The Indianapolis times., 1928-06-09

WilhamS usual attention by
the newspaper boys these days,
whereas year ago nobody gave
him so much as a tumble.
The truth is, he didn't need one.
He had tumbled all the way from
tire top Of the league to the bottom,
a4ld for a while it looked as if he
rAlght tumble right out of dear old
Hhineland on his ear, so fervent
and ardent had become the yelp
OF the wolf pack.
Il
But now, like life in the Fijis,
R&I has changed. Where his Reds
were a lugubrious last on June 8,
1927, with sixteen won and
thirty-twO lost, they are now out
in front, not so far that a two
foot yard stick wouldn't touch
'em, but out in front just the
same.
IT'S always something OF phe-
4 nomenon when a team that was
last year ago improves its position
by seven places and Jack Hendricks,
looking not wholly unlike a traffic
cop off duty, sitting up there in his
suite in the Alamac in shirt sleeves
and slippered feet, sought to ex-
plain this amazing development.
"The answer is," he explained,
eve are playing winning baseball"
To the gentlemen of the press who
had called on Hendricks the sim
plicity of the formula was f1abber-
Clustering.
With that fine tolerance and pa
tience, typical of matured souls,
Hendricks proceeded to show the
press men that the business of turn
ing out a pace-setting team is as
easy as getting the wrong telephone
number.
"Just go out and get more runs
than the other fellow. That's all
you have to do. That's what we
are doing and have been doing since
the race started"
Il 4
When a baseball manager re-
fuses to pose as a miracle man,
master of black magic or little
NeapoIeon, there isn't much that
you can do in the way of a bang
UP yarn that will reveal the real
inside dope on his System" or
the Socrates-touch of his brain
activities.
60 far as Hendricks is concerned
- his Reds just happen to be up
there today and that's all there is
to it. You gather he isn't any too
sure they are going to stay up there
for any great length of time, be-
cause when you start talking about
October and what might happen
between now and then he wanderS.
Remember Tex Lattimer, our
old catcher?" asks Hendricks. "Well,
he had bad break three or four
years ago. Got into gun fight,
and killed man. The man was
shot four times in the back. Es
was running away. Tex pleaded
self-defense-get that, self-defense,
and they gave him life.
I'VE ran up to Columbus to visit
him a couple of weeks ago, and Tex
was wondering if he couldn't get
paroled pretty soon. You know
jack he said, I never smoked or
chewed or drank or cussed in my
life
"The president of our ball club
was listening to him. Maybe not
he put in, but you certainly made
!, lot of lousy throws to second. ;"
And now," persisted the press
men, "tell us who's going to win
the pennant?"
Hendricks turned this into a
good joke too. He said the Reds.
Ard he may be right. It's any
boGy's race in the National this
year. That is, anybody's but the
PhilIies. Hendricks thinks he has
a better ball club than the East
appears willing to concede.
DURDY and Callaghan are real
L outfelders and will be a big
help to the club all year." he tells
you. Red Lucas is out with a
broken wrist, but I think we are
strong enough to keep on winning
at that. Critz is holding up well
at second and Ford is the best de-
fensive shortstop in baseball. Rixey
is having one of his best years.
rEesHrsesssszSwE1v Man for man, l
think we are as