The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-01-16

Managers Quick Thinking
 Saved Title For Salica

revealing InSlgnt Into the subtle, mysterious, very little understood business of master minding. Many of us have imagined that it was a combination of spiritual and black occult. It turns out that it is just a pertinent and aptly turned phrase, something you just happened to think of at the moment, such as If you blow this fight, etc"
 From now on MT. Salica is go- ing to be one of our favorite per- sons. He admitted he couldn't have won without his manager. Much more effective than his left jab and right hook were those priceless words, the effect of which was, "You can't go back to Brooklyn if you lose"
 This presents master minding to us in Its real, authentic light. It is something that you and the guy next door can understand. No longer is it something akin to the Einstein the ory in intellectual bafflement. In short, it brings us closer to home in our mutual dumbnesS. Anybody can be a master mind if he just happens to be lucky enough to think up the right words at the right time.
 We can't tell you what relief this is to us. For years we have been writing sports. Very seldom have we come upon any phase of sports that seemed to be utterly mysterious. One fighter would stop another fighter, one horse would beat another horse, one ball team would beat another ball team. It all seem ed simple enough to us. The one who beat the other was better. There didn't seem to be anything mysterious about it: One guy or one team had the edge and the pay off was natural enough.
 But always the next day you would be told about the master managed crossed up the opposition by sending in, let us say, right handed batter against left handed pitcher; this manager had all the answers; he made his guy keep his guard up so he wouldn't be hit in the jaw by MT. x, a great jaw pun cher. And so on and so forth. What was the result2 You felt awfully dumb and dismal about the whole thing. You hand't realized the Napoleonic force of master mind ing.
 Human Message
 And so we repeat, MT. Salica is one of our favorite persons, or should we say MT. Caplin who had the great inspiration, "do it for Brooklyn?" This strips the little understood art down to raw naked ness. It makes 1t a thing we can all understand, nothing technical, nothing involved, simply human message Forget everything you know, just remember one thing; your pals around the corner. What could be more simple, or beautiful or warming?
 This takes us back to the day we first interviewed Babe Ruth. He was just becoming famous as a home run hitter. The magazine editor of our paper was sure there was some deep secret about it.. Here was a man who was hitting ball further than any other man had it one before, and more often. He must be freak. so tell us why, what and how. A photographer ac- companied us. He took pictures Of MT. Ruth's stance, his grip, his houlders, everything but his dark brown taste. It came time finally for us to ask him the big, vital question, what made him what he was? MT. Ruth was in batting cage at the moment swinging against practice pitching. He was very ice and courteous. What was it you said?" he asked. We repeated the editors request o, hell I just hit the ball." he answered.
 Until MT. Salica came along, con- fessing he couldn't have won with out the threat of being ostricized in Brooklyn, he had always thought that MT. Ruth's remark had done the most to def1ate master minding. Now We are this way and that way. Let's just skip the whole thing and put them down as an interesting daily double.