Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-09
CAN F. BAKER
COME BACK? HE
IS, RICE SAYS
Home Run King Lands on
Two That Settle EX-
listing Doubts
FINGERS STILL SOR E
BY GRANTLAND RICE

MACON Ga, March o. -- The vital
| spark. gentle reader, is still there. The
! old flame in the batting orb Is still
| blazing. You may be in doubt as to
/ whether there Is u war In Europe OF
whether money makes valuable pos
session, hut II you desire one truth that
is selfcvidcnt and beyond all rcbuttal
YOU can stand by this, viz: "John Frank.
lin Baker can hit
Fate stacked the cards against the
Home Run King yesterday, which makes
his debut the more impressive. For a
year he has 4een out Of big league
harness. dabbling with the succulent cab.
baEe and the porous squash
lie reported with the index finger of
his right hand mashed, painted and
swathcd until 1t resomblcd Dreaded
veal outlet more than "A human talon
This accident, the result Of a loE-rolling
party. must have made bat gripping a
painful affair
lie started on n day cold aud cutting
enough to freeze the cyeballs of an Eski-
mo, in the whirl Of wind that hummcd
aud whistlcd from the'red clay hills down
through the valleys and out across the
field. It was no day for baseball not
even for those who had built up their
vitality through two weeks work
And for the first time Donovan worked
in order four of his rcEulars-Keating
Caldwell, Fisher and Shawkey.
All this. certainly, was not picking any
rosobcd for Il star to fall upon on his first
day out. The most CarpIng of all critics
could not say the occasion had been cut
and dried for any assured triumpha de-
but.
But when his time came to bat Baker
drove two that ranged beyond outfielding
reach, out Of four times up, ana one of
these brought up against the fence with a
distinct thud. And that only starts the
story Baker, under such adverse condi.
ions might have easily been content to
merely hit and then loaf to :Oftcn himself
by degrees. Generally, the more high
priced the bric.a.braC, the more fragile it
is, The price was there in golden bulk
but there is no fragiity. gentle reader
about the first citizen of Trappc, Md.
He went to worl, with swing and
snap After batting he crClcd the bases
on par with Tie dash of MaSee and
Malsel, and between chapters he was
bunting or warming up--nlways busy
and apparently glad 10 return to a game
that had brought MIN fame and fortune
and the plaudits Of the crowd,
They will tell you that John Franklin
cares nothing for fame or acclaim You
can write that Off the list. No such
superstoic ever lived But even if 1t were
true no one can say that Baker doesn't
care for baseball. 1t is more than hrs
meat. 1t is his dessert You could scil
that by the eagerness with which hc went
10 work and by the flash Of pleasure
that crossed his face as the first clean
drive sailed on out to centre. The old
Boy wanted to feel one leave that oat
again as much rs any kid on the frst
warm day of spring.
definitely that no one could mistake it
for any fake pep. Batting ability more
than anything else develops n love of the
game, and, as we suggested before, Hav
what you want to about him, Tut d. MT
forget this-John Franklin Baker can hit.