Evening star., 1940-01-18
SPoRTLIGH1
Little Giants Of Sport
Many and Varied
By GRANTLAND RICE,

sVs0"/ Os'0 V~O
BY GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent Of The Star.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (NAN.A).
Who were the little giants of sport.
the smaller fellows who have out
matched Drawn and bulk with brains
and speed?
This argument came up in the
wake of 14o-pound Ben Hogan's
tremendous hitting in golf. Lou
Little, Harry stuhldreher, Steve
Owen, Curly Lambeau, head man OF
the Packers; Dick Hanley, Cecil Is
bell and many others were in the
midst of the debate. Not so much
for golf-but for other sports. For
example, football.
In football the first of the little
giants" was Frank Hinkey OF Yale,
"the disembodied spirit who at $50
pounds was tearing 180 and 100
poung backs apart with his cyclonic
tackles. Ask any survivor OF Har-
wards far away and long ago" team,
around the early '90s.
Hinkey practically exploded When
he hit you and so did the ball car
rier.
81 can give you three others" Lou
Little of Columbia said. Don't over
look Albie Booth Of Yale, Cotton
Warburton OF Southern California
and Dave O'Brien of Texas Chris
tan. They were all 145 or $50 pounds
of pure nitroglycerin."
O'Brien and Hinkey Tops
Among Grid Midgets
In one way young Dave O'Brien
of T. c. U. and the Philadelphia
Eagles gets the main sprig OF laurel.
I talked with Texas Davey just
before the PackerS-All Star game.
Short in stature, and none too stocky,
weighing around 148 or $50 pounds,
he looked even smaller outlined
against the two sets OF mastodons
and mammoths on each side-MuSSo
at 26O, Baby Ray at 245, and others
at 24O or 23O. He Is needle in foot
balls haystack. Yet Dave O'Brien
never has had time taken out in
three hard years at T. c. U. and
this last year, his first at = pro with
the Eagles.
AS forward passer they have
bounced his head and slender body
off the ground more than 200 times,
but he always has bounded back
with grin. He has been the rubber
ball of the gridiron. And, don't for
get, he can split line as well as
throw pass.
For one thing" O'Brien tells me,
IT know how to protect myself. I
give with the charge when they
hit me. I remain relaxed. And
maybe I was born to take it."
Davey certainly has taken his
share, doubled and redoubled. I
should say~that O'Brien and Hinkey
were the masterpieces of football
durability.
Evers, MoronyiiIe, KeeIer, .-
Kerr Took No Quorter
Baseball also has known its share
Of these magnificent midgets.
What about Johnny Evers, the
Human Splinter" Evers was
stout 118-pounder in his early Cub
days, but Johnny was a 2O0-pound
thorn in the side of John McGraw
and his Giants.
And there was Rabbit Maranville
of the Cubs and Braves, another
chunk of guncotton, who was about
the size of baseball bat.
And there was Dicky Kerr of the
White Sox, one of the few small
pitchers who could make the grade.
To keep from being waylaid and
assaulted I'll also give you Wee
Willie Keeler from a lost decade,
who was smart enough to chit 'em
where they amt"
II saw Keeler play 40 years ago
and still think he stands out as
the most scientific hitter of all time.
An old-timer by the name of Den
ton Tecumseh (Cy) Young agrees
with me.
Willie was one you couldn't FOOL"
Cy says. And Cy fooled most of
them.
Who was the all-time top of the
little fellows in boxing?
There was Jimmy Wilde, "The
Great Atom" a 105-pound hyweight
who for years whipped men who
were Is to Is pounds heavier. I
saw Wilde near the sunset of his
career when he, Bob Edgren, Jack
Wheeler and I played golf together
before his fatal battle with Pancho
Villa, the pounding Filipino, who
nailed him after the bell had rung
Wilde's frail system was loaded with
disaster for his opponents until Villa
caught him on the downward trail
You can't overlook Jack Black
burn, the Joe Louis trainer, who
fought Sam Langford seven times,
and Blackburn's top weight was 1913
pounds.
Little Blackburn Left His
Mark on Sam Lonoford
"Was old Sam carrying you?" I
asked Blackburn once.
Jack grinned. "Ask him to show
you those three missing teeth I
knocked out in our last fight" he
said.
And I'd like to give you Harry
Greb, who at 160 was whipping
Gene Tunney and Tom Gibbons and
who mauled Jack Dempsey all over
the ring in a workout. He almost
L. L..