The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-23
IT'S TRAINING TIME
WAY DOWN IN DIXIE
Laughable Tales of Rockies
and Regulars in Big League
Camps in South.
FAUST NO MISNOMER
-
Charley's Buffonery Kept All
Hands in Good Spirits in
Hot Springs.
FAUST NO MISNOMER
ny FREDERICK G. LIEB.
Copyright. 1919: oil rights reserved.


baseball writer, sympathixing with him
fof, being compelled to while away the
late winter in rome snug Florida or
Texan town.
Eyes, kind Of" replies the baseball
writer. "It gets pretty monotonou some
times. but what doesn't? Frequently
we have a lot of fun"
There usually is n lot Of grabbing at
training camps, kicks about the food,
the way 1t is cut. the way 1t is cooked
and the way In which II 10 ssrved,
complaints about the rooms-they either
are on the side street or around the
corner, but taking It all in all there
are worse ways Of spending q month
than at a big league training camp
In p Jail for instance.
There seldom Is a training camp that
does not have it's full quota OF humor-
GUS Incidents. Many Of the rockies are
as funny az a moving picture comedy,
especially the very green ones. picked
up from some obscure minor league town
or plucked as free agents from some OBJ
scure trolley circuit in tho middle or
far West.
Especially are they good in their flrst
few days at camp; they feel around for
the lay of the land. They don't know
whether to put on their party manners
or go right in and mix It up with the
boys. The fresh rookie who takes such
a large part in baseball fiction 10 a char
actor greatly overdrawn. Occasionally
YOU get a fresh one, chockful of conn.,
dence and ready to sass anybody who
tries to get gay with him, but on the
whole the baseball rookie II an earnest,
unobstreperous young man. minding his
own business and bent only on making
rood in the big leagues. However, fire.
quefltly he IL an unconscious humorist.
N Giant. Attract 'Em.
The New York clubs have the faculty
for drawing pests" real ~nuts' and
some others who are Just plain bugs.
Whenever one Of these baseball cranks
gets the idea that he Is a great pitcfor
or tnfielder he almost invariably wants
to Belong to the Giants. This. no doubt,
is because the Giants are the best known
club in baseball. representing a. IL does
the metropolis Of the continent
Year after year they would DRIFT into
the Giants camp at Marlin and then
drift out again. Some Of these fellows
really should not be at large. and their
cases often were moro pitiaole than
funny However. frequently these base
bail nuts" could put themselves into
the most ludicrous positions. And II Is
perhaps Q human frailty that few of us
means some of these men who mentally
are below par will go to achieve their
aims.
or all the '.nuts'' In baseball Charley
Faust, Giant mascot In 1911. Is by far
the most famous. He had a farm out
In the West somewhere and always could
get money when he wired to q brother.
He thought he was the greatest pitcher
In the world. Several times in 1911 he
A-..- MI Ax.I
st. Louis and McGraw tried to dlscour-
age him, but he always was back.
sticks Like n Burr.
However, he continued to poster the
club and managed to make a trip with
them. Immediately luck came TO the
Giants and they began TO win with great
regularity. 1t got to be a great super
stition with the Giant players that they
could not win unless Charley was
around. On their last trip through the
West with Faust acting as mascot the
Giants clinched the championship. Nc
Grax entered a fake contract with
Faust which was written on the back
of q collar. After the championship was
cifhched McGraw even let Faust pitch
part of game. Tho Giant players
showered him with money.
In the worlds sertes that fall Faust's
charms failed to stop Frank Bakers
home run bat, and Charley lost much Of
his prestige as a luck piece However.
he got four week engagement at a
Harlem vaudeville house.
That winter he tried to get q contract
from the Giants. and finally sent a def
10 tho club that he would DO business
sign. him by q certain date. At a Ma
tional League meeting held in the SUI
parlor Of the Waldorf Charley was dis
covered pushing notes under the door
asking the league to let him enter and
auction himself OF to the highest bidder
When II came around to the training
season Charley threatened to 20 to
Brooklyn II the Giants did not sign him,
and he followed the Dodgers 10 Hot
Springs. paying his own expenses. He
rractised with the Dodgers daily and
sent McGraw in Marlin daily kilograms
on bis progress.
One night there was a cake walk at
the hotel where the Dodgers were stop
ping, All the colored help at the
springs-waiters, rubbers and attend
snts-were to participate. Frank Gould
was one of the Judges Ono thing to
CharisyAgsS edit Is stssG he never missed
anything. Anything that was on. he
was right in the midst OF II He con-
ne was an expert cake walker and that
he could take the prize from the hotel
help.
An Opened Faced SUIT.
So the morning OF the cake walk he
went to the best clothing dealer in Hot
Springs and invested 800 in soup
and FISH," Tuxedo coat, patent leather
shoes. hard boiled shirt and all other
Nccornpa niments. Tho whole Brooklyn
team was In his room and helped rig
him up. He had hands like hams. and
It took the combined efforts OF four
players TO pull on his white gloves
Then they blackened Charley's face up.
hair. which was left untouched, and the
black face and straw hair made him
look uproarIously funny. Charley re-
hearsed his act in his room. ana left
for the ballroom in majestic state
However, the manager of the hotel had
been tipped of TO Charley's Intentions
and ne was steered into another room
When asked what no would do with
his full dress clothes he replied. "Oh,
I'll use that In my monologue next
winter. I'll not he out anything"
Charley tried to Join the Giants as
late an two years ago. and wrote TO
McGraw he was training all winter
for tho season by climbing a California
mountain every day TO get his wind in
good shape. But since then he has
bSen put away.
One of the funniest thinEs ever pulled
mt q training camp was the effort of a
photographer TO sign George Mogridge
at Macon last spring. The camera man