Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-14

time considering his all-arourd abil
and an excellent base runner. Like
about 100. but he was astonishingly
For pure grace | do not believe that
any outfielder ever eoualed Jimmy
McAleer. AS a fielder he was the peer
Of any man that ever played the out
field, graceful and extremely talented.
He knew how and where to play for
batters and he could get them: also
he was 4 fine thrower Where Me
Aleer fell down was at bat and on the
bases. | would not call him better
than a fair batter and base-runner
Several of his time were better and
there have been many since.
Only Fair Fielder.
Billy Hamilton always is numbered
among the leading outfielders of the
old school. hut he WAS never more
than q fair fielder. for he was handi-
capped by a weak throwing arm. II
McAleer had the batting ability Of
Hamilton he could not be kept off any
all-star team. Hamilton was one Of
the games hest lead-off men. patient
waiter and an expert bunter He was
always q good hitter. and had speed
and excelled in baserHnning. Hamil-
ton was strong where McAleer was
Hamilton'S weaknSss.
Fred Clarke WAS a player of rounded
ability. a good judge of fiy balls. good
on eround-hit balls. IA fine TIA tsman
and base-runner. He was always ag-
gressive and a good team leader. Bar
ney Dreyfuss recognized these virtues
in him and made him manager of the
Pittsburgh team. Under his leader
ship Pittsburgh won a pennant and
ArII cHo ii. HI In
Detroit in series that went seven
games.
Sunday Was Fast.
Billy Sunday. who later became an
evangelist. has received much pub
licity in the sport pages Of the news
papers because OF his crusades He
was not one Of the great outfielders.
, Sunday did not play the outfieId regu-
larly, he could hit only fairly well and
was never dependable at bat. His
fielding was better than his batting
and he was fast man on the bases.
Most great base runners are not so
good on straightaway courses. but
Sunday was. He used to engage in
races with professional sprinters. run
ming 100 and 200 yards. and he always
did we'll in these matches.
Elmer Flick literally ate himself
Is common in professional base ball
When a PLAYER likes food and takes
more than he should. he is always
told that he is trying to eat him
self out of the league. AS matter
Of fact several have done this and
Flick was one of the number. Flick
was strong eft-ha nded hitter and
a corkins good thrower and fielder.
He was never smart but he had an
= abundance Of natural ability and
enough Of 1t to make him one OF
the leading outfielders of all time
If he had possessed judgment enough
70 take care of himself. But he
wouldn't. Flick got up early enough
each morning to have big breakfast.
Then he ate heavy luncheon a few
hours later and after the game he sat
down to an enormous dinner. More
often than not he had SUPPER before
retiring. Now. most ball players eat
but two meals a day. They eat a
fairly good breakfast and then let the
stomach rest until evening. If they
eat luncheon a ALL 1t is in the, form
Of a sandwich or plate of Ice cream.
I have known men who were dropped
from mai or league rosters for no other
reason than that they refused to
eliminte the big meal a noon. One
manager told me he dropped a fairly
good ball player solely for this reason.
III he hasn't enough sense to cut out
he big lunch. he hasn't SENSE enough
10 develop into good ball player"
the manager explained.
Eating Stops Flick.
Flick's career was cut short by his
heavy eating. He developed stomach
trouble and his play was naturally
affected. What happened TO him
should be a lesson TO all young play
ers No man can do good physical
work after a heavy meal.
Sam Crawford belongs to the mod,
ern era of base ball. He had reached
his top stride before Flick retired and
while F'lick's career was short, Craw-
ford s was extremely long. Few men
have spent as many years in active
play as era wford. Had Flick follow
ed Crawford's example ii IL likely he
would have remained similar length
Of time. / have never seen player
who took such excellent care of him.
self as Crawford. in season and out
Of sea son. He ate little for breakfast,
never ate lunch and his evening meal
was not heavy. He took great care
il the dishes he selected. He rarely
ale red meat. He was always in bed
before 10 O'Clock unless he went to 4
/, show. which was not often. He was