Evening star., 1923-03-03

kind of food they ought to prepare
for their husbands.
There are other wives who will
not attend game in which their
| husbands appear. They get so ner-
vous over his possible success or
failure that they fear they will mako
! themselves conspicuous. I wish all
OF them thought that way.
The wife Of one of our greatest
pitchers would never come to the Polo
Grounds on the day her husband
pitched. She followed the progress Of
the game, though, by a rather unique
method. Their apartment was on the
heights. From the front window it
was possible to see the scoreboard by
the aid of a pair of field glasses
Often this wife and the wives of
other players used to gather there In
the afternoon and have tea while the
game was going on.
This particular wife knew what
dishes her husband liked most One
or MS favorites was corned beef and
cabbage. If the glasses showed the
Giants behind she would Immediately
arrival home the crouch of defeat
would disappear. She would never
mention the game until the dinner
was over
The wives and sweethearts who
really cause the player trouble and
Many ball players, as you know, come
into the leagues with little knowledge
of life. especially big city life. They
are carried away with hero worship
and marry some girl who really seeks
the lfmelight more than the love of
the young fellow There have been
many cases Of that kind. AS a rule
Dali players marry some girl with
whom they have been brought up in
the little home town. 1t is seldom
that divorce cases grow out of that
kind of marriage.
Noisy Wives Annoy.
These foolish wives or sweethearts
who sit in the stand and yell out en-
dearing encouragement to their hus-
bands are genuine distraction. They
not only embarrass the player but of
ten make 1t very uncomfortable for
those about them in the stands
You can we'll imagine the feelings
Of player when he leaves the bench
| to go to bat at a critical moment and
suddenly hear a soprano voice from
| the stands scream out:
There goes my dearier
1t is the real, wholesome woman
Of good. hard. common sense who
helps the ballplayer to success. Of
ten they have been my very help
full allies in getting a player to i'm
prove his work or to take care Of
himself
On one occasion there was a pitcher
who suffered many defeats through
lack of control His wife went with
him on the spring training trip. He
knew his failing but did not have the
patience to correct it. His wife.
knowing what was required, took
charge of him during his off hours
and insisted upon him putting in SO
much practice in the court back of
| the hotel.
Tbara u-o. NJ aScopa ANY TINA he
| felt lazy she was right on the JOB.
| Much of that mans later success was
due to that wonderful wife.
| AS rule I do not approve wives
( accompanying their base ball hus-
| bands on the road trips. They seem
| to distract his attention. Again, a lot
| of wives. when thrown together in
| such close association, are bound to
/ talk and gossip over what they have
| heard. While they mean no harm,
the husbands are often worried over
F, this. They learn things about other
players that otherwise would not have
interested them. For that reason !
think it a bad practice to have a num-
Der of wives travel with a team.
Some Need "BOssy" Spouses.
On the other hand, I have insisted
/ on certain players taking their wives
| with them. Some harum-scarum
young fellows can be controlled by
|
| had one very excellent player
who would not keep in condition un-
| less his wife was around to look after
! him. He would be like a young boy
/ out of school, running loose. He would
| drink. play cards late at night and
Hose interest in his work.
| One year he wrote me for his trans
portAtion to the training camp.
wired back that I would send trans
portation for two. Privately I wrote
| the wife that 1t was important to the
club that she came along. She did,
and the young fellow had good year.
/ have received dozens of questions
| to be answered on this subject, but
nobody is going to trap me into say
| ing whether l think a ball player
| should be married or single. II said
| that they ought not to get married
| every kid on the club\ would imme-
! diately begin thinking about that
girl. Then j would get some lively
letters from some OF the wives, / fear
| Copyright, 1923. U. g. and Canada, by Christy
Walsh Syndicate.)