Evening star., 1937-02-04
TOLL COMES HARD
ATFL0SSY CAMPS
Rugged Effort Is Foreign
. to Thought as Siesta
Spirit Prevails.
BY FRANCIS ]. POWERS.


~ base ball player and, If he
4 \ runs true to form. you'll hear
that the game amt what it used to be
and that the present generation OF
performers are a lot of softieS, whose
spikes wouldn't cut ice cream.
There is undoubtedly some truth
TO the accusation and believe have
discovered one of the causes. It's the
training camp sites, nothing less.
Take Santa Catalina Island, the
wrigley empire, where the Chicago
Cubs, a Wrigley possession, do their
Spring chores. A tidy little island,
washed by the blue waters of the
Pacific, it has the atmosphere OF ease
and luxury and breeds the SieSta
custom of the Spanish conquistadors.
1t is difficult to turn the mind to hard
physical endeavor and keen compe-
tition when lounging on the broad
verandas of the hotel and small Won
der the Cubs are content to finish
third in the National League race.
It's the Catalina influence.
Get Started Wrong.
COL. WILL TERRY and Uncle
~ Cornelius MacGillicuddy likely
will find their Giants and Athletics
succumbing to the same lethargy when
they bring the boys back from season
in Havana and Mexico City. have
q great liking for Spanish places and
senoritas, but then I am not base
ball player. But the dons never were
much shakes as athletes and I main
tain training in such spots starts the
athletes of in the wrong frame OF
mind.
Base ball teams made an entirely
different start in the blood and thun-
der DAYS Of John McGraw. Ty Cobb
and "Husk" Chance. although toward
the finish Mac" had preference
for tony training spots. In those days,
ball clubs usually did their Spring
work in small towns and frequently
could not gain admission to the best
hotels. Players either rode to the
park in a hack or else ran to and from
work and dressed in shed that might
have been anything from mule barn
to a hen coop.
Consequently, when they came North
to start the season, one and all were
well trained, aggressive and ready to
knock q baseman into the outfeld
upon the slightest provocation. There
was little for the players to do but
practice base ball and talk base ball
and they did both mighty well.
NAV Demand Siesta.
THOSE timers would have had
l. the devils own time in the dining
room of the st. GATHERINGS, LEscar-
got or Gran Nacional de Cuba and
probably would have finished dinner
with three unused forks and no knives.
The old timers were that sort. One
suit of clothes was plenty for a train
ing trip and they were vigorous users
of knife for everything from mashed
potatoes to pie. These moderns are
a different sort. Cosmopolites in
every detail and even ask the orchestra
TO play such selections as Tales of
the Vienna Woods and Moonlight
Sonata"
think the present generation OF
ball players are swell fellows and
credit to their business. But main
tain housing them in resort hotels
where they fall victims to the siesta
habit is mighty bad for their business.
I think we would see sprightlier base
ball If the majors trained in some
town such as Marlin Springs was in
the days when McGraw had Fletcher.
Doyle and that crowd. or Waxahatchie
when Hughie Jennings used to herd
Cobb, Wild Bill Donovan and Sam
Crawford into the Southwest for
Spring chores. In 1919, when the
Cincinnati Reds won their only cham
pionship, most of the Spring training
was done on the loading platforms
of the railroads. Those teams went
South to get ready for tough season
and did all of that.
Base ball teams of today train in
luxurious surroundings and some
never recover in time to play much
base ball. I hesitate to think what
will happen If many more teams fol-
low the Giants, Cubs and Athletics
into the atmosphere of Manana.
Should that occur, the noble athletes
likely will demand time for a daily
eiesta.