The Washington times., 1929-07-15
.BnNS
81 '
| G KIRK MILLER

IOudy IN InlcagO HOU-HODDlHB
with Judge Lands over some
baseball manipulations Of recent
date, will find time before long
to go out into the highways and
byways of baseball in search of
material for his faltering ball
club.
Such an expression on our
part is intended as no reflection
on the scouting abilities of the
gentleman who gets paid for
sitting the sage brush for base
ball seedlings, Mister Joe Engel.
No, not at all! Mr.. Engel meets
our specifications of a good
scout to the letter. He has
come up with some of the most
precious pieces of player ore
that it has ever been our pleas
ure to inspect. But he needs
time to do his hunting.
However, if Griffith can have
some of those scouting trips
which he. took IL or Is years
ago, wherein he acquired in a
total of three days, five men
whose names are now household
words among major league fans,
a miracle indeed will have been
compounded.
He grabbed off Joe Judge and
Charley Jameson on one flying
trip to Buffalo. A while later
he got himself Bucky Harris in
just as short trip. Goose
Goslin was acquired by Griff
on a dash to Columbia, S. c.,
and he got Sam Rice without
ever having seen him-for a bad
debt.
Those five set Griff back less
coin than any modern-day SEN
sation in baseball-$14,8Q0.
Harris cost $4,000. Goslin,
$1,000. Judge, $4,000. jamie
son, $4,000 and Rice, hold your
breath-a measly $500.
The man who was managing
the Petersburg Club in the Vir-
ginia State League, borrowed
$500 from Griffith with which
to begin spring operations. The
season was hardly under way in
Petersburg before the loop blew
up and the gentleman who Griff
befriended with $500 had no
money with which to return the
loan, SO he sent him Sammy
Rice instead.
When Rice proved he wasn't
a pitcher and made good in the
outfield, as well as at the bat,
Griff was so conscience stricken
he sent the erstwhile Petersburg
manager an additional $500,
making Rice's real purchase
price $1,000, which could have
remained at $500 had Griff de-
sired to let the matter stand.
There's one for Ripley if any
one wants to send it to him.
Now that the Hack Wilson as
sault and battery case is settled
and Hack has been exonerated
by President John Heydler for
brutally and without justifica-
tion having attacked Pete
Donohue, prehaps we will not be
held in contempt of court if we
make a comment on the July 4
incident.
1t has occurred to US many
times since the episode and since
the instance of Art Shires' run
in with Manager Lena Black
burn, of the Chicago White Sox,
that baseball could use more of
the fire and spirit that formerly
characterized the contact of the
personnel thereof.
Some ball clubs are so dead
these days and times that the
spectator at many of our parks
long for a good old Diamond
Dick novel to help pass away
the afternoon. We believe q
few spitfires such as Art Shires
and Hack the Wilson would en-
liven many an otherwise drab
performance of our national
pastime.
Indeed, the promise of some
such conflicts as the recent Will
son-Donohue affair might impeI
more spectators to tickle the
turnstiles and therefore greatly
enrich the gentlemen who
have money involved in the
sport.
If they ever start awarding
bravery medals in baseball, Bur-
ton Shotton or his heirs should
come in for recognition. It
must take some courage to de-
liberately sign a three-year con-
tract to manage the Phils, par
ticularly when one has had
something more than a year of
it and had plenty of opportunity
to discover exactly how much
fortitude and loyalty to duty it
really requires.
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