Evening star., 1916-03-12
STAR PLAYERS SELDOM SEEK
AN ALIBI FOR THEIR WORK
Leading Players Rarely Try to Cover Up
at the Expense Of Some One Else
When They Err.

show pepper and aggressiveness of the
right sort has much better chance
| as rule than the player who accepts
every ruling without a word. A player
adds no strength to a team when he
| is chased to the clubhouse or has to
sit out a suspension in the grand
stand. The day of that style of ag-
| gressiveness is past. 1t is costly to the
| owner. club and patrons, for often
I they are deprived of seeing the player
who attracted them to the park. The
modern manager wants the player who
/ can be aggressive, yet do ii in way
that escapes the wrath of the umpire.
Johnny Evers is one of the few really
! great players who are in constant hot
water with the umpires. Evers has just
one thing strongly in his favor in this
| respect-his kicks are actually from
| the heart. not actuated by a desire to
alibi. Evers is one of the greatest
players of all times, reputed to be one
of the brainiest infielders in the his
| tory of the game. yet he is unable to
see the error of his way in his attitude
| Evers personally. ] am told that he
| is a mildmannered individual off the
field, but on the ball field he is a raging
| torrent when all the breaks as well
as the umpire's rulings appear to be
| going the wrong way. Evers kicking
| has that one good feature. it is not the
alibi sort: simply the nature of the man
when in the heat of battle.
! OF the modern ball players Johnny
Evers and Eddie Collins stand out
prominently. They are credited with
| being the two greatest second base
| men in the game. Arguments galore
/ have been caused by discussion of the
relative merits of the two stars. There
| is little to choose between the field
| ing. Collins is the better batsman. and
! on the bases also shows to advantage.
| Both have far more than the average
amount of gray matter. and clubs on which
= tln1- nl- in, ri. hi lnnl IN
| to direct the play. Evers made a great
| team out of the Boston Braves-in fact.
| played big part in turning second
division club into pennant winner and
a world champion. Eddie Collins put
an awful crack in the Athletics when
Mack sold him to Chicago. He proved
just the man needed to round out Co
miskey's club and make it strong
contender.
Comparing Two Great Stars.
In most respects these two players
are similar and practically equal. yet
in one respect they are entirely differ
ent in their attitude toward the UNI
pire. Evers is aggressive. so is Collins.
although great many fans do not re-
gard him as that type Of player. Evers
with his fiery temper can protest only
in way that aggravates the official.
and results in his election. Collins can
register an equally strong protest. yet
do it in such a way that he gets con-
sideration rather than hasty election.
In all his career Collins has never been
put out of a ball grounds. while Johnny
has been given the gate in so many
cont tests that he has probably quit
keeping track of his Punishment long
time ago. In good many cases, trou-
BILE with the officials means three-day
suspension. often much longer time.
1t is almost impossible to compute the
great value of such wonderful players
as Evers and Collins to team in the
fight for the pennant- They are al
most absolutely essential.
In that one feature of play Collins
has a decided and distinct advantage
over Evers. He Is always in the game.
giving his club his very best efforts
Evers does the same when in the game.
but Johnny is often playing the role
of spectator because of his failure to
see things as the judge of play did.
Taking Collins and Evers from the
game is just like taking the leading
man from a play. in which much of its
success depends on the acting of the
star. Unquestionably the Boston club
which would have been won had Evers
been in the lineup.
Collins comes from the school OF Con-
ME Mack Macks theory is that no
a pennant by fighting the umpires. He
insists that clubs that spend their en-
ergy in fighting the opposition invari-
ably get much better results. Mack
figures that any time a star sta % player
only himself an injustice. but also his
teammates. the club owner. his league
and the patrons. many of whom per
great success Mack has had during his
long career. makes it appear that he
employs the proper methods.
Copyright. 1915 by W. G. Evans.)