The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-01-17

ball out of the lot or strike out. In
our searly days we worked on the
theory of meeting the ball and SHOW
ing the runner around. That, l still
think the best system.
Disobeyed Orders
| Awhile back. you will recall, told
of having fined Sammy Straag SIS
for hitting a home run when / had
| instructed him to bunt the ball. That
is an example of the difference in
methods. Today If Sammy had hit
that home run he would have been
great hero. I might have fallen for
the glamor of it myself, because
everybody seems to be running to the
+. long swing style of hitting nowadays.
| Still, / would never stand for any
ball player disobeying instructions.
even though 1t won a game.
That season we had as battery
wilbert Robinson one of the greatest
| catchers that ever lived, and John
Mcmahon. better known as Sadie
Mcmahon as pitcher. We have never
had many better pitchers than Nc
Mahon. In addition to being a great
pitcher he was a great judge of ball
players and close student of the
game.
1t was Sadie Mcmahon, by the way,
who discovered George Burns. the
outfielder. 1 had engagen Mcmahon
as scout for the Giants. He went
out with the intention of getting
good ball player or nothing.
Found One Ball Player
1T may not find good one." he
said to me, but / won't dig up any
bad ones. It's my idea that too much
money and time are wasted on ball
players just for the sake of trying
them out"
Mcmahon secuted all season, and
heard little or nothing from him.
Mac" he said on his return, II
have covered the whole United States
and I have found but one ball player
who looks good. I'll bet on him."
This man was George Burns, and
the fans of the country know enough
about this great outfielder to appre-
ciate McMahon's judgment. He more
than earned his years salary by dig
ging up that one player.
Wilbert Robinson had his heart and
soul in baseball, and he chimed right
in with the ambitions of Jennings,
Kelley and myself Though he was
older, he was just as young in spirit.
Working with him and Mcmahon, we
thought up. many new plays and
schemes for advancing base runners.
We really gave the hit and run play
it's first good start.
The Hit and Run Play
To work the hit and run play sue
cessfully it is necessary that the bat
ters be adept in placing the ball. l
imagine that most every fan under
stands the principles of this play. The
main idea is, If there be a runner
on first, to signal him to start for
second ,as if to steal base. At the
same moment the batter swing at the
next ball whether It be good one or
not. Having watched the opponents
he has a pretty good idea as to
whether the second Daseman or the
shortstop will cover second base.
If the second baseman starts to
cover the bag II is the batter's cue to
smack the ball between first and
second-through the spot left vacant
by the second baseman. If the short
stop is to cover. the hit is shifted to
the other side of the diamond. Now,
| 1t takes good batters to do that.
| We worked this play very success
fully several times. Hanlon, seeing
the possibilities of whole team of
such ambitious players, began figur-
ing for other new players.
Anyone with half an eye to the
future could see the gradual making
of a great championship team.
Though we did not know it, he al
ready had put out feelers for addi-
tional talent.
A Fighting Policy
Even with the small nucleus that
we had we developed a fighting
policy. We learned how to slide ac-
curately and went into them all, de-
termined to win. Never did we play
for a tie. We wanted @ victory or
nothing. have never believed in
playing for a tie. For instance, If
there is a runner on second and we
need a run to tie l always call for a
hit instead of sacrifice. One run
would merely tie the score. A long
hit might bring the one run and start
another. The main Idea is to win
An effort to merely tie we always
considered a sign of weakness.
Aggressiveness is the main thing
in baseball. That is what we were
aiming at. Hanlon added to our
wallop by a series of big trades. This
move on his part started something.
Copyright, 1923, United States and Can
ada, by Christy Walsh Syndicate for North
A NJ. A 10 aaN and IT.