Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-01-07
BOYS FROM SMALL TOWNS
BEST B|C-LEACUE TALENT
City Boy Has Many Advantages, but
Is Initiative, Rather Than
Thoughtful.
MUCH MATERIAL FROM SOUTH
Lads From Southern States Shining
Brilliantly as Maior-Lcague Stars.
and Are Among Most Original
Players-E;rginia Furnishes Two.

d
good in the big leagues?
I u is question: that more than one
close follower OF the national game
has asked himself ~ his fricnds on oc-
casions without number: yet query
/ that, up to recent weeks. has received
/ few satisfactory answers.
1 II is recognized that the city boy has
\ number of advantages over his rural
/ brother in that he has more frequent
\ opportunities OF seeing the big fellows
| in action and in securing the chance
| of aping their style. Furthermore. lie
/ has "a Il general thing. more time to
! give 10 tho sport and quite often
I the advantages OF personal instruction
(, from professional players who are
I coaching school or college teams
/ Eut somehow. the country player Is
,hs one that sticks in the big leagues
aud generally is the boy who gets the
first chance. There arc several times
/ rrcrc lads playing baseball on tho
sandlots OF the larger cities than ever
toss y ball around on the small town
| lots or the farm meadows. Still. by
| far the greater number OF major
! League stars are Earncred from tho
small towns towns that were unheard
| OF until some hoy broke into the ma
jors with terrific swatting or sensa-
tionai fielding or pitching.
| The reason generally recognized for
this condition is obtained from the
| That sounds rather peculiar. but,
| nevertheless. those who consider tile
proposition closely have reached just
| that conclusion.
They of the opinion that tho
| city boy plays the game in i, style
| initiative OF that used by tho players
| h. secs most frequently. The style
! not always ia the best and that hurts
! him. But the system has this great
disadvantage for the city lad lie gets
ia tho habit OF initiating. he loses his
/ individuality mud his play becomes au-
| tomato rather than thoughtful lie
rises to a certain proficiency in field
| ing and batting: but, due to the fact
J that he always has initiated other
| players. he loses amy tendencies for
individual play that he might have de-
| vcloped had he relied upon his own
initiative rather than following the
style used by some older player.
The rural lad, on the other hand. for
the most part plays the game AS his
common sense dictates. lie thinks it
out for himself and he acts as he
thinks. quite often he is wrong. ac-
cording to the rules that govern play
In the major organizations, but he has
learned the lesson OF thinking, and IL
has become = habit. His manager is
able TO point out his mistakes, and
the boy. aided by his own partially
developed brain, corrects them and of
ten improves on the suggestion given
him.
Develops thinking Habit.
lie generally has developed the habit
Of thinking quickly long before he
reached 4 big league camp and he con-
tinucs TO practice it. That accounts
for the fact that boys from the smaller
towns often make unusual plays. such
as cobb for instance. They perform
the unexpected, or. more truthfully.
they outgeneral their opponents. Ii IS
- Ia, hal
these days and students % the game
believe that small town boys arc more
adept in turning their garrets to their
advantage than are the boys from
larger cities
Whether this idea as to the cause OF
the situation is correct. the situation
nevertheless obtains. Several OF the
leading hittcrs and pitchers OF the two
major leagues are listed below. aud.
with few exceptions. they arc natives
Of small towns, showing the prepond-
GRANGE OF small town lads making goou
with the top-notch ball clubs of the
nation.
To give sound basis for the argu-
tneut that the small towns furnish
most of the nations best baseball tai
ent there Is appended list giving the
birthplaccs OF many OF the foremost
players III the game TO day. There
are more than thirty names listed here
and only nine of these players are ma
tives Of large cities. Among the cities
rcnres,ptod ,ro t,ichmnnI In,,i,,,no
~ ,-, ,,i,'
80 -.
lanta and Pittsburgh.
Here is the list:
American League batters--Cobb ODE
troit. Royston. Ga; Collins lChicago).
Millerton, y. y. Speaker tClevetand).
Hubbard city, Ten: Mclnnis uhiladcl-
phia). Gloucester, Mass. jackson tchl-
cago), Brandon Mills. ). C.: Pratt tSt.
LOUIS, Walhalla. =. e.; Baumann New
York;. Indianapolis, md; Milan
tWashington), Linden, Tenn.
American League ptchcrs--poc
Ayers eva shington), Hilsvills. Va;
Joe Eoehling CClevcland). Richmond.
i Va: Joe Wood tBoston) Kansas CITY
/ No.: Walter Johnson tWashington1.
/ Humboldt, Kan: Jim Scott jt'hiSarot
4 Dcadwoui s. D.: Ray Fisher CScw
/ York. Middlebury vi. C;uy Morton
4 (Cleveland). Vernon Ala; * r. WsiI.
man ,St. LOUISE. Hamilton. o.: II. cove
leskie lDetroiD. Shamokin. Ia: j. W.