The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-04-05
Big League Gossip
CHRISTY MATHEWSON
Cincinnati Reds

COLOR Gail upholstered with CAPT
tnlsl Is what they want IN baseball ahc
plenty Of il.
You cant put ii on TOO heavy. as the
artist who MAS asked 10 puInt the kaiser
Remarked
Paint the kaiser" he answered.
sure, III paint him. Get me- II broom
and bucket Of ter. When l" his hrst
sitting"
ball with Il broom and not worry about
making Il too thiCk--!hlS job can DC
done rs literally and prut!igately as the
college sophomore does his when paint
ing UP the town.
color is hard To describe rs applied 10
baseball. hut il is easily discovered. Nc.
Graw has Il. Hugh Jennings has II ana
ry cobb and Charley HcrZnS and Heinl?
Zimmerman and Hal Chase and many
more. Tho old Athletics. the greatest
club rs far rs winning games vas con-
cr:ncu. ever put together, had no more
color than an oyster.
Color means money. ut the gate. II
means The clicking OF the turnsules
Gianls, Detroit. the Boston Braves. tina
old rubS, tho Cincinnati Reds tnow)
and so on. Uniforms, manners, winning
ability. style or play. AL contribute. The
Held suits OF III" old Athletics always
hur; my eyes, and have natural! J
Of an artist in this sort of thing. How
ever, when il comes 20 ball players.
consider my taste excellent Anu the 81"
Athletics. IN road uniforms that roiem-
blcd the gray green OF the (irrnIHuS for
low visibility and In spite Of their ball
playing. usually found the net prod;
column n vacuum 1T the end OF the sea-
son.
Folks. and especially the club owners,
have been complaining IN" last lew
lf -
Of the t"rnStilcS in soma q! thu parks.
nnd figured tho sellers Of the admission
paStrbuariS wcrr about us busy AS the
ticket chopper at the uptown station q!
the RrUadwI? subway IN New York nj
Two Hundred and Thirty-eighLh street.
The line on which tho last stop is Two
Hundred and F'orty-Scc"nd street
Nrauy Forces Contributed.
Many forces have recently c0ntrlbut-
ed to make big league baseball in some
ccntcrS as colnrlr$S US the bHttlcShtp
Geot in WAY paint. But the object OF the
hattl"ShlpS Is not t. attract attention
until they kiss the enemy with n siXtunn
mel. shell. as | understand il. while the
business OF baseball depends on attract
ing more or less attention.
The Giants. my alma mater, have been
rlaying I spring series with tho Detroit
Tigers in the south, and there has been
50 much color spiashinG around this rart
Of the country that two or three times
the town people thought II best and
safer To have the ambulHnCcS handy.
Most intcrnGS are baseball fans anyway.
and besides. when color gets SplashtnE
around fast and loose like il does with
jennings and MCGrnw together. aInbu-
!;Luccs are frequently required in tho
general color scheme. These were dis
appointed. but only by narrow margin.
Most spring series amount 10 no
NOR than rarly morning Gallops for
race horses except that clocking Il Big
League club in action In this sort of Il
;hInE DOES not get you any answer. But
thiS Detroit and New York irritation has
resulted IN capacity crowds. and l guess
tho resultant sugar has about paid the
:"n!r'm}; camp expenses OF both teams
already
,.uI friends orr tho field when Nc
,,raw and Jennings git together. It isn't
any spring HcricS--it's Il battle nil the
way. They AFRO both fond Of winning.
| think II was on the second day Of the
.'er!rs thnt l!erzOR and Ty Cobb had a
night IN which few fists were swung
when cobb cndeavorcd to move into sec
un1 baSr through al offensive in. which
his spikes played an important part
and Hrrzln refused 10 beat 4 strategic
retirement. Then each adopted the mo-
hilu style IF warfare. and the reserves
came mui OF their trenches on the bench
~. som" local cops. as l get IL dis
ruu"aE"d the artistic efforts TO add col
or to Ihu National game. HGrzog and
N"bb got along US vol as dynamite and
percussion caps for II time, but they
coon forgot It. They were working hard
and "colOring" the game some. l'rob%-
BIZ they played golf together Tho ne1e
morning AID shed their row with their
"Epnngics."
Couldn't Hold Crowd
Tho next DAY. however. they couldn't
get ull tho gang In il- bail park that
wanted "a witness the game. John Is.
Foster, the secretary OF the New York
club, ;lcrUrIiIEE 20 liz" lntcsi official bull
lriin&. did not complain about being ov-
crw0rknd counting the money. John
...."r kicks about counting nOn"y--un-
less IL ~ preparatory to spending It..
AM: he - pretty good about that. too.
Now ! am not advOCa ting list lights
us thu most successful manner ~ which
10 color up this grand Old. game. or
sorn.. uf Tho peace At any rr.'" baseball
folks might Dc on me. but spirit or win
ning il m" for il. anu sO!n" times the
,w!ugIn; Of Il FISH Is incidental 70 this
victorious atmosphere. baseball with
uu, color ~ n wIShod-out locking pms
Iinf and IL Us hnp"i"sS AID s!ctty III
Fearing as Il pale Mecrschaum pipe.
Nuw ! am gong 10 try to inject -rnr
Of The winning spirit Into the i!"aS. IN
fact. have been. and they seemed 10
stand IL all "ight. | VIII no. '"!l them
10 punch anybody. bc"aus" inht ia not
ner. 4ary. In fact. III try IN discour-
I.IIt fEprp b., NO