Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-31
As Mitchell Sees It.

1T is true that more boners are pulled
nowadays. and that goes for the best of
them. The bases are clogged with play
ers who look to the coacher to guide
them around the circuit Most fans in
the players are not permitted to think
for themselves. This In only partly true
fIn order to get results it becomes
compulsory for tho coacher or manager
to run the game from the side lines or
the bench. Why? Just simply because
the players. not all Of them. never had
a chance to think for themselves. They
come into the major leagues green.
equipped with good eyesight and a pair
can catch, throw and hit. but that lsts
them out. as there had not been time
enough to develop them before they broke
into fast company. These men neces-
sarily upset the play Of the more e1-
up the procession, it devolves upon one
man to run the whole show.
big salaries has a lot to do with tho
present condition Of the game. The fell
as smart as they were twenty years
ago They are better educated In tho
bargain. but big money has taken away
that enthusiasm that made the game
er, Kelly and others. There seems to be
no disgrace to pull the worst kind Of
ooner on the field. Just SO that pay day
comes regularly. The pay check Is
mightter than the base hit.
Change Is Needed.
Il am not criticising any ball player
or club in particular. but think that q
change is needed. Only a few years ago
the men used to sit around the hotel
lobby after game or on a rainy day
talking base ball, the kind which wins
games . the day after Boners pulled
cussed. The fellow who tossed q game
away through mental lapse was about
as popular with the rest as a smallpox
patient. and. believe me, 1t was rough
crates with the making of it, The man.
aser may have something to saw about
1t, but 1t ends there.
There are too many attractions for
too many automobiles, movies and 9th.
er things which distract the attention.
They are too many Investments to look
after and not enough base ball. Give
me the thinking ball player and will
stand for weak arm and a low bat.
ting average.
Now, getting down to the managers
responsibility, do not think that any
manager would like to run the whole
game from choice. but It frequently be-
comes necessary. Players do not use
the judgment they should, and il thew
overlook the tips handed out from the
base lines the blunders they sometimes
pull are srotesque. Now. in time this
we'll oiled up. The men who looked like
automatons viii become brafEy vail
players. Why? Because they have be-
come seasoned. and not because they
were brainless in the first place"
Wants Cubs to Think.
Manager Mitchell hopes to have his
ball players think for themselves. II
may take a long time, but he is op-
tinistic. Every other manager would
rather have it that way. Christy Math-
the base running of the Reds has been
the joke of the league. Manager Row.
land of the Sox would like to sit back
and watch his men do the right thing
at the right time: Apparently that time
Is long way off. Jimmy Callahan at
men never caught up. and he lost his
job. Fielder Jones has had a similar
experience at st. Louis. Stallings in
vented the word ''stonehead" The
appeiiation. McGraw tried to make a
second Orioie team out of the Giants
ard gave it up. Instead he turned to
brute strength and speed and found
that II paid better.
Nilhert Robinson. teammate of Mug.
Sy and mentor for the Dodgers. discov-
cred last year that the only way to the
pennant was smuggling and the straight
~"ad II HI: and run. Had he relied on
the str"sesy os the old Baltimore team.
he Athletics of four and five years ago.
fh. FEoI1s Of quarter Of a century
since. the CUBS under Chance and the
Red sox Of last year, he probably would
have finished somewhere in the secon4