Evening star., 1921-07-10


fessional or amateur. sport. This !,
about high-water mark; at least, th
Is concerned.
Right in and around Washington
several clubs are operating on 4
semi-pro or partial semi-pro basis.
and most of them are operating sue
cessfully. Most prominent of these
are the Rex Athletic Club. Knicker-
bockers. Cardinals, Clarendon, Gibral-
others. es; e'es One sp Of these. @ ReM' @ Athletic
Club, Is operating entirely aaa semi
pro organization, wkiio the = other
mines pay only few Of their players
and probably play some games with
out paid men in their Ane-ups.
Out i'm Montgomery County q six
club semi-pro league 10 going through
successful schedule Down In south
ern Maryland. Indian Head. La Plata:
several smaller places have the inde,
pendent base bali fever" to a greater
extent than in years. Annapolis Is
running a semi-pro nine under the
name of the Vagabond. club, and up
in Hartford county. Md. another semi
est. Mount Airy, Hancock. Sykesville
and several other towns further up
in the western part OF the state are
in the market every week for goOd
line ups for games with rival towna
Down on the eastern shore Of Mary
land semi-pro ball Is holding sway
from one end Of the peninsula to the
other. Chestertown has a nine made
up mostly Of men from Washington
College and Salisbury. Snow Hill.
Pocomoke. Centerville and Cambridge
have got together fairly strong teams
and are making them stronger At
81 s,s~
better players than they already pos
sess.
Towns in Pennsylvania. the south
ern part Of Virginia and North Caro-
lima are offering more money than
some minor leagues ;or good college
players. and for ex-minor leaguers,
and for seni-professional talent. And
in every town there seems to be un-
bounded enthusiasm over the team
are held up to public admiration as
greater idols than even the greatest
Of foot ball players in college COM
munities.
No good reason ever has been ad-
vanced for the difference in the feel
gard to semi-pro ball in different sea
sons. Just why town should appar-
emily one year care nothing for base
! ball and the following season "gC
crazy" over II seems to be one Of the
mysteries OF the game yet to. be
solved. Financial depression has beer
given many times as the main rea.
exceptionally tight. the semi-pro base
ball craze started and went along in q
| way that made several familiar with
the usual development say. We'll
next year will be q great one for the
semi-pros. but after that they'll blow
nd hAr hA ine nj ir
for three or four seasons" Strange
but that il the way it seems to work
out
Clarence Hecox, coach of the Poto.
tomac Boat Club and former foo,
the opinion that Joe Berger. one OF
| the oarsmen in the senior Potomac
eight. is going to develop into stan
| athlete In college. Herger is no. only
an oarsman. but last fall did some
| stellar work at center on Techs foo
ball team. AS an oarsman Berger
tips the scales around 1913 pounds
but in foot ball ought to run up close
to 1S0 pounds. Last spring 1t was
| stated that Berger would enter the
University OF Maryland. but recently
| rumor has it that he Is strongly con-
| sidering entering the University OF
Pennsylvania.
Many followers of local sandlot base
ball think that Purdy. playing short.
stop for Silver Spring. is about the
best man in that position in the Dis.
trict. And Purdy has no greater ad-
vocate of his stellar qualities than
Brooke Lee. who runs the Silver
Spring outfit. and this opinion Of the
players ability came from no less an
individual than Maj. Lee himself.
"Purdy Is the best infielder in
Washington. l have heard the claim
made that he cannot hit much. but
be that as 1t May, have yet to watch
a man on any club who has shown
anything near his ability as a fielder
That yOungster seems to go get the
ball no matter where it is nor how
hard it Is hit"
SRosy" Pollock, first baseman on
the University of Maryland nine last
spring. Is playing the initial sack for
the Boyds nine in the Montgomery
county league, and is doing a good
job Of it, too. Pollook's brother is
managing the Boyds nine. Gould
Menefee. stellar back stop at Central
High anu Georgetown several years
ago and later one Of the best re-
ceivers in the southern association
is member Of the same nine.
"Snitx" Snyder, outfielder; Pete Gro
ton. catcher, and Stewart knode.
third bascman, Of the University OF
Maryland, are members Of the
Pocomoke City nine down on the
eastern shore of Maryland. All are
playing good ball. Lem Stanley,
Gallagher and Pike Albaugh. all
local men. are with the same club.