The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-30
l ALKING
IT OVER
BY JOE WILLIAMS

CT. LOUIS, Sept. 30.--In present.
- ing my customary expert an
alysis of the annual diamond classic
for the blue ribbon of baseball and
the championship of Christendom
I find l am somewhat handicapped
because 1 have neglected to famili-
arize myself with the names of the
demon athletes.
OF course I do know that there are
couple of guys named Grove and Earn
shaw with the Athletics who are supposed
to be pitchers. and that a Cardinal Dloke
named Hafey who wears specs or cheaters
led the National League in hitting.
have always wanted TO approach a
world series from the mathematical view
point in the manner Of Mr.. Hugh Fuller
ton and Mr.. AL Munro Elias but / nave
never been able to quite make the pull.
once or twice I did assemble a set of
imposing looking figures dealing with
versus B. OF vice versa. as happened TO be
the case. but in the end all / had Tor nv
labor was q sheet Of paper which looked
like play by play diagram of the Yale
Alfred football game. mean 1t requires
no little genius to work these things out.
You take a fellow like Jim Bottomley
who is batting .345 and fielding .943. You
match him up with the opposing first
baseman Jimmy Foxx. who is batting. say.
3l8 and fielding 1855. Then by some
mysterious chemical process you arrive az
the deduction that when Bottomley faces
Foxx In the championship a series of very
definite things must occur making due
allowance of course. for southeast winds.
overnight showers and the continued ud-
certainty of the gold standard.
AS 1 say it is all very interesting and
as a mental relaxation probably beats cut
ting out paper dolls or performing match
tricks.
T SEE by the papers here that
Il some of the gamblers are betting
to l on Philadelphia against st.
Louis, and it strikes me these odds
are distinctly out of proportion to
what the two cities offer.
of hand I should say there is very lit
tie to choose between them in the matter
Of charm and tourist appeal. and ! have
even heard hardened people say that st.
Louis and Philadelphia are places that you
90 to when there is no other place to go.
1 wouldn't want to 90 so far to say
this is true. vet st. Louis hasn't been the
same since they tore down the old Plan
tiers hotel. a rendezvous for ball PLAYERS.
fighters. actors and state politicians. 1t
was always grand fun stopping at the old
Planters. where the considerate manage
ment provided a sort of informal shooting
range. or maybe tolerated is the better
word.
At any rate. of a summer evening YOU
could take air rifle and from your
window in the hotel bang away at the
weary wilies sleeping on the park benches
below--a rare form of urbane entertain
ment that carried a gripping fascination |
for the ball players
I remember one night that Ray Cald- |
we'll, who was then pitching for the |
Cleveland Indians set a new all-time rec
ord at the traps. scoring a run of eleven |
clay night hawks without a single miss. |
and amazing as this achievement was. 1t
might have been bettered by a wide margin |
If the town COPS hadn't interfered with |
the sport on the ground that it cut into |
their slumber.
When it comes to chow. I am not sure
whether the duke goes to Philly or st. |
Looey. 1 suppose it all depends on your
gustatory preferences. Now if you go for
scrapple. a tasty dish consisting of fash
A~SNHAS@@~A7
in appearance a closeup of Bull Montana's
growI. you can sail the seven seas and
not touch the Philly product. Personally.
/ would much prefer to sail the seven seas
than to touch it.
The luscious pork chop and the equally
luscious cat fish are the epicurean de-
lights of St. Looey. although in season
the Mississippi craw fish will outrank chem
both In recent seasons however, the
craw fish has lost some of it's popularity
because to eat a craw fish without a beer
wash is nothing short of blasphemy ana
only a heather would immense noble
Mississippi crustacean in the kind OF beer
they sell out here now.
u
r THINK. in the matter OF danes,
i st. Looey has it over Philly like
a three-foot snowfall. In fact there
is something about the Philly danes
that always reminds me of a snow
fall or a blizzard, because if you do
not get the ice, you are siX-two-and-
even to get the air.
But the St. Looey dame is the soul of
friendiness and understanding and she
seems to realize instinctively that you are
different from most men.
L Will cOnceQe JnaJ the OC. LOOeY uOll 10
not only always hungry but that she
seems not to have eaten for three or four
weeks at least and moreover that there is
always show in town which she has not
SEEN and after that road house where.
as it generally turns out. she has boy
friend in the orchestra. But even so, I |
always say this is better than sitting
around the hotel lobby talking to some
umpire about his bird dogs.
1t is a tossup between the two towns |
when it comes to dawns. am what you |
might call a confirmed dawn watcher |
have watched the dawn come up in many |
parts of the country and I am disposed to |
believe that you will see as fine a dawn
in either st. Looey or Phillv as you will |
see anywhere else in the world.
1t may be that the st. Looey dawn is a
little more picturesque by reason Of those
old steam boats snoozing peacefully at the |
rocky edge of the levee.
This gives the scene native touch that
is not present when the sun peeps over
the stately Delaware. but on the whole |
there is enough beauty to 60 around
Now for the forecast. The Cards of
course. l haven't been right on the SER |
les in four wears so why should / spoil
nv record now?
And besides who is that Grover Just
another skinny guy with left arm.