The Washington times., 1930-03-13

Twenty years ago the rockies
who, came into the big leagues
would no more ask one Of the
veterans for advice than he'd try
to fly to China. And the oldtimerS
wouldn't think Of offering any
help either. In those days it was
every, one for himself and the
regulars were banded together to
make 1t tough for any likely
looking youngster who came along
I can remember the days when
young fellows would be chased
away from the plate every time
they even tried to get hitting
practice, and every new conner
had to fight his way into the
club.
OF course the present day
system Is a lot better. The reason
for the Improvement Is that ball
players are Smarter today. The
average big, Lacquer realizes that
his career is limited and that its
up to him to grab I'll he can
while the grabbing is good. Conse-
uuently he wants to be with q
winning team and when he sees
some kid come along who looks
good he tries to help him. He
figures that developing three or
four young fellows means money
in his own pocket.
It used to be that there was
a lot of clannishness in baseball
ant that isn't true with most
clubs anymore. And it's never
true with a team that wins q pen
nar1t. Show me a pennant winner
and ri show you a club where
every chap Is pulling for every
other one, and where all tne
clannishness is gone. You can't
ud1 remnants when you have
sclio,Ies on the ball club, and most
olayers have come to realize that.
Another thing that has changed
q lot during the year is training
Methods. When I broke into the
league the trainer was just sort
of a fellow whose chief job was
looking after the baggage and see
inc that the uniforms and bats
we're packed. He didn't know
envthing about medicine or anat'
onnv. and all he could do in case
of injury was rub on a. little llnl-
noent and put on bandagee.
Today all clubs have spe-
cialized trainers -smen VINO
have studied the business of
nhysical development and who
are prepared to treat any
thing except serious disease
or broken bones.
Tn the old days ball players
got into condition the best way
fhey could, without advice and
without any system. The result
was that every training camp had
; a high percentage of sore arms
and torn muscles. Today there's
i little excuse for ever having a
sore arm. Trainers know their
stuff, and the player who pays
attention to their advice won t
nave much trouble. The trainer
for the Yankees, for instance, Is
4 man who has been in the buSi
ness of conditioning men for
Years. He knows osteopathy, chi.
Topractry, massage and physical
training from A to z.
. There's nothing more import
ant to ball players. and this goes
for kid sandlot players as well
as big leaguers, than proper ply
sical condition. In fact. proper
training is a lot more important
to kids and young players than
# Is to the veterans. The old
timers muscles have set, Lut the
kids are still developing. and inn
proper training when they're
young is likely to ruin their whole
career.
A lot of people look on the
, trainer of a. ball club as Q soft
4 of hanger on who hasn't much. of
a job and deserves little credit,
That's bunk. The trainer is a
mighty important fellow, espe-
Cially during the training season
when fellows are trying to get in
shape for the long grind. And
the Yankees are lucky in having
a fellow who knows his business.
Copyright 1880. by the christy =.