The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-01-08

or betore-Say, Il don't care partlcl
good gamer"
have heard them say it all my
life and 1 never knew of one who
/ believe really meant it. That is
mot the spirit of baseball, no matter
what we hear. Such remarks are
usually made after a comfortable
dinner and in an effort to display a
sense of sportsmanship.
One night 1 had dinner with De
Wolf Hopper, Louis Mann and a few
other rabid fans.
Honestly, Hopper" asked, what
really is your idea of a good ball
gamer"
A Perfect Game
MY idea of a perfect ball game
and a delightful afternoon" declared
the veteran fan and actor, lis for the
home club-to pile up Is runs in the
first inning. To add to my COM
fort l don't want to see a single
player on the other side reach first
base"
Well" spoke up another, "it is
quite a thrill, at that, to have them
get the the bases full and then have
our pitcher strike out the batter
But, my dear fellow" declared
pleasure. That's suffering"
So. you see, the baseball manager,
TO have the public like his style or
his method, must win. He needn't
worry about the details. The aver
age fan will never understand them
anyway
Team work is to baseball just what
it is to any other enterprise. Indi-
vidualism is all right in its place, but
too much of it will kill any organi-
zation in the world. The result is
what counts, and the only way to
get it is by team work
"Inside BasebaIIv
So-called inside baseball is mostly
bunk. 1t is merely the working out
of definite plans that the public does
not observe. There is nothing on q
ball field that the public could not
see and understand if the fans studied
the game as we do. AS l have inti-
mated, all the fan sees, as rule.
is the victory or defeat. His eye is
always on the. ball or on the runner
approaching the plate. Rarely does
he observe what the other players are
doing. He is an enthusiast-not a
workman.
/ venture to say that not one fan
out of hundred saw the two plays
that we worked on the Yanks when
we caught Meusel and Schang going
to second after their hits had driven
runners around. The eyes of the
public were on the ball or the run
ner furthest advanced. If, for in
stance. batter cuts a base the fan
srarely,aever-ss -itsv-,.IIiss 7eye--is al
ways centered on the real action.
And this question of individualism
or team work recalls my early re-
mark on the difference between the
college player and the town lot fell
low. The former quickly sees the
advantage of team work--of co-ordi-
nation The latter sees only himself,
either making good or falling down.
If he makes an error he-swill try to
cover it up by such remarks as
well, 1 thought
The AIibi Kind
We call that class II thought ball
players There are many of them.
Always they have an alibi. 1t is sell
dom that they come to the bench and
ask where they made the mistals e
and what to do about it next time.
The college player will do that. His
mind is more disciplined and he is
eager to learn.
a type of the college player. quick
to learn, was Eddie Grant, who was
killed in action in France.
After leaving Harvard Eddie was
or the philadelphia National league
club. Having heard much of Math-
ewson. he was very curious TO bat
against hinh.T FINALLY his chance
came. On his first time up Matty put
one right in the groove and Grant
smacked it for a single. Five times