The voice of labor. (Cumberland, Md.) 1938-1942, 1940-01-05

ly stumbled into a baseball story"
recently that should appeal 10
diamond devotecS Of these var
diggings. Said story concerns one
Merrill May who kicked-up a lot
Of turf and terrain down third
base way as full-tledged men,
Der of the Cumberland Colts back
in 1882 or some where there
abOuts. At that time MAY an en-
bryo just out of Indiana Univcr-
sity. was making his organized
diamond debut in the Middle At
lantic league with the Ponies. A
bright future was predicted for
him in the seven years that have
passed into the archives Of time
he has since seen his dreams come
true.
Best Third -Bascman
May was such a success with the
Colts that he advanced into faster
company in 1888. A paragon OF
/ perfection. both extensively and
defensively. he kept ascending the
ladder step by step until the
Phillies drafted" him in 1888.
1t didn't take the merry May
long to get acclimated to major
league surroundings. Last year was
his first in the Senior circuit and
recent statistics show he paced the
field in fielding. surprising even
such hardly hombres as Stan
Hack. Bill Werber and Cookie La
vagetto. In 1872 games the eX-
Colt came up with a report card
OF 1874 put-outs. 263 assists and
10 errors for an aggregate Of
1864. Which is good cunning in
any league!
Posnack Also Wrinkles
Still another erstwhile Middle
Atlantic Lacquer OF the "Cumber-
land Glass" bagging the latest
headlines is massive Max Posnack,
a coyote who covered first-base
for the Colts and covered il well.
/ Posnack, in case you don't know
It. is steering a professional band
OF basketeers. the Heurich Brew
ers Of Washington. d. c. and he
has his suction sole stalwarts hot
on the trail OF the Philly Sphas.
American League leaders. His
cage consorts are now entrenched
in the runner-up post Just slen-
der half game off the pace Of
powerful Phils.
/ Unlike May. however, Posnack
never did approach the baseball
rainbow. In fact. his diamond
doings were confined TO small
minor circuits. When he was here
Posnack hit hard and fielded
fiawlcssly but for some reason or
other he couldn't quite make the
rifle ON the big time.
Local Boy Makes Good
There's local boy writing
sports for the Baltimore News. a
fact not generally known TO the
natives hcrcabouts. His name IS
Charles Trader and he answers
10 the handle of Chuck. But
he's making good in big way
down in the Monumental city. HIS
assignments take in everything
from baseball TO bowling but his
maine forte is pcnning diamond
deeds. During the sumr' ."'-
son tho Baltimore News-PoSt uses
him as their international
correspondent and he's well up
on his knowledge Of the Orioles.
Traders boss in the sports sane
tum is Roger II. Pippen. perhaps
Baltimores most celebrated base
bail columnist.
Strangely enough. Trader never
evinced much interest in sports
when he resided here. While at
Allegany High he played plenty
OF soccer but that's about all. His
interest for baseball. basketball
and boxing was apathctic but the
element OF time works wonders
and today Traders one of the
aces" on the staff Of the Balti-
more News-Post.
Vic May Lives On
While snow fell internationally
and bowling winds ragged outside
a mid city taproom. a couple Of
pop-cycd sport lovers were ar
guing a much mootcd question.
who's the greatest basketball
player ever turned out by Al
iegany County?" They ragged
back and forth furiously and their
long verbal barragc ended in
no. decision rs such things usual
~ do. We might be wrong but
there's no question in our mind
rs 20 who was the greatest. Vic
Mays our selection by acclima-
ton!
What did May have that the
Others didn't? Well. sir. that
gentleman had everything. He
was class from the word go" lie
had an unerring eye. speed 10
burn. stamina. vitality. height and
last but not least. an inllammable
spirit that carried him into the
thick and thin Of nearly every |