Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-16
RECRUITS OFTEN
SPOILED BY TOD
MUCH PUBLICITY
Hailed as Stars Upon Advent
in Big League They Try
to Run Teams.
BY |. e. SANBORN
Special Correspondent Of Great Falls Trlbu

opecias Correspondent OF Great Falls Tribune
| Chicago, April 15.-Now is the time
for all good rockies to come to the aid
of their press agents. No longer will
| telegraphic enconiums from training
camps get the recruits of the major
leagues anywhere with fans. who will
want to see the alleged phenoms in
action under fire before accepting them
as the real thing.
Many a promising prospect has been
lost to baseball by too much boosting
from the conditioning camps prior to
!, the opening of championship season.
The danger of overexploiting the
youngster is threefold. It is likely to
create too great expectations from the
patrons; it's effect on the kid who
lacks intelligence may produce a case
| of swelled head; while on the lad in
whom brain and brawn are we'll bal
anced the effect may be to make him
too nervous and overanxious to live up
to all the good things said about him.
Time Makes the Star
When an outfielder is touted from
the southern camps as a second Ty
Cobb the fans do not stop to think
Int required several seasons to develop
the Georgia Peach out of the bud
Hugh Jennings picked almost too soon.
So. when an infielder looks like IAN
other Eddie Collins" it cannot be ex-
pected that he is, only that he may be
some day.
Even Christy Mathewson did not at
tain his supremacy ON the slab until
ne had been seasoned Such advance
notices comparing rookie to a great
player do much more harm than good
by raising false expectations
Part of the fans. who believe all that
IS written by too Jealous or inexper-
fenced training trip scribes. feel sort of
abused and peved if the press-agented
rockies are not trotted out right from
the start of a pennant campaign, and
blame the managers for keeping tried
veterans in the lineup. with wonderful
recruits on the bench. / have had many
letters from rooters each year demand
ing roast for the manager for not
giving some highly touted kid a chance
Publicity SpoiIs Rockies
Of course, the youngsters with strong
hearts and good noodles weather this
rough going at the beginning of a
season all right. They understand why
they are kept in the background. unless
emergency calls them into play, until
they have learned the major league
game. Some of them who lack conf
dence are ruined as far as fast COM
pany IS concerned The kind that acquires
sWelled heads almost never succeeds
after overexploitation. That kind of a
rookie believes the manager is against
him and starts sulking, nor will he listen.I
to advice or teaching by any one.
Such case was that of Flame
Delhi. the coast pitcher obtained by
the White Sox some years ago. BY the
time he reached Chicago. after being
heralded all spring as world beater. !
he knew more baseball than even CO.
miskey. He never got anywhere and
would have been forgotten entirely if |
Ring Lardner had not made him i'm |
mortal-under different name-as the |
original You know me. Al"
OF the opposite type was Russell |
Blackburne. who came out of the east |
aud almost Immediately learned from |
the newspapers that he was world !
beating phenom as an infielder with a /
wonderful whip. In trying to live up to |
his Autographs Blackburne hit the !
grand stand instead of the first base |
mans mitt much oftener than he would |
have done if he had not been so an |
xious to prove the scribes were right !
about his whip. With his nervous tenn
permanent. too much touting proved dis |
astrous.
Cites kiIIinger's Case
This spring we have had the case of |
Glen killinger. one of the best college
athletes of the last two or three |
years. He was blazoned everywhere as
ready for the big leagues Immediately
and PREDICTIONS were made that he |
would rank with George Sisler in no |
time at all. From the Yankee camp in
the south all kinds of praise was |
flashed home. only to end when the
brilliant young man was farmed out to
a minor league for experience.
1t will be a shame if the overzealous
touts have lost to baseball another great