The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-04-06
YANKEE STARS GO ON PARADE AT PERRY STADIUM
TALKING
ITOvER
By JOE WILLIAMS

NEW YORK, April 6.-From
4 ' time to time there has APP
peared in these profound dispatches
plea for something Approximate
ing showmanship in the conduct Of
baseball games-anything that will
lift the stenciled pattern to a more
engaging realm.
A few days ago Mr.. John J. Nc
Graw of the Giants spoke his mind
on the same subject. Mr.. McGraw
deplores the passive attitude of the
modern player, and particularly his
tendency to take everything in
stride. He thinks an occasional
flash of temper on the field is good
not only for the soul but the box
Office.
Il don't like a ball player that smiles
when he Is called out on a close decision,
or walks away from the plate in silence
"a. be called a ball" says Mr.. McGraw.
normal human nature doesn't function
that way. A lighting BAH player is
usually good ball player"
MT. Wislam Hsrridge. president Of the
American League processes to be aghast
~ the crude pa--TSphy OF the veteran
manager. He doesnS believe Snowman
snip has any place in baseball and the
suggestion that the young men should
take down their hair and be themselves
" i,l moments OF stress is something more
Baseball is highly specialized sport"
says Mr.. Harridge and the ultimate
goal Of every PLAYER. should be to develop
ms ability to the highest possible point
OF perfection. Nothing else matters. The
great ball player and the great teams
VIII draw the fans"
THESE remarks are typical of
4 Mr.. Harridge. Under Ban
johnson and later under E. S. Bar
nard his duties we're those of the
inside Office mantle master of de-
tail. In such cramped surroundings
it is not easy to develop a dramatic
point OF view. The clatter of the
adding machine and the roar of the
crowd are two very different things
In a sense, Mr.. Harridge reflects
the decadence of the game. He is
no more like Johnson, whose ge-
MUS created the league, than the
Giants of today are like the Giants
OF Matty's time. Mr.. Harridge is
an icy. competent Office head whose
annual reports are masterpieces Of
completeness and correctness. But
Well, any time the head of a pro-
tessional sports organization froWnS upon
such extraneous innovations as pass for
showmanship 1 must insist that he is
lacking in Imagination, and, moreover
that he is not as close to his people
as he ought to be. In short, that he is
a trlhc cock -eVed
Everybody knows, Of course, that base
ball IS a business, but fundamentally, it
obviously, then, one of the major re-
sponsibilities of the league head is to see
that the illusion of sport is carefully
encourage bits Of sprightiy by play.
The mechanically perfect artisan has
never Won the hooplas Of the throngs;
question very much II Mr.. Henry Ford
could bring his champion assembly crew
70 the Stadium and draw anything like
a $4,000 crowd in competition. Yet this
seems TO be the baseball ideal of Mr.. Har
ridge; TO whom personality is less import
ant than precision.
MIR. HARRIDGE need not go be-
1Vl yond his own league to learn
the fallacy of his philosophy Was
there ever a more perfectly balanced
mechanical team that the 1914 Ath-
letcS? The answer is no. In the box
office the answer was no sale. The
team was too perfect. 1t had no
light vices to leaven its heavy vir-
tues-and when I say vices I mean
men like Ruth, Meanwhile, Shires,
etc.
Color Is a loosely used word but it will
have to do until better one is invented.
The difference between Ruth and Gehrig
today IS color; MECHANICALLY. Gehrig Is
never be the draw that Ruth has been,
and that means he'll never get the money
Ruth has been getting.
This applies to all the, great PLAYERS Of
the .game-and some who, were not SO
great. Until Ruth came along Cobb was
the highest salaried PLAYER in baseball On
his artistic gifts alone he deserved what
he was paid But Cobb added to these
Gifts a high sense of drama and an eX
traordinary individuality that made him
a