Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-25
BY BILLY EVANS.

The career of a ma jor league ball
player is short. He jumps into the
1imelight in many cases over night and
literally passes out as quickly
l asked Connie Mack what he figured
was the average length of stay for a
big Lacquer He replied that six years
probably would be a bit better than the
average. The star must get his while
the going is good. When he hits the
toboggan he usually finds it well
creased. Being star in base ball is
hardly what it is cracked up to be.
You're the one best bet today. tomor-
row you may be an also ran
Seldom does George Robes name ap-
pear on the sport pages these days. In
1906 Robe was the most-talked-of man
in base ball. A few timely swats by him
won the worlds championship for the
Chicago White Sox. A year later he
dropped tothe minors. OF late years
ne has been forced to hustle in order to
hold his berth in the bushes.
The star is always expected to do
things. II some mediocre player wins a
game with hit or averts defeat by
wonderful catch, it is regarded as
performance out of the ordinary. If
the star does the same thing it causes
little more than ordinary mention.
Bank on Wagner.
Pittsburgh fans are always looking
Tor Wagner to hit. Gotham rooters al
ways expected Mathewson to be the
master when hit meant run. Wash
tngton fans have supreme confidence in
Walter johnson. When the star player
delivers, all is we'll. The fans think that
he is wonderful, but really do not half
appreciate his efforts 1t is when the
stars fail that tongues begin to wag. A
failure of Wagner to get safe ground
er over second, the inability of John
son, Leonard or Alexander to keep the
batter from making the hit that meant
the game are the things that always
cause plenty of comment
Larry isn't meeting the ball AS he
used to-" Cobb has fallen off" "Wag
ner isn't covering half the ground he
formerly did" Wailings of this sort
are to be heard most any time during
the summer. johnson doesn't seem to
have his old-time speed" is a common
remark in Washington. Fair weather
sailors" always like to sympathize with
losers. but they insist on going home
With winners. They applaud the hero
when he delivers, but get out the ham
mer when he fails.
Players Become Hardened.
The men actively identified with
playing are largely victims Of circum-
stances. They depend upon the favor
and patronage of the public for their
livelihood and success. Celebrities are
hero worshiped by multtudes. but
only SO long they merit praise. The
public soon weakens when they begin
to slip. Players become hardened to
this state of affairs. and treat it light
1y. l know one star who has never
DOTTED his cap in response to applause.
y hen he gets near the bench he starts
running, and is under cover before the
crowd realizes il. He says that some
day the same crowd will no doubt hiss
his efforts. and that he means to get
under cover in much the same manner.
The crowd can make or break the
athlete If it does not break him it will
cause him to become so dissatisfied that
he will be of no value to his club, al
though he may become a star with
some other team. Such occurrences
are fairly common.
Take him out. Take him out" the
favorite war cry of base ball fans the
country over. has been the turning
point in many game and many q
Career. / have heard players say they
could hear that expression in their
sleep; that often they We're awakened
from their slumbers by that most de-
spised of all expressions During the
progress Of a ball game the vocabu-
laries of fans are remarkable Rioters
say things TO the ball players and um
pires that those unfortunate individ
uals did not know were included in the
Noah Websters. What effect do these
Jeers and jibes have on the playing and