San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-12-22
1E@aS4l
Wright Great Star.
Sos "Pie" Traynor.
Pirates Best.
Big Games Of Future.
By Damon Runyon -
Copyright, 1925. international Feature
Service, Inc.I

tCOpyTlBnt, 1870, lnterHdtiondi SoNeiS
Service. Incl
TWO great young baseball players,
L both members of the Pittsburgh
Pirates, appeared in the worlds Sc
rics of 1925. They arc Glen Wright
and Pie Traynor.
Wright and Traynor. il they refrain
from late hours, the particularly bad
bootleg liquor sold around Pittsburgh,
and continue learning their business.
may attain rating among the great
est players the game has ever known.
That rating is n matter of yers OF
sustained play. No ball player IS
rated truly great who flares up Tor n
season or two, and then fiZzles out
like seidlitz powder. The longer
player goes at sustained clip the
higher his rating.
Wright and 1lrynor, "have every
thing as they say in baseball Of a
man gifted by the gods of the i,unnc
Wright is the beau ideal of short
fielder. Traynor is a third baseman
OF the type managers dream of, AMI
seldom sec.
They have youth, fire and spirit,
20 begin with. They love to play base
ball, which is the greatest asset bail
player can have. If ball player
doesn't love his game he is not likely
to achieve greatness. a.
Arthur Shafer. a Californian, who
was with the New York Giants sotna
yeaSs bcak, could have been one of the
greatest infielders OF all time had be
loved the game rs Wright and Tray
nor seem to love it. Shafer was u
good hitter. a fine fielder, and had
terrific speed. But he did not care
for baseball, and he quit when he was
Mt his best.
You watch Wright and Traynor
in a couple of games. and YOU can
see that they enjoy their playing.
They put their heart into the game
They are both big follows, and look
more like football players than the
modern type of baseball players.
They are speedy, and both have
wonderful hands, which is to say
they have the knack of handling the
ball rapidly and smoothly. They have
great throwing arms and real baseball
instinct.
The pair is worth. at the present
market quotations on baseball players,
perhaps S750,00O. This is us Il pair,
you understand. Individually, neither
Traynor or Wright would be worth
hal # L,.t 10 n nt-
an excessive valuation.
Any baseball manager would be III
Il quandary if offered his choice of
Wright or Traynor. Probably the av-
crage manager would take Wright,
il only because of a third baseman of
his unusual calibre is more difficult
short fielders like Wright come along
only about once every ten years.
IT IS said that John J. McGraw
1 once offered S2JO,OOO for Rogers
Hornsby, the great hitter of the st.
Louis club. This remains the top bid
for an individual ball player where
there might be a chance of the bid
being accepted.
McGraw right now would probably
pay 100000 for Hornsby aud think
he was getting a bargain. In Pitts
burgh during the worlds series he
indicated his estimate of Hornsby
when someone asked him if Hornsby
is as good a hitter as Ed Delehanty,
4 mighty batsman of some thirty
years ago. McGraw said:
II always though Delehanty was
the greatest right handed hitter ]
ever saw until late years. 1 am now
convinced that Hornsby is even great
err"
Neither Traynor nor Wright as IN
dividuals may be worth as much as
to n ball club as Hornsby. but it is
sure thing that as a pair they are
worth more in money. marbles or
chalk. They represent IS per cent OF
the strength of the Pittsburgh infieid.
Traynor in style and build is some
what reminiscent of Arthur Devlin
of the Giants of Is years ago, tall,
and graceful. and very nimblc. Dey.
lin is rated among the greatest third
bascman in baseball history.
As someone remarked during the
worlds series, Wright seems to get
bigger every. time you look at him.
He can cover an immense stretch OF
territory with his long legs, and has
the knack Of throwing from any posi-
ton. He gets his throws away bet
ter than Traynor.
He is playing short field in which
he is a lincal baseball descendant Of