The Washington times., 1931-03-30
PLAYER
SPRY ASK|D
!. IN FIELD
By BABE RUTH

~ by BABE hU1n
: MONTGOMERY, Ala, March
90.-My hat is off to Rabbit
Meanwhile, that peppery little
ghortstop of the Boston Braves.
He Is one Of the marvels Of base
ball. often think that I have
been around q long time but here
Is a fellow who was q star on q
world championship team wnen /
was In the minors, and here he is
still at it, and making as brilliant
plays as he did then.
/ have seen q lot Of the Rabbit
this spring. The Braves, as well
as the Yankees, do their training
in st. Petersburg, and we always
play a number Of games with
them. Maranville's work is a
treat to watch, whether he Is tax
ing part in the warming.up exer-
scises or playing in the game
There is almost a touch OF
sleightof-hand ip some OF the
! plays he makes.
Makes Marvellous Plays
In one of our games with the
Braves this spring, Rabbit made
two marvellous plays, one OF them
being almost a circus stunt. He
made a dive for q ground ball,
slid along the dirt on his stomach
and, with his left hand out
stretched, he got the ball cleanly
a, HE glove. AS he stopped slid
ing he Tipped the ball to Freddie
Mcguire at second base and COM
pleted a force play. 1t was one
Of the greatest exhibitions Of lin
ing and fancy fielding ever saw
on a ball field.
heard Wilbert Robinson say
a short time back that Maran-
vile was a better ball player last
year than he was five years ago.
"He used to be a .2S5 hit
ter" Robbie explains, "and now
you can figure him to hit
around .275 or .28O."
Robinson sees a lot more Of
him than we do and he should
know. I know that he was good
enough to play a brilliant game
at shortstop last season and for
the same club that he starred for
back in 1914.
When we were in our training
camp in 1929, Rabbit was making
his comeback with his old team,
the Braves. He had been with
the Cardinals during their pen
nant-winning fight in 1928, and
we figured him then as a utility
infielder who had passed the
roint where he rated as a regu-
lar. But look at him now. 1t
will take quite ball player to
drive him cut of that Boston in
field this spring..
Comes Back Stronger
Maranville was shifted around
enough years ago to discourage
an ordinary man, but it could
not stop him. He was with the
Braves, Pirates, Cubs and Robins,
and he may have been with some
other National League clubs be-
fore he was sent back to the
minors. He was counted out
then as a big Lacquer by every
body but himself. He set out to
prove that somebody made a mis-
take and you will admit with me
that he has proved it. He did
so well in the minors that the
Cardinals brought him back,
and here he is, dashing around
the infield, making wonderful
stops and throws and always
playing smart baseball.
/ guess perhaps his sense of
humOr has helped to keep him
young. He has q way of get
ting plenty of laughs out Of the
game, and he provides a lot
more laughs for the spectators.
] guess he Is the best clown in
the National League and a
pretty foxy clown. too.
] never tire looking at his vest
pocket catches. He was the first
player I ever saw who caught a
ball that way. Jimmy Reese of
our club came into the league
many years later with a catch
something like the Rabbits, but
think Jimmy holds his hands a
little higher in gripping the ball
close to his stomach
II asked Maranville before one
Of our games how long he eX.
pected to be able to play short
Il feel now as II 1 could go
on for years." he told me, "but
perhaps five or six more will be
enough"
Then he went out to shortstop
and pranced around like kid on
his first training trip. Somebody
on our team hit ball almost over
second base and he hoped over
TO grab the ball and get his man.
Just q baseball marvel this Rab-
BIT.
Y copyright, 1881, by the Christy
YAIA