Evening star., 1925-01-09

sHiIt l4E lCCl anu NON 10 lOSS ~ -
was wiling pupil, il not an apt or
-gou're fast enough for kid"
herie would tell me, but you're so
blame small You've got 10 put some
meat on your bones if you ever expect
10 get anywhere in basa ball. No
matter how fast you can tield, YOU
wont be able to hit the size OF your
nat until YOU weigh more"
I told him Willie Keller had been
q little fellow and that SO was DOME
Bush. That made Merle laugh. It
makes me smile now to think of how
: compared myself TO two such stars
Of the game.
Sure they're little" Merle chuckled.
AT that. they're at least in the ban
tamweight class. You're in rhe pa
perweight division" And / was, too
weighing 100 pounds.
Never mind, you'u grow some, l
hope, Stan" my brother encouraged
me. And when YOU get little more
aeef on the hoof you'll jimmy your
way into getting a tryout some place
on YOUR nerve, if nothing else. You
-ure like to work, eat and sleep base
ball Stay with it. No one ever got
ruled off for trying.
Merle showed me how to stand at
the plate, as well as the mechanics of
shortstopping. He tried to teach me
now to place hits. I was a dismal
failure. ] was too light TO do much
more than slap at the ball. Trying
to hit past an infelder was too much
for me TO grasp.
'''You got to hit EN- where they
amt that little guy you We're COM
pairing yourself with used TO say"
Merle Chided.
Who was that I asked, in all in
nocence
Willie Keeier, fathead."
"If 1t Can BE Done"
Well, if it can be done, I'm going
to learn to do it," / vowed.
Hear the child rave"' was all Merle
had TO say.
[ could see, however. that he was
pleased when l remained until dark
trying to drag hits over first base,
and kept at the task day after day.
About all l did was to try. I didn't
learn the secret until later, and then
! was making my living in base ball.
While playing q scrub game 1
finally did hit over first and drove in
The winning run. Merle told me on
the way home that he was glad I
had learned the trick of placing my
hits.
That was nothing but luck, Merle"
/ said. All 1 was trying to do was
sock one. l didn't care where it
went"
Tn glad to hear you say so.
stan" he answered. You're so dog
gone sure of yourself 1 was beginning
10 think you had a swelled head. And
the Lord knows what for! But as
long as you don't take credit for
planning something that happened
by accident l can see you're all right
above the collar"
A few days later I pulled a bad
bone. l had shifted to third base. The
winning run was on that bag. l took
q throw to catch the man, when
Merle, who was coaching on third,
yelled:
Let's see that BALI
| flipped it to him. He stepped,
aside, the ball rolled across the field,
and the runner on third went home
with the winning run. l was mad
enough to fight and hurt, too, that
my brother pulled such a trick on
me. / told him SO without wasting
words. He just held my arms and
laughed until L cooled down.
L wanted to see if you had any
base ball sense" he explained. You
simply didn't keep your head up. You
tossed away the game. 1t doesn't
mean so much now. IF you've got
any sense it will teach you a lesson
If you ever play base ball for your
living you've got to keep your mind
on the game every minute from start
10 finish. Never mind what a coacher
says Pay no attention TO cheers or
jeers from the stands. Keep your
head up all the time"
Trick Used In Leagues.
Later Merle told me that the same
trick had been used successfully in
the minor leagues and a few times
IN the majors. l recall hearing how
Nick Altrock pulled that stunt on
Oscar Witt once when Washington
was playing Detroit before I signed
with Clark Griffith. I've never for
gotten the play and the lesson which
went with it. A bail player must
keep his wits at all times.
Merle's coaching helped me. But
/ still was as green as grass-a
scrawny kid with an increased ambi-
tion to become a good ball player
Merle told me I would have to take
plenty of exercise, eat wholesome
food and get lots of sleep if wanted
10 build myself up.
] attended to the exercise, PLAYING
basket ball at night. Mother saw
that 1 got plenty of good hearty
food-and in those days | had an ap-
petite like a young horse-but 1 went
short on the sleep ration that Win
ter. l was working then as office
boy in the Butler colliery Getting
up at $50 o'clock didn't give me any
more sleep than the law allowed
Still, l seemed to thrive on it all.
Copyright. 1921