cover up our own, foI
every team has some weaknesses and
we recognized ours. can't tell what
they are, naturally. We made 1t a
point to ask everybody that we
thought might have some accurate In.
formation about the Athletics for
pointers and the warning that we had
fired at US time after time was:
Prepare for Hig Series.
Don't let them get your signs"
We were told this so often that the
young fellows on the club got to
dreaming about It and the result OF
this was the series OF signals that !
mentioned above. We rehearsed these
over and over. One night while the
team was at the hotel in New York,
heard some one mumbIing In a room
near mine. I knew that all the rooms
In that part of the house were occu-
pied by my ball players, 50 walked
down the hall and found the door of
the room on crack. / looked In.
Rudolph was standing at one end
and Gowdy was crouehed at the other
giving signs in an imaginary glove.
As he switched from one code to an
other Rudolph would call them.
Curve ball, inside. said s.Dick. /"
Fast one, outside. Splitter" mum
bled Rudolph.
& / tiptoed away without either one
knowing that had seen the rehearsal.
Spirit of that sort wins victories, and
Rudolph displayed his wonderful
gameness as he did under actual fire
in the. series when ~ pitched grand
ball. This was the spirit which won
for us. To show how hard my team
worked, not man missed q sign dur
ing the worlds series
Knew Signals fborouofIy.
Just to give an idea OF what q
tight organization We had, will relate
an incident that eccnrred during the
final Series. Of tiis sS66S0n ffs Brooklyn.
/ was sitting, m & field box with q
friend and Mitchell was running the
club on the bench. Whitted was at
the bat, with q man on first base and
none out. Tyler was coaching at
third base. He glanced at me in the
box, and gave him the sign for Whit
ted to hit. Tyler flashed the sign to
Whitfield ands.he busted q curve ball
for couple Of bases. Tyler on the
field, had cahghttthis sign from me
out Of all the crowd It+wouId have
been the same If had been sitting
upstairs In the last row of the grand
stand. It was a tight ball club and
the organization of it counted in both
the National League race and the
worlds series.
Yet do not run ball club so tight
that / kill a mans individuality r.
rave on the bench, 1t is true, and I
did up to the last game Of the Ma
tional League race because figured
this would keep up the pepper1during
the worlds series that won for US on
the season. 1t did, too. I guess. But
don't order every play and make q
machine of ball player. If you think
for man whenever you can, you
win blot on his individuality, and
quick thinking is one of q players
greatest assets. So many plays come
up when q manager does not have
time or the opportunity to think for
ball player that 1t Is best to let him
think for himself most of the time. I /,
insist on quick thinking on both ends
Of play, however. for fast brain
work on one end does no good. II the !,
base runner is going 70 pull off some
play, the batter must know about 1t (
and be ready to jibe in. We worked
hard on I'll these ends In our prepare.
tons for the worlds series. And. It !
III paid.
When Smith Hfoke His Leg.
The team went along smoothly !
enough getting ready for the big bat
lie. until the last day we we're sche-
iu1ed to play a National League game.
There was a double-header In Brook
yn. / started most Of my regulars
and 1t resulted IN q stroke of bad !,
nck that many Of QUE followers
thought had killed what nttIe chance
We were supposed to have in the Sc.
les.
It occurred in the ninth inning Of
he first game, when Red Smith, the
lard hitting third baseman, made a
alse slide for second and HIS leg
doubled under hin and under the bag.
he didn't stand on it again until long
lfter the series, when he got up off a
hospital bed, for his leg was broken.
strangely enough, Johnny Eyers was
ne of the first 10 rush to Red. and
Johnny looked back at me on the
,ench and barely whispered the news
rRed's out" he said. But I heard
md understood. II he had said moth
ng would have known by his looks.
had realized when / saw Red gof
Iown. It was before the series be-
ween the Athletics and the Cubs In
go that Eyers himself had broken
is leg in almost the same way, when |
Ie started to slide for the plate ID
anne with Cincinnati after the Cubs Il
ad the championship cinched. Clarke. i
atchinQ for ffaa Roda drov the slide =