The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-30
By HANS WAGNER

D1d you ever see a guy ike Snou- 1 grass who could always throw the | ball to the wrong base and get some | body?'
 There are hard losers who can sup press their feelings in the bitterest of moods. McGraw may chatter and 1 sputter and josh the opponent during game, but the way he bore the two | toughest blows ever suffered by manager is worthy of considera ton. Two unfortunate plays killed his work in two seasons. I have been told of McGraW's ride home from Boston the night following that tough huff. A New York newspaper man, in telling ! me about it, said
 He was great in defeat, as he was in victory. It probably was the toughest break of his life, but he sat | in his car seat and chatted pleasantly with his old arch -enenly, Ban Johnson, as though no such thing had happened | as the loss of a worlds championship in the twinkling of an eye.' , l need only take my thoughts back to Sunday, October i, 1908, to know how McGraw really felt at heart, for, l as I pointed out in the beginning, a i born winner is a hard loser. On that day We stood to win or lose pen | nant and we lost. The day before was l Clarke's birthday and our position was | such that if we won from the Cubs | next day we would cinch the flag, but l by losing we were eliminated, leaving l it up to the play-off between Giants and Cubs
 TRIED TO LAND PENNANT Well, we hoped to land Clarke a pen- nant for birthday present, but Jack 1 Pfeister beat us to in one of the 1 toughest battles I have ever been in l or seen. I might add one alibi in that we were at a frightful disadvantage ! in playing that game on the Chicago grounds. The outfield crowds behind 1 the ropes did their work well that day 1 but the crowd is a part of the game, and l am not such a hard loser that l am going to grieve any more about I that fateful October Sunday. But l remember how we sat dazed l in the clubhouse long after the game. We had come up from behind won derfully that year and to lose it all in an afternoon was a grief that was l hard for the most stoical to bear. The l wild joy in the Chicago clubhouse con- l trasted pitiful1y with the gloom in ! ours. I remember seeing one or two teardrops in the eyes of some of our younger fellows, but can you blame 1 them? Before the game certain man bought two railroad tickets. One called for Kansas and the farm; the other | for Pittsburg and the worlds series. 1 Two hours after the game sum tanned Kansan planked himself in the I cushions of a Pullman chair and gazed 1 sorrowfulIy out of the window. l The man was Fred Clarke, one of l the hardest losers that ever looked at a l ball game He had lost it all in two | hours, but the other passengers did | not know that he was anything other than what he looked-a prosperous | Kansas farmer without a care o1 worry.
 Some people can take a sudden bad break quite philosophically and make | a joke out of misfortune, and perhaps l that is the best thing. Claude Hendri2 ] was pitching great ball for us one l day in Philadelphia. For seven innings he had not been scored upon. In the eighth, with two men on bases and | two out, Luderus hit tap toward the | pitcher. Hendrix took hold of the wei | side of the ball and threw, but not te the bag The ball slipped from his ! grasp, took a wide angle. and like 6 | shot went clear from the pitchers box and hit the right field fence with g l bang. Both runners scored. Hendri2 stood dazed and as red as a beet, star l ing at the fence.
 ''Fine stuff"' I said disgustedly tc l him, as l walked over and slammed
 my glove at his feet in disgust. "rhere | goes our game"
 1 'T know" he said reflectively, still ewing the spot where he had hit the 1 fence, "but what did you think of thai peg?"
 TALE ON HUB PERDUE ] Hub Perdue lost a game to us one ! day about four or five years ago fol ] which he always kicked himself IT
 the tailend days of Boston the Tennes- | sean generally beat us One day dur 1 ing batting practice in Hubs last days
 with the Boston club, Fred Clarke hi
 a liner off Perdue that went to the | fence.
 Nice hit, Fred" yelled Hub. "You ought to get back in the gaIue.' ; "Oh, I would get back if they were al
 like you," llidded Clarke
 You ain't ever got but one hit in youl life off me, and your brother Jack got iyou that one,' shot back Hub. Perdue then told of having filled tht
 bases one day with Fred Clarke up ant
 Josh Clarke running in from left fielt
 and whispering:
 'Thow him a curve on the inside
 And l fell for the brother act" sighed Hub, shaking his head. T broke tha
 curve just as Brother Josh suggested, ant I think that ball is going yet
 | Hard losers are not confined to the men in uniform. Some magnates tak' every game and every play very mucf
 
 Two men who are especially eager to VII are Dreyfuss and Comiskey, though suppose that all the rest of the owner! cherish a fondness for victory.
 l never hear tale about the bases ful that I don't recall a funny one in con
 rcction with Albert c'Lefty'D Leifield
 the former Pirate left-hander. The keer desire of Barney Dreyfuss to win bal
 games is known everywhere, and abov'
 all in the bygone years he loved to bea New York. One day Leifield had helC
 the Giants in fine manner for eight in
 ninss, but a hit, an error and wall filled the bases for the Giants in th'
 ninth with two men out.
 Lefty cooly forked two strikes ove
 on Arthur Devlin. It looked little bet
 ter from the Pittsburg point of view
 But unfortunately Lefty then bounced
 enc off the New York third baseman
 shoulder and forced in the winning run
 From the clubhouse window we coul'
 see Mir. Dreyfuss fighting and elbow'nl
 his way through the dispensing crowds
 He headed straight for the clubhouse am
 hammer ed violently on the door, whic
 was opened for him. Singling out Leifiel from the perspiring Buccaneers, he shoo
 his first ang-ily and cried:
 | "Hey, Lefty, next time you want 10 hl
 anybody with the ball with three on il
 the ninth hit me-
 COSTELLO A "GOAT-GETTER''
 There are times in the life of deter
 n-inod player when such little thin
 as base-hit will prove the greatest o
 mortal joys, and it is tough when til
 wish is not gratified. Dan Costello, tn
 Pirate "goat-getter" secured the goat
 of Erskine Mayer of the Phillies quit
 often last season. but the Quaker pitche
 turned the tables on Dan one day Whe
 Costello came up in pinch.