The Wilmington morning star., 1945-11-13
Wildcats Prepare For Bulldog Encounter
YORK REVIEWS HIS
BASEBALL CAREER

I'm in Wilmington to try and
catch a deer and be sure you
don't spell it ''dear" or my wife
back in Gainesville, Ga. will kill
me, Rudy York, first baseman
of the world champion Detroit
Tigers jovially told the Whining
ton Star last night.
York, one of the leading hitters
in major league baseball history
was interviewed at the home of
E. G.. Sharpe, 1904 Perry avenue.
Sharpe was Yorks manager when
the brawny slugger, a 19-year-oA
youngster was first breaking into
baseball with the Gainesville
semi-pro baseball team.
Il never had any doubt that
Rudy would make the grade as
a major league baseball player, Z"
Sharpe said last night. Besides
his great natural baseball ability,
Rudy was quick to learn and he
soon corrected his main weak
ness, hitting against a curve bail
pitcher.
Just how well the Gainesville
lad learned to hit is borne out by
the fact that last year he broke
Babe Ruth's long-standing re-
cord of hitting the most home
runs in one month by smuggling 10
round-trippers, during August.
While playing with Fort Worth
in 1884 the big slugger belted
Texas League pitching at a res
pectable $3.50 clip and led the
while playing with the Beaumont
loop in runs batted in; in 1885
team in the same league he was
voted the most valuable in the
circuit, and led the league in runs
batted in, home runs, and several
other smuggling departments.
With the Detroit Tigers for the
past ten years he has been rated
as one of the most dangerous men
in the American League being
named to several All-League, ALL
Star teams for the annual clash
with the National league all stars.
1t was in one of these intra-
league clashes that Rudy had one
Of his biggest baseball disap-
pointm struck out with
the bases full, being fooled by a
pitch from the hand of Mace
Brown, Pittsburgh ace.
Looking back on that day York
said, Every baseball player has
to break into the big time some
day. 1t may be either a world
series game or an all-star clash
but there is time when he must
break in. needed that special
break-in and after that time, ev-
cry game was the same"
The best example 1 can give
you of that sort of thing, is our
star pitcher Hal Newhouser. Hal
was just kid last season and
when he was roughed up by the
Chicago Cubs in the first game
of the World Series, the sports
writer's wrote several stories say
ing that the Chicago team would
clinch the SERIES"
Il knew what Newhouser was
up against because of that AL
Star game. After that first try,
he was all right again and came
back to pitch very nice game
against the Cubs
Rudy has been playing baseball
all his life and he said that he
was going to continue playing as
long as he was able to play. Be-
yond that point he has made no
plans.
Asked what he would would ad-
wise youngsters who wish to play
major league baseball to do to
further their ambitions, York an
swered "Play as much ball as
you can and try to play it under
a good coach"
He praised the American Legion
for their work in junior baseball
but added "Our high schools are
not doing enough for the boys who
want to- play baseball. Everything
is either football or basketball and
baseball, our national game, is
Stuffed off into the discard"
York's first North Carolina deer
hunting venture did not prove too
successful. A deer was shot by
one of the members of the York
party but Rudy didn't get it. Ho-
well Sharpe, high school son OF
E. G. brought the deer to the
ground.
However, the Tiger first base
man is going to stay here until
he gets one himself before return
ing to his wife and three children
in Gainesville.