The Washington herald., 1917-04-08

| Why, Lon Griff amt so aged. F1gurin
by tn calendar I'd put him somewhere
in tn early 4Gs. but judgin' by the Arm
| ness of his grip. tn clearness of his eye.
! an tn color of his cheek he could easily
go register for a young buck O. 30.
! U course. baseball managers. like great
/ actresses are in tn limelight so much.
an are referred to so often that folks
naturally put 'em down as much older
than tn years they are totin'. Take
! Lillian Russell. fr' instance. No doubt
/ u you'd ask her age of some rooster"
! who wasn't aware of tn fact that tn
once famous beauty is right now, in tn
very prime of her life, he'd Immediately
| below out, "Oh, I guess she's about 49,
/ Time an tide wait for no man, lad. so
! when outstandin' celebrities are contin-
ually in tn public eye they have to suf-
| fer tn consequences.
! Grin's been in tn game a long while,
some IS years all told. but was nothin'
! more'n a kid when he first cut loose
I from Bloomingdale. ILL.,, where he begun
| his professional career an hitched up
1 with tn famous old Chicago National
| League outfit under tn management of
| Adrian Constantine Anson. tn then peer
| less leader Of 'em all He was born in
| Missouri, but says he amt responsible in
any way for Gum Shoe Biz Stone.
+; Twas in tn year 1893, when tn Windy
! CITY was stagin' her great Worlds Fair,
that tn Old Fox fully broke in, an with
tn town overfiowin' with 'hoochy-
coochy" dancers an tn ball club chock-
o'-blOck with such No. ! kidders as Bad
Bill Dahlen, Jimmy Ryan, big Bill
I Lange. Walter Wilmot. an babes OF
that type, it took mighty nervy kid TO
even make tn application.
| Gracious. Lon. that only seems like
yesterday! Grover Cleveland was our
Chief, Kaiser Bill was even then havin'
l.aTN
creasin' his army, Amos Ruse vas tn
idol O. Moo York. Charlie Comiskey was
still playin' in Cincinnati Johnny Nc
Graw an tn famous Orioles was just
gettin' into shape, Tn Black Crook. She,
an Ali Barba were packn' tn shoe
houses. Edwin Booth had just died. Mar
Gus Days great horse. Tammany. had
made ILamplighter look foolish. such
grand thoroughbreds as Domino, Dob
bins. an His Highness were only baby
racers. an'-but let's back to our meat.
There were twelve clubs in tn National
League that season. but Chicago was
so vitality interested in tn success of
her big exhibition her club finished in tn
ruck. Boston winnin' OF as she pleased
an our own liz Washingtons. with such
notable old gentlemen as Radford, Hoy.
| Wise, O'Rourke. Larkin. Farrell. Sulli-
van. Al Maui. Esper. an Jouett Meekin,
pulled up at tn finish one miserable
twelfth
Griff only pitched few games for Chi
Cago that year. but showed Cap" An
son enough to be held on TIL team, an
startin' tn next season. twirled such
grand ball for eight consecutive years
that he was rated as one Of tn truly
great pitchers of th' old organization.
In 1901 he saddled up with Charlie
Comiskey an done sterlin work for th'
Chicago White Sox tn first year tn
American League expanded. an had a
whole lot to do with that bunch winnin'
tn pennant.
By this time tn Old Fox had not only
proved his mettle as star pitcher but
was fast bein recognized by tn baseball
public one OF tn comm mon OF tn
game. so. in 1903 when Ban johnson an
them back OF tn American League de-
cided to invade tn sacred precincts OF
tn Moo York Joints" they selected
Clark Grifith to lead TIL invasion, sur
rounded him with a al-star cast. gave
him big roll o. 'kale." an told him
to make good.
I have always claimed that Grir did
make good under tn conditions. for. be-
lieve me. lad. he was sure up against
1t. He brought his team in fourth tn
first season out. an tn following year.
by tn toughest turn O. luck ever seen
in my life. was nosed out by a wart
when he had tn rag cinched. Boston
turnin' tn trick tn last day OF tn
season.
He was etcrnally confronted with nasty
opposition in Manhattan, SO when his
own players commenced TO form cliques
an dissensions arose. he gave up tn
struggle an beat 1t for Cincinnati which
only goes to show that both leagues had
great respect for tn scrappy ill., leader.
This was in 1905. after five years in Moo
York.
Many had tried in TIL town on tn
Rhine. but none had come over
An as poor liz Grifr didn't even speak
tn native languidge he never had look
in. Sc after fiddlin' around there for two
or three seasons he packed up his grip
sack an come on down here.
Well you know what he's done for this
Spotless Town Literally showed It on
tn baseball map. an as he told me tn
other day. that while he amt maxim no
!, predictions TO who will yank down tn
Bon-Bon. he's gonna make tn bunch
that beats him know they've been racin'
He says he's got a fine crowd O. snappy,
aggressive, clean-livin' young ball play
ers. all anxious an willin to give their
hest to tn club. an while he amt quite
decided just how they'll line up, he feels
certain that tn stuff Is there an with
a Ill swltchin' about he'll soon get tn
combination.
When I asked him what effect tn war
would have on tn game his bushy eye
brows knitted an he handed me this:
''rh' war will help baseball in TIL long
run, as It WILL not only give tn folks a
chance to let out their pent-up emotions,
but will prove to tn American public
what fine, patriotic crowd Of young
fellows are connected with tn great ma
tional game. There is not a player IN
baseball today who wouldn't gladly lay
down his life for tn country he loves.
an. believe me, they won't have to be
told twice should TIL occasion require it.
We are all tickled to death to get TIL
} chance to learn something about military
trainin'. an as ball players have to be
in good physical condition to follow their
calm I'm not bra ggin' when 7 say that
no set of men in any business or pro-
fession will be better able to answer TIL
call of duty should their services be
needed.
PERSONALLY, I'd like to see one great
parade of fans at the opening, headed by
my boys, an when everybody had ar
rived at tn grounds have tn old band
strike up an let all hands Join together
In one mighty chorus singin' tn Star
Spangled Banner until 1t was heard over
t.