The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-09-15
ALTROCK AND THE HITLESS WONDERS

This is the fortieth anniversary of the birth of, Nicholas Altrock, once famous twirler of the White SoX in the Fielder Jones era. and latterly the rival of Germany Schaefer for the honor of being the chief comedian of the diamond.
 Nick was born in Cincinnati on Sept. 15, 1876, and played with Grand Rapids, Louisville Nationals, Colum- bus, Syracuse, Toronto, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Boston before he broke into the limelight with the Comiskey clan.
 Ten years ago, when Nicholas was one of the star hurlers of the Fielder Jones staff and helped to pitch the White Sox to~the championship, his battery mates were Frank Owen, Iron Man" Frank Smith, Ed Walsh, G.. Harris ('DocD White and. Roy Pat terson. lAll have vanished from the great white flame, Walsh being the last survivor of the illustrious coteTie.
 Altrock was not only great pitcher in his day but he was a valuable man in other ways to have upon a team. In the heat and tension of pennant struggle the players are likely to get frazzled as to nerves, and to "blow up' at the most inopportune time. To prevent such a disaster Nick was al- ways on hand with the funny stuff that relieved the situation and en- ab1ed his playmates to "let down." When a member of the club showed a tendency to be morbid or grouchy be- cause of some miscue, Nick was the Little Sunshine who could be depend- ed on to cheer him up. There isn't any laugh column in. the box score and Nick didn't get official credit for his comedian stunts, but he saved many game by injecting humor into an otherwise tragic situation.
 Arlie Latham, King Kelly, Steve Evans, Germany Schaefer and many other ball players have gained fame by spi1ling the funny stuff, but Alt rock, in the opinion of most fans, stands at the head of the list or there abouts. These gentlemen who are seeking to bring about closer relations between the United States and the South American republics needn't ~ expect any sympathy or aid from Sam Lang ford, and his pugilistic accomplices of the ' Argentine invasion. Thamuel thays that Thouth America is-well, Sans vocabulary. although rather limited, includes many words which can't be printed in family newspa- per, and Sam used all of 'em and in vented few new ones to express his views on the Latin American ques- ton.
 Bob Edgron of the New York Even ing World. recently devoted two col umns to proving that the present crop of boxing champions are not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath with the old timers. But, as Rube Goldberg says. they all look good when they're far away
 Connie Mack has evidently soured on college talent and is now intent on building up his new machine with minor league material. Mack has been very fortunate in the past in tions of higher learning. but the rab- bits foot has evidently quit working. While many of the diamond stars have been rah-rah boys, compara- lively few get by in the big show with out minor league experience. The big leaguers may sheer at the bushes" and the "sticks," bit it is a safe bet that the great majority of the stars of tomorrow are now to be found in the minors, and not in the halls of learning.