The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-09-22
$40 Il II 8
THINK
FOR BALL PLAYERS
Modern Players Called Mere Pu-
pills With Mechanical skin;
Men Too Timid 80.

When Judge Kenesaw Landis, in n
little baseball talk at business mems
luncheon, said there was something
lacking in the national diversion this
year he rendered verdict from which
there is no appeal. Tut the learned
judge admitted that he did not know
what was the difference between the
baseball of today and that of a few
ears ago. The explanation us ex.
perts who have Investigated the situa,
ticn find, is due to a radical change in
the mental attitude of the bali player
toward the game. 80 - y +
The majority Of ball players today
are mere puppets of greater or less me.
Chanical skin, trained by miseuided
tutors, principally in. the minor leagues,
to lot somebody else attend to an the
mental parts Of baseball a..a r., T..
Managers TO Blame w.. ,qss
The managers, some of them, ar,
largely TO blame for this condition.
They have assumed so complete control
of the play that some of them expect
even the pitchers TO take their orders
from headquarters on almost every bah
pitched. This was n surprising state
of affairs TO me, but IL is true on one
major league team. The manager ac-
tually instructs the pitcher what to de.
liver every time in pinch.
Naturally the average ball player,
pitcher or batsman, does not object to
this, because il removes ull responsi.
bility from his own shoulders and the
manager Is the only one to blame il
things break wrong. Consequently the
majority of players have come to de-
pend almost completely on the boss for
instructions in every sort of condition.
atsman Watches Boss
If you don't believe it, watch the
batsman at the plate anG see how often
he glances cOvertly or openly at the
bench between pitches to see IL there
is any sign hung out there by the man.
ager. Lots of people wonder why il Is
necessary for the batsman TO step out
Vt his box so often, with apparently no
ether purpose than to increase thu
amount of dirt on his hands by rubbing
hem in the sand. But if you watch
his face instead Of his hands you will
'CtiUe that he is looking for ipStruc.
tion6 from the bench. And when n
hatsinnn s natural position at the plate
makes him turn his back to his own
bench he has to step out o. the box or
look over his shoulder for orders.
There are exceptions, of course, he.
cause there still are players in the big
leagues who got their schooling when
they were expected to do a lot Of their
own thinking and take the initiative in
heir own hands frequently. They still
do that if they are\ on teams whose
viduality. There are also managers
who want their players to think and
act for themselves in emergencies, but
some Of them are compelled to give in.
structions because their own players
dom u want to risk deciding for them.
selves what to do.
Many Players Too Timid
But for every player who is willing
to do his own thinking in critical
position, and take the blame or credit
for doing it, there are dozens who are
too timid or uncertain of themselves by
force of habit to make the first guess
and abide by the results.
Not so many years ago, when Judge
"SNN W w pdil
games for the zest and sparkle there
was in them, the average manager was
merely director general. The playing
of the game was in the hands of his
men, and he depended on them to do
most of their own thinking. The man
ager decided some of the major points
for instance, what style of attack to
use under certain conditions; but If q
player switched that style suddenly in
an effort to cross the opposition the
manager did not roast that player,
even if the play went wrong That was
why the games were full Of so many
surprises. There were u lot of men do.
ing their own thinking and each try,
ing to outwit the other,
Only Two Do Thinking
Today, as rule, there are only two
men in game doing any thinking to
amount to anything, and usually those
two men are not "in the gam" active
ly. They are the managers, and each
is trying to Outwit the other almost
single handed. Whether he does or not
I depends altogether on his puppets, aud
some of them are so mocha meal that
they tip off the managers orders SO
plainly that you can see what 3 coming
a mile away
The big difference in baseball now
and ten years ago was aptly but un'
consciously illustrated by Manager
Tinker of the Cubs. In discussing the
trade of Schultz and Fischer for VIII
son and expressing his regret at having
to give up Schultz to strengthen his
weak catching staff the Cub pilot re
marked:
son the old Cub team, you remem
Der, we used to think, Schultz the slow
est thinker we had. Today Schultz /,
one of the wisest men in the oooue.
Tinker explained that he did moi
mean Schultz had. improved us muct
AZ that in ten years, but that by com
parison he had risen from a player WIZ
was thought to be lacking in initiative
into a player who did more thinking