Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-24
YANK SCOUTS TURN :,
THE LAUGH AROUND
Six Regulars Are Found in Sup
ply of Ivory New York Bush
Beaters Dug Up.
OTHERS STILL PROSPECTS

good deal OF DanteTnG because OF
their plunger into the player market,
and Captain Til HWston himself ad-
mitted that several minor league
clubs took advantage of the new
ness" OF himself and Colonel Rup.
pert in base ball 10 sting them for
good sums, but now. with all the pur-
chases of the first year OF the new
Yankee administrator summed up,
Secretary Harry Sparrow OF the club
thinks the percentage OF peaches over
lemons was pretty high and says he
! hopes the rockies gathered in this fall
will do as we'll proportionately as
those taken on a year ago.
Sparrow points out that six OF the
rockies dug up by Joe Kelly and his
assistants in 1915 won regular berths
in their first full season on the club,
The sextet includes Outhelder Frank
Gilhooiey, Catcher AL Walters and
Walter Alexander and Pitchers
! George Mogridge, Urban Shocker and
Allen Russell. Three other players,
Outhelders Elmer Miller and Tim
Hendryx and Pitcher Finer Love, are
regarded as splendid prospects who
! may be of considerable worth to the
club next season.
The other ptchers-Bill Percy,
Dan Tipple and King Brady-were
let out on options. They may come
through. Piercy, who is only 20years
old was regarded as one of the real
finds in Macon last spring. He was
farmed out to Salt Lake City primar-
lily to get additional experience.
Spent $4,000 on Players.
In their efforts to build up the Yam
KEGS the club spent $4,000 for seven
teen minor league players, which does
not include the players purchased
from Harry Sinclair of the Federal
leagues player exchange-Magee.
Cullop and Gedeon. Sparrow says
the six men who won regular Jobs
could be sold for more than $4,000
today. "Walters would bring $25,000
alone. Russell, although inclined to
be erratic, is in great demand" said
Sparrow. Captain Huston recently
remarked: "Just as soon as we talk
trade with any club they all want
Russell"
OF the seventeen players taken
south last spring, only FIVE look as
though they might be failures. Mar
kle looked like real conner until he
refused to listen to advice. THAT boy
had the makings of great pitcher,
but he will have to start all the way
up from the bottom again." remarked
4 Cap Huston recently.
Moose Brown, quaint character
who was purchased for $l,5O0 from
Topeka, failed to hold on because of
his eccentricities. He looks like a
great player in the minors, but does
not know how to act in the big
leagues. He went so well with Har-
risburg last season that Connie Mack
tried him out in the fall, but Connie
already has shipped him to Baltimore.
Ford Meadows, college left-hander
from Richmond, was the real bloomer
of the 1915 minor league crop. How
ever, the Yankees suffered no loss in
the return Of this player. The agree
ment under which Meadows was pur-
chased had stipulation which said
if Meadows did not make good the
Yankees had an option on any other
player on the club. They took Bank
ston, one Of the leading outhelders in
the international league last year, and
player for whose release Dunn could
have obtained from $4,000 to $1,000.
! Two other youngsters-Hal Cable,
who did good work last season in
Newark, and Outfelder Layden, were
picked up at low cost and were never
given serious attention.
Calls it Successful Scouting.
II do not feel like Dragging" said
Sparrow, but | feel confident no club
in the history of the game ever had
such success in picking out minor
league players. But for injuries our
young players would have given us a
pennant winner in their first year.
However. we did not derive such a
high average OF successful recruits by
picking players at random. We had
four scouts combing the country in
1915 and they did not recommend a
player for purchase or draft until lie
had been watched sometimes for
weeks. Then we seldom bought un-
til at least two men passed their opin-
ion on player"
Sparrow says he recalls a year
when he went south with McGraw
and the Giants took south almost as
many youngsters as did the Yankees
last spring. "They were the most
awkward looking lot you ever saw
in your life, and McGraw would
groan whenever he could stop laugh
ing" said Harry. Not one of those
birds ever was heard of after that
J training camp. Call it luck, or what
ever you like. but our success with
our young players indicates that if
you start to build up a club in a real
scientific manner and are willing to
spend the money you can bring out
the results you are working for"
TT