The evening world., 1919-02-17
Baseball Training Trips
DO More to ThdU Public
Than Condition Players

for him.
II was late in March, but the thor
momctcr was nineteen below zero
when I got out Of the sleeper. had
10 wall, three miles out to the farm 10
ind him. ] arrived in trapped con-
dition. knocked at the farmhouse dnor,
asked for the boy and was told he was
In the barn. As ! approached IN"
barn the thud. thud OF "a ball being
caught In mitt reached my ears. I
entered The pitcher was In his shirt
sleeves. pitching to his sister who was
catching with a mitt made out OF a
wheat sack and stuffed with bran.
lie showed me all his stuff" hooked
curve that looked like Septemhr-.
shot up his fast one with everything
on X and, when cautioned him. he
laughed. lie opened the training sa =
son against the regulars and | tin ak
he struck S-it seventeen. Although ho
knew little about pitching. nc was an
early season sensation In the league.
He won a majority OF his games the
first season.
The next spring he reported fat.
loafed during most OF the training
SEQ son, got bumped bard half "A doZon
games, and then one night slt in the
room nearly crying and ca planning z
that the managers didn't treat him
right and ought TO know he was a
hot weather pitcher.
GREAT trips. though-thoss spring
~ training ones. or about twenty
Ave training Jaunts with teams. the
best conditioned team ever saw vas
one which played only two games Of
bal. and those were jokes. up to ths
week before the season opened. That
was the time tho Chicago Club. then
under Tom Burns, went down INTO
the desert TO Hudson, y. NJ, d;.t
stayed at "a hotel Ave miles from the
railroad. Tho players hunted, climbed
mountains, rode horses, ropCd stes =
and did everything except play base
ball. They tried 10 play one day
against n team OF cowboys but a
sand storm broke up the game. h.
sides that. some OF the COW punchers
insisted on wearing spurs, and wheI
they slid the bases they roweled their
way TO the bag.
The only real game they played
was at Silver City. which hal Il fair
team with filing In OF local anna
teurs. The first Silver CITY batter ny
hit ball straight back at DenZer
so faat no one saw II until Dcnzer
who had stuck out a hand to save
I his life opened his fist and saw the
! boil stiaking there. Then he acted
as II that happened every day in tho
| year, and a fellow next me remarked
/ whats the use? Them fellows
catch anything"
! hit "a ball out towafd the mountain
SO Far Il seemed q sure home run
! ] didn't think any Outhelder IN the
world could go out far enough 10 geI
near the ball II was home run
but not for that reason. The cCntr,
fielder was playing out against tho
base Of tho mountain, and could mo-
come In lar enough to stop the ba.
before Dahlen had circied the bases
TTHE record spring training tfil
L probably was taken by the Cll
cago club In the late nineties, Th,
team went from Chicago to WuycroSs
Ga. and was chased out OF town. !
tried Jack ksonville, then landed in Sl
vannah. played a few days, jumped I
Charles ton, then 10 Augusta, Atlanta
Montgomery. Mobile, New Orleans
I Shreveport, Little RoCh, Memphis
, Nashville and opened the season u
Louisville and was licked
The great old Chicago White Stock
lngs trained for three seasons in IN
p snow banks on the Lake front, m
majority OF them ran TO their hot ID
! In uniforms 10 get their warm BATH
, or else dressed in half heated room'
. and the team started each season red
It's top condition
Tho Chicago Cubs, artcr siN weeks d
P California and the Southwest, were h
= worse condition arriving home 'hn
when they started. The year the
. trimmed AZ Champaign, H., in col,
! rainy weather, they opened lik" cham
pions and won
Il looks 10 me as II the shorter, In
tensive training period Is much th
hest, II the players can be taught I
keep in fair condition through IN
winter While the clubs are seelan
methods of curtailing inordna;r eN
penscs they seem foolish to continu
TO operate sanitariums 10 take IN
winter rtt on athletes.
The war has proved the entire SSN
TEN OF training ball players is Wruni
Every player | have seen who ha
gone through army training has tol
me that he never knew what rel
condition was, Keep your eyes O
ths players who have been IN N
= army or navy during the early seaso
, They will show up the fellows WI
Rave no, beer, and solely on cond
: ton
,ooVnsA,. 1919, by Ths Bell syndicate, Inc
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