The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-15
SPRING TRAINING WAS BIG
 LARK FOR OLD HANS WAGNER
Many Jokes Were Pulled On Rockies In Spring Training Camp And Many Laughs Garnered
By HANS WAGNER

America by North American Newspaper Alliance Alliance for The AEe-Herald' All rights
 Spring training always has been to me sort of lark, and I think it is to most of the regulars who know how to prepare themselves and have no particular worry about their jobs During the off hours they can sit back and have all the laughs.
 For some men. though. spring training is very hard work. When the day is over they are quite ready to crawl in bed at g o'clock and nurse their sore muscles and bruises. There arc some ball players, by the way. who never have had muscular sore ness in the spring. Just why that Is have kept up their athletic exercises during the winter. Personally I never had any trouble at all in get ting in shape. To tell the truth the spring training was much easier to me than the hunting. basketball, in- door baseball and so on that I cid during the winter.
 discussion as to the advantages of a long training trip or short one. Some managers even contend that 1t is better to train pretty well' north so that the players will not be af- fected by the sudden change in cli- mate as they come pdtk Clarke Griffith tried this scheme with good results in Virginia. The great majority, though, find it bet ter to go far south where the play CTS, due to the warmth, can ease up their tired muscles without catching cold.
 The Pittsburg club has found Hot Springs to be the best training place. I always liked it there. Walking up and down those Arkansas mountains was a good muscle builder in itself. You can't walk anywhere in Hot Springs without going up or down hill. The hot waters help lot in | loosening up the muscles.
 l The main thing the pitchers have to acquire is control. They work in gradually. getting stronger and more accurate day by day.
 O o O
 McGraw Has Rigid Rules.
 The main point in spring training. according to my observation, is the chance of trying out the recruits and seeing what they really can do. Some managers allow the old-timers to get in shape according to their own ideas. Others have a rigid sys- tenn and even the most famous and experienced players have to follow the discipline. The idea of this is that it sets an example for the young sters. John McGraw is one of those l who has a rigid system. One thing about him. though, he will do every thing he asks the youngest player to | do. He is the first man up in the morning and the last one to leave the field at night.
 Miller Huggins, one of the cham pion Yankees, used the system last year of letting the seasoned players get in shape as they deemed best I mt t.I.A won the pennant and the worlds championship. So you never can tell which is best. I think the biggest re- suit, after all is that the players get to know each other better and estab- | fish themselves as sort of a family before the hard season begins. There is never any particular rule player should eat. It must be re- membered that a ball player is diff ferent from all other athletes in that he has to prepare for an everyday job that lasts all summer. Therefore he must live just as naturally as pos- sible. There is little difference be- tween the diet of ball player and of an ordinary business man. There shouldn't be.
 To me it was always the fun, the practical jokes and the skylarking of a southern trip that appealed. I like to laugh. even though I was never much of a joliester myself
 One of the old gags that always gave me laugh was on the train going to the camp. There would be a lot Of raw, young recruits who, of course. had to take the upper berths Rank is as strict in baseball as in the army. The regulars must have the lower berths and they look on it as matter of right. In fact, the privilege of a lower berth sort of marks fellow as having made good. For young recruit to take a lower would be considered a terrible af- front to the veterans. It would be like treason.
 The Texan Got The ThieG:
 Well. when these young fellows start most of them have never rid- den in a Pullman sleeper and don't really know the difference betwe cen an upper and lower. They learn quick. though. We used to tell the into their pppers that they had bet ter give alp their small change to the porters to keep fer them as 1t might fall out of their pockets.
 Wanting to do the right thing these poor young kids would shell out their small change to the porter. who would thank them. The next
 
 laugh that they would never even think of asking for it again.
 That was cruel trick to play on these kids, who rarely ever had any more change than the law allows, but t was funny. at that.
 We had one big awkward fellow get on the train going to Hot Springs and we called him Red" right off the reel. He watched the poker games for awhile, tried to talk base bal, to Mr. Clarke--did everything to make himself agreeable.
 "Now," one of the boys told him. looming as young fellow you had better sit up tonight and guard the valuables. Anything's liable to happen on a train like this. That young fellow over there will be guard tomorrow night"
 Sure" agreed Red. Glad 10 do it. I'll watch everything.
 He was a big Texan and the look in his eye showed that he meant to do that duty properly, too.
 During the night the young fellow, who was half dozing, woke up to see a man going out the door with a