The sun., 1918-08-11
DOUGHBOY BATTERS
USE CRUDE CLUBS
Wooden Legs and Fence Pick
cts Add Gayety to Baseball
Games.
FRENCHY STANDS IN AWE
Special Correspondence to TIE Sos.

threatened to be serious famine in
baseball bats among the members OF
the American Expeditionary Force In
FRANCE has been averted. The national
game IL expected to flourish as the
green bay tree. The athletic depart
Hent OF the Y. NJ c. A. has solved the
problem and Is now able TO assure the
military Ty Gibbs and iris Speakers.
that there will be no further dearth of
ash material
This does not mean that men are to
neglect the ordinary preca utions OF hold
Ing the graia the right wny. Nor are
they to be encouraged to use the sticks
for h~ewood. But with reasonable con-
servation everything wifi be all right.
The Red Triangle folks found when they
first started to boom baseball in France
that 1t was not only impossible to buy
any considerable number OF bats IN
France. but that the French wood turn
ers hadn't any idea Of how to make
them. A hurry call was sent to the
United States to ship some, but II
seemed that the bats acted as sort
OF loads;one toward German submarines
and that every ship carrying them
sought a cool, soft spot on the bottom.
The supply finally got 30 low that
the Y. NJ. C. A. realised It was a case
OF teaching the Frenchmen to turn out
bats or getting along without them. The
alternative could not be accepted. Tho
rules require that every man who goes
to the plate take bat with him as a
part of his feld equipment.
or course some players are Just car
rying excess baggage when they lug
a mace to the rubber. They never use
1t to any. purpose Left handed big
league pitchers. for example. could save
a lot OF time and trouble by just an
nouncing to the umpire when their turn
TO hit comes that they concede them
selves TO be out. Ruth 10 an exception,
OF course. They ought to concede him
a two Dagger every. time and thus save
wear and tear in outnelders, to say
nothing Of Hooverizing the balls.
Hail the Hitless Wonders. ..
There never was but one successful
ball club that did not use It's bats occa-
siohally for something besides sartorial
purposes. This was the Chicago Amer
lean League club OF 1906, winner OF
remnant and "A worlds championship
These White Sox were most remarkable
and their ability to win without. batting
earned them the name Of "Hiiless Won
dsrs" A base on balls and q safe bunt
constituted a batting rally for them.
and any one whose average was as much
newspapers as 'slugger' or fence
buster"
But there aren't any such clubs as
the White Sox In France. and the Amer
lean soldier insists on having a bat, 80
the Red Triangle either had to get him
one or confess Its first failure OF the
war Representatives OF the athletics
department visited woodworking fac.
tories and with tears In their eyes
pleaded with the manufacturers to dC-
plicate bats that were submitted as
models The Frenchmen. thinking that
this was some new weapon invented by
the Americans to cave In the Boche fea-
lures, said they would try. Their frst
efforts resernbed the club affected by
Jack the Giant Killer. according to the
best Illustrators. They were too heavy
for an ordinary man to lift and were
shaped Hike George Moriarty's legs. which
are 50 formed that you can tell the
ankle from the calf only by noting which
end the shoe Is on.
The Americans thanked their French
friends kindly and assured them that
as facsimiies Of the giant sequoias their
bats were excellent, but that the Yam
kee baseball rules require the fail to
be used by only one man at time.
The Frenchmen tried again, and II was
not long before they were turning out as
neat job as Louisville ever boasted
IL was found that the bats could be
made to sell for franc. which Is con-
sidera bly, less than a fair stick costs In
America. Possibly Ty Cobb might pick
, some flaws in the quality, but II Is
plenty good enough for anybody except
4 most fastidious augger. And II Is
getting better all the time. Wooden legs
and fence pckets formerly used for
home plate timber are now being dis
carded.
war does no. stop for baseball, A
large number of topnotch players are
rushed to the firing line almost every
day, but the American game thrives.
Just as soon as units are ordered to lay
down their bats and are marched of to
the more serious game new players are
thrown in and fresh mines formed to
keep the Paris Association Baseball
League running on schedule. AS sol
der rema rked one day when it looked
as IL the league were to be shot TO
pieces BY the sudden shifting OF men (:
I'VE should worry You can't XIII base
ball unless you kill all the Americans
over here"
The Association League Is n child OF
the Y. NJ. c. A. II includes thirty teams,
and has schedule of fifteen games for
every Sunday up to the middle of Sep
TENDER Eight games are played at one
time. II boy has his troubles seeing
everything at a three ring circus. imag-
inc the plight of hard boiled fan trying
to drink in eight games for the price Of
one admission.