New Britain herald., 1916-03-14

which we wont-the first official act would be to sign one of three men, if they were available at the time. many Schaefer, Mic Altrock and Steve i Evans.
 Strain Breakers. l These are the three greatest later ] day fun makers of baseball. Not that baseball is a frivious frothy sort of sport. It isn't. It is profession series enough to take care of the llvelihoods of over 10000 men and to furnish recreation to over lo,- 100000 men, women and children. i :, But it is the strain of the game, the tenseness of it at critical mo- nents, that makes the presence of fun maker or a strain breaker worth while
 1 NIcGrav's Foresight. ] No one has ever yet accused John J. McGraw of treating baseball in a nippant fashion, of regarding his same as unimportant. Baseball to McGraw is about the most serious oc- cUpa ation on earth. But, if you will re call the circumstances, McGraw is enc of the first managers to bring 1T. fun making help. He first had Arlie Latham and later on, where almost any other manager in the world would have discarded Charlie Faust McGraw saw breaking possibilities in the tall Nut, and kept i him with the club to the end of the ] campaign, as the finish that year had E gotten upon the nerves of the club until some form of relaxation was needed.
 Great Help. i How can humorists or fun makers such as Schaefer, AltroclS or Evans help a pitcher throw, a batsnan to Lat or fielder to catch a ball? Very definitely
 Take man like Schaefer In the first place, he keep ~~ eternal good humor. He has buoyancy- that rises above any of the small troub that come along and philosophy that keeps the larger troubles to Himself
 ~ He is a rare mimic and is possessed of unusual wit. He has the faculty r1 getting a laugh--one of the rarest fa culties in the universe. Three or four men on the club may be enmesh cd in a bad hitting streak and through this develop decided de pression of the soul. They cant get their minds away from their batting tr oublcs, and constant breeding over this only intensifes the fault. Enter Schaefer, exuding an atmos- phere of geniality and good humor Some funny uuip fellows-some high class piece of mimicry, and a laugh follows. Tn a few minutes the player has forgotten his worry for the time being, anyway, with his mind attract cd to lighter side of life. The result is sure to be beneficial and to be of great aid to tho entire club.
 Any detail which can make the morbid forget for 9 while. the run of troubles and depressing things about is certain to help lift or help break the strain which follows. And yet with all this, Schaefer takes base ball seriously, and is as sore over a home club defeat as any other mem 1 Der of the squad. But he is merely wise enough to know that you cant win with your head down and your heart wrapped in crepe. An atrnos- l rhere of gloom is no place to start great enterprises.
 Variety
 An Evers temperament is a great 1 aid to ball club. But if every mem Der of the squad was an Evers there would be an explosion big enough to blow up the grandstand in about 1 twelve minutes.
 But one or two Scha efers mixed in l would settle the atmosphere and pre- vent war.
 Not New. The fun maker on the ballfield is no new institution. In the old days 1 the business of being king was even 1 1 n nal times.
 1 The king then was under heavy l strain, with eight or ten Feds plan ming to break up his league and un- horse him on sight. So, to keep from going stale, one of the first things a king did, according to the comic 1 operas and poets, was to hire, rent or sublet a jester. It was the business of this jester to array himself in cap and bells and the rest of it and jerk japeries. or bat out bon mots until the jaded monarch was holding his siGcs with merry laughter. Jester to the King was considerable job in the old days, and the Jester frequently was also the wisest and saddest man at court It is no easy task to entice the guffaW at so much per gulf.
 Present Crop.
 There are only a few real fun makers now in the game. The three leaders are, as stated, Schaefer, AL trock and Evans. But Sherwood 1 Magee isn't far behind these three. In the old days King Kelly always had the right phrase for the crowd, and his keen wit brought him as much popularity as his great ball playing.
 But through all the long run of 1 baseball there have been only a few who had this knack of catching the fancy of the crowd