The Washington times., 1929-12-12
SENTIMENT
INVOLVED
IN DEALS
By DAVIS J. WALSH


NEW YORK, Dec. 12.-Twi-
light is the hour Of peace and
great content and, in the twi-
light Of his career, Grover Cleve-
land Alexander, with his face Of
mahogany and a heart of sturdy
oak, is going home-not to die,
we hope. but to live happily ever
after.
All Of which is arrant senti-
mentality and baseball has all the
sentiment Of the average fish
monger, q fact which it pro-
ceeded to indorse yesterday only
a few hours after Alexander was
traded back to the Phillies by
the st. Louis Cardinals.
The news was hardly cold
when the rival Philadelphia
club announced that it had
arranged q trade whereby an
other old favOrite, Wallie
SChang, was to return to the
home of his fathers.
Thus, the barter in human
souls went forward behind the
scenes of baseball'S annual meet
ings, a frank exposition Of COM
mercial rivalry that had Ser1ti-
ment as its professed intent but
ShoWmanship as its object.
Those Philadelphia clubs are
professional vendettists, in spite
of the fact that one is @, worlds
champion and the other a sec
ond division outfit: so when one
| of them decided to take flier
in acknowledgements with
sound economic reasoning-the
other was glad that it found it
self with q chance to play the
game the same way.
However, I prefer to think OF
Old Alex, not as mute, passive
pawn that has been shunted about
in a game in which he holds no
cards, but as a man who accepts
the bidding of fate gladly. An
| imposing figure of a man, this.
All of 43 years Of age, he had
! lived his second generation ON
| the rail- diamonds OF q alton
/ while a parade n young Ind ole
I has passed before Ms tired old
! aya---c,1wari into the outer t3ark~
! ness of kassbails forgotten
| Yes, he has seen them
come aud go, this fellow and
/ bis ssn4e IN foley Is &1eaFs
! Yet the mere fact that he mas
/ & figure IN the deal served -
| give the Phlllles the break In the
| transaction, In the opinion Of
those who patiently cultivated the
joint meeting Of the two majors
today.
The deal sent Alexander and
Catcher Harry McCurdy to the
Phillies, with Outfielder Homer
Peel and Pitcher Bob McGraw
going to the Cardinals. Oddly
enough, Peel and McGraw were
with the Cardinals before, just as
Alexander spent some Of the
greatest years Of his life with
! the Phillies, between 1911 and
1917, while Schang never was so
good again as he was in 1913, his
first year with the Athletics.
| Schang's transfer from the st.
Louis Browns to the Athletics
yesterday was made possible when
Sam Hale, third baSeman, was
offered in exchange. Since the
Browns simply can't start this
| year without an adequate third
baSeman and the Athletics al
ready are set with Cochrane and
Perkins, it was rejoiced that the
Browns finished a winner on
the business. They needed Hale
more than the Athletics needed
Schang, everybody being in
agreement on this point, with one
exception.
The latter happened to be
Connie Mack, He had to
have o third catcher and felt
that he couldn't have gone
far wrong in getting 3 man
who might be the first
catcher on several other
clubs.
AS for Alexander, the man
whose private life is said to have
been anathema to the exhorters
and uplifters. he will break the
Phillies on the right side of the
deal if he wins more than half Q
dozen games, and he ought to
do that with his eyes shut. AS q
matter Of innuendo, his eyes are
supposed to be that way half Of
the time, anyhow. They needed .
catcher to replace Lepian, who
was killed some months ago. They
get him in McCurdy. They needed
wise, old pitcher to win those
ball games that the Phils seem
to lose after entering the ninth
inning runs in front. I don't
need to add that they got what