Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-11

that should have been said about the
Browns and many things that should
not have been said. have been said. re-
peated' and said again and again. Reit-
Grafton is the very life of base ball
writing All that remains to be done
Is to call the game and play base ball.
That's the temper OF the club. In SO Tar
as it has any temper at all. 1t Is quite
ready, ready for midsummer, plain.
workmanhke club, no nerves, no worry,
no college uplift of the spirit. just lot
Of mechanics who go at game OF base
ball as all in days work.
No stars since Sisler have been with
drawn from the spotlight. 1t Is a team
individually not much above the av-
erage level. Shotton probably is the
nearest approach to a star. His lib bases
on balls go farther to make Albert
luminary than any hitting. fielding or
next to Shotton, has been rated good
average fielder. and wild. dangerous,
but not brilliant hitter. The others are
just average men.
So the star of the team comes TO be
Jones, Fielder Alanson Barbed Wire
Jones' All club conservation concen-
trates on Jones.
When the men talk apart they talk
Of Jones They laugh at his peculiari-
foresight and sidelights (no hindsight)
and praise his methods. They call him
'Old Persimmo ns, because he Is tart,
but. for all his tartness. pleasant to
taste: The players say that ne gives
them up and makes them jump, but
they agree that. while he is sarcastic
he never hurts a man very much. The
writer's with the team like Jones very
much, laugh at him, wonder about him,
more, shake their heads. admit they
will never know him and then agree
that he knows his business. Some man
ayers have rules for correspondents
travelling with their teams. Bresnahan
never would permit base ball writer's
to the playing field or bench at the
training camps. Jones has not any
rules for any one. but the IL pm. rule
for players. But the newspaper men
naturally defer to Jones in all things.
They will not go on the field. take
picture or seek an interview with
player without first asking Jones
about it. Not that they have to do this.
Jones does not care much what Is said
or written about him or his team. The
writer's can do and write as they
please. Their respect for Jones is so
great that they consult him about
everything. His answer is a1ways-"All
right, go ahead" He never disapproves
Of anything written about his club or
about himself 1t is doubtful that he
ever reads anything written about him
or about his club. Just the same. 1t
would hurt any newspaper man very
much il he knew that anything he had
a dozen newspaper men nave been
studying Jones on this trip.
They talk about him., ask players
about him, think about him. dream
about him, and then laugh and say:
Zine chance any one has to know him.
He's inscrutab4e,- cryptic"
Jones is always AIDED early and up
early. He sleeps little. He eats less.
He never seems to look at his food.
He picks little of what is served.
leaves three1fourths of it on the table,
drops a tip Tor the waiter and goes
away. He always sits apart at meals
and spends as much as three minutes
hotel all day talking with the players
and callers. He smokes necessarily,
as many as twenty cigars a day. This
is his great dissipation. Outside of
Cents a day. Not that he is parsimoni-
GUS. Not ALL He will buy cigars all
around regularly. He knows no other
He is careless in his at
tire. No one ever has seen him with
creases in his trousers. He wears a
low collar and a soft tie. The stock
inEs he wears on the coaching lines
are the poorest and raggedest in base
ball His shoes go back to 1908. He
accepts the last cast-off uniform. He
uses q fffty-cent glove. He does not
know where he sleeps or on what; he
does not know what he eats; he does
not know what he wears. He smokes
and he knows base ball. He can. play
a corking game Of checkers and will
meet all Corners. He may read little
Not very much. He smokes and thinks
It. is rarely he speaks until spoken
to. He takes a quiet pleasure in the
pranks Of his players. but no part in
them. He. has a pleasant glance and
a pleasant queer little smile. On the
field In training he observes the same
reticence of speech. He puts lot
into few words. He won't waste
time on hopeless cases or energy try
ing to make bad ball players out of
good clerks. He picks good player.
polishes him up a bit and puts him in
the game. a.
It 10 astonishing to observe the faith
the players have In him. They don't
think about the games they are. gofng
TO play. They don't think about Vow
they are going to play themselves.