The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-15
WAGNER TELLS OF GAME IN EARLY YEARS OF EXISTENCE

third. I can't just remember his name, but he talked with little &C., cent-Swedish, I think. Anyway, he was on third ready to score a long fly. Like the rest of us he was onto McGraw's trick. It looked to us as if this fellow had forgotten. Sure ly he paid no attention to MeGraw.
 The batter drove q long fly to right field. The umpire watched the catch. Our man started for the plate with out even looking around. He was laughing as he slid into the plate and scored.
 McGraw Caught With The Goods.
 Then we all looked around and there was McGraw standing at third with the runners belt in his hand. That big Swede, knowing the trick, had unfastened his belt so that 1t would come off when pulled. The gang didn't forget that for a long time. I'll bet McGraw hasn't for gotten it to this day.
 Yes, 1 always regarded McGraw as a wonderful, winning ball player. I may not have copied his fielding style but I certainly picked up lot of tricks by watching him all the time. I enjoyed reading his Thirty Years in Baseball" because l was
  wrote about.
 l may be little ahead of my story but I want to explain right here that there is a lot of difference between throwing your whole soul into ball game and in stopping to think about whether a thing is sportsmanlike or not. As l grow older l naturally think more of what we call sports manship than I did then. I'd like for all the boys to grow up as sports men. But when I talk about great ball players, as I will in the future chapters, l mean ball players who could win ball games. We played according to our own code then. It was just as fair for one as for the other. Nobody ever became enemies over it.
 It used to be very common thing for some runner on first base to yell down at me: Hey, you big Dutch man, you'd better get out of the way down there or I'll cut your legs off Watch out, I'm coming In minute!" I'd yell back at him. "The old Dutch man Il be down here waiting"
 And don't you think they wouldn't come, eitherl Down they'd come with spikes flying high. I'd get 'em though
 I've got lot of scars from spike cuts but there wasn't one of those boys who ever meant harm in that. They meant nothing at all by 1t, ex- cept, just talk. They just wanted to win, that's all. If they cut me I'd take 1t and grin. If I cut into one of them they'd take 1t just the same. It was all in the game.
 They Meant No Harm.
 What l mean to say, though, is that l never saw a ball player deliberately try to injure another. I don't believe they would do 1t. It happened, of course. but no real harm was in- tended.
 With the Warren team of the Iron and Oil league I didn't realize 1t then but that was to be my last en- sagement with a minor league. Up 10 that time I had not thought of getting into real fast company. I was just beginning to realize how much there was to learn in base ball.
 have been credited with being good base runner. At that time l really was as good a man on the !, bases as we had on the team. It wasn't so much on account of speed as of watching opponents and taking advantage of mistakes. A player can do this just as well on the bench as on the bases. Though my mind was young, l realize now that I had the 1aculty of not getting lost in en- tnusiasm and of sizing up both sides or situation while the other fellows were all excited.
 Inose minor league youngsters were not as cautious as big leaguers are Tn their movements. It was easy 70 tell what they intended to do by the way they handled themselves, moved their arms. feet orr legs.
 Most any pitcher, until he learns py experience. will make some little motion or take some kind of stand mat will show when he is going to throw to first base or the plate for instance.
 By watching them close I could get onto this When I felt sure the throw would be made to the plate I could take big lead off first and steal. Base stealing, you know, Is entirely a matter of the lead, It doesn't make any difference how fast n man Is he can't steal second unless he gets a big lead.
 when would spot . pitchers weakness in that respect would tlp the other fellows off. Soon we would be running wild on him and he never knew why.
 There are pitchers in the big league today who get caught that way. saw one last summer and wondered. why the base runners did not take