Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-10-07

Series Money In 1914, and Now It
Big Championship Money as PhiIa-
delphia Player.
Much has been written about the
breaks of the game in baseball and
the careers of many Of its stars which
have received some strange twists by
Fate. There is no more striking ex-
ample of what Fate can do to change
than in the cases of George Whitfield
Of the Philies and Hub Perdue of the
st. Louis Cardinals.
Fate had much to do with making
wealthy man Of one and just q plain.
everyday ball player Of the other, but
it might also be well to mention that
luck. plus hustle and gameness, often
makes the difference between a good
player and a poor one. and Whitfield
has been favored by fortune because
Of the break and his own hustling.
fighting disposition.
Back in the early part Of 1918 the
pitching stan Of the Giants was in
poor shape, and Manager McGraw cast
his eyes around to buy one Of the stars
Of q poorer team which was out Of
the race. There was not another pitch
er in the National league who appeal
ed more to McGraw than Perdue. who
had beaten the Giants several times
earlier in the year.
1t has often been said that the
Giants always could 80 out and buy q
star any time they needed one. be-
cause a winner in New York meant
money for the entire league. But the
case Of Perdue was one that upset the
dope. because Manager Stallings abso-
lutely refused to part with the easy
going southerner.
McGraw offered great inducements.
but Stallings insisted that Perdue was
the one player on his team who could
not be purchased or traded. Stallings'
decision knocked Perdue out Of a
chance to play with a pennant winner
and share in the worlds series money
and also prevented him from going to
q team that could afford to pay him
larger salary than he was drawing.
Last season. when the Braves start
ed of like tailenders, Perdue was cuss-
ing his luck and became a careless, in
different twirler. He took on about
twenty-five pounds Of excess weight
and was far from being the Perdue of
1913. Hub" just could not see the
sense Of wasting his talent on a poor
ball team. Manager Stallings knew
he had team that could be pennant
contender with the addition Of one or
two hustling youngsters and that Per
due would never be of much value
again to the Braves.
Perdue's disposition was not ono
rnat would stand for the constant nag
ging to which Evers subjects all play
ers, and finally things grew so bad
that Stallings had to get rid Of him.
and he was willing to take almost any
thing for the player who was too pre-
cious to sell year before.
Stallings had taken a fancy to Whit
ted Of the Cardinals. who was In de-
cidedly bad with Higgins because
their ideas did not coincide. Higgins
willingly traded Whitfield for Perdue
and threw in Ted Gather for good
measure. Whitted's presence in the
Boston lineup acted like tonic to
the disinterested tailenders. and they
Immediately started on the squirt that
resulted in winning the pennant and
worlds championship.
ho yyooo =, <ivOo nj, Dor<1,,n xrvno
with the Cardinals. who were leading
the league on Sept. 0, when the Braves
trimmed them four in q row and put
them out Of the race for good. Incl
dentally, George Whitfield broke up one
Of the games on Perdue, and hub"
became convinced that the Boston star
was his particular "jinx."
The Braves won the pennant, and
Whitfield got a winners share of the
worlds series spoils. while Perdue got
nothing.
Last winter Stallings wanted to
save Sherwood Magee from the Feds
but to do so he had to turn George
Whitfield over to the Phillies. For a
time Whitfield baked on being sent to
the lowly Pills from the champion
Braves, but at last he consented
When he arrived in the south he look
ed the Phillies over for time Whit
ted declared that he had been kicked
off one championship team right to an
other. Nobody believed him, but
Whitfield insisted that the Phillies could
win the pennant If they hustled.
Hustle" should have been Whitteds
middle name. as he is one of the great
hustlers Of the game. He soon proved
that he was Pat Moran's greatest as.
set in instilling that hustling. fighting
spirit into the Phillies. The result was
that the Phillies were soon a pennant
contender.
Whitfield says: II Just know that we
will win the pennant. l thought so in
the spring, and l am sure Of it now.
remnants just follow me around.
am the original good luck man."
Perdue says: "All the world is
against me. got kicked off the
Braves to the Cardinals. who look like
pennant winners, and what happens?
The Braves win the pennant. and this
fellow Whitfield gets the money. This
season we looked like pennant con-
tenders again until bad luck struck the
Cards. The Phillies looked like moth.
ing until this Whitfield brought them
his luck. Yes, sab, they'll win, suah.
Whitfield will get the money again. and
what will l get? There suah is nothing
ut all left in st. Louis for me-"
Alexander Gets a $1,000 Bonus.