New Britain herald., 1918-03-04
M EARs % I K1 M % a %s M sM % %Gn JOE @ !E % FEATURE EAoE
PLAYERS START
 FOR TRAINING CAMP
Advance Guard Of Many Clubs
 Head Toward Balmy South

New York, March 4.-When thou sands Of our boys are in training i camps, getting ready for their big job of knocking the kaiser out of the box. the baseball training camp becomes rather tame affair if not d side iS- sue. But if. too, has it's purpose | Experiences abroad have tended to prove that "all war and no p1ayi doesn't help the morale Of the popu- ! lation hack home" Furthermore. de- spite smashups in many minor leagues and the fat that several big league4 clubs are skating on thin ice, thiBi war has brought baseball to the fore-i front as nothing else in the history of the game. Today at Hot Springs nine of tho leading members of the Giants are slated to take the haths and take light | training intended to fit them for the more strenuous work at the regular camp at Marlin later in the month. { | The New York National League team . is the first Of the big league clubs to .S start training. though the work of the i mon now at Hot Springs is supposed to he only of aa unofficial nature. During the week the battery men If { the Boston Braves will visit Stallings' plantation at HaddocE. Ga, as tfet 1 Big Chiefs guests for the purpose of ! knocking around for q week and get ting their muscles iimbereC up for the Braves training trip.
 Alexander and several other pitch- I CTS of tho Cubs also are taking ,the ! baths at Hot Springs for the pur- ! pose of getting boiled out before ac-s { foro iro, (Nhira pn rlnh l Chicago.
 Regular Training Next Week 9,
 Objection has been registered in'1 l certain sections, notably Pittsburg, tofa ! these unofficial training parties but Tener has given them his sanction, saying he looked at the visit of the Giant battery men to Hot Springs the same as though a bunch of ball play CTS went to a Northern gymnasium toa get their muscles hardened for thc training season.
 Dy another week, however, tho regular training season will be in full bloom. The first detachment of tho Yankees, headed by the new man. ager Miller Huggins, and including "A bunch of rockies. will leave here &exti Friday for Macon. The Yankee regu- lars will report at Macon on MarchH
  1 days to themselves.
 The Giant Marlin special will leave here a week from today, and despiteV the war. the trip will be one of the& most elaborate ever taken by the cl lub k Secretary Foster says that more news, paper correspondents will accompany W the club this spring than ever went on q training trip with maioT league club.
 Despite the close approach of tn training season the hold-out problenA still remains a most serious oneM More than one hundred players sti remain unsigned. Tn discussing; h hoId-outs last week Miller Huggin' the Yankee manager, made the sig nifcant remark that other clubs wer in exactly the same fix as the Yan@ kees. Huggins says two or thre F. clubs have lined up most of thei Mz men, but that the majority of club l have no more players signed than th ] Yankees and several of them not sW many.
 Most Giants in the Fold.
 The Giants are one of the few clut with practically a satisfied lineuI At present only Fletcher, Robertson Perritt and Thorpe remain as hold outs, and McGraw expects to sig ! Fletcher today and Robertson late@ in the week.
 If must be admitted that few club are pursuing the tactics of the Giant and going after their players Th general policy of the clubs appear to be mo compromise; Take 1t leave it" policy. Huggins says tn reason so many players are unslgne is that they got used to having tn clubs come after them, but with 'feN exceptions this no longer is bein done Huggins did visit Peck an intends to drop in on Plank at Gettye burg, but he will not "chase after any of the others.
 A policy of permitting unsigne players to train this season may he settle the difficulty. President Frazd of the Red SoX has announced th any unsigned players on his team " visit the training camps at their ov expense, but it is understood the Va keeS will make no such ruling. Le wear thoro was d strict order again unsicned N}ayerS being taken to trai inc cam3s but last week Tener a W ,oIIncod as far as the Nationa Toaeup was concerned. it was LTD inc individual clubs whether or n they would have unsigned players their training camps.
 While some of the leading playe max be able to arrange salary con promises with their cluh owners. frS present indications it looks as thou the players will have to surrend ------------- ----------------