Evening star., 1953-03-29
Heart Attack Fatal to Thorpe,
CenturyIs Greatest Athlete


cradle of professional football. !"
He had assembled q team there
in 1915.
Sought Return Of Medals.
"A Congressional subcommittee
decided to see what could be
done toward having Thorpe's
Olympic medals restored to him.
One member said 1t was 'ridicu-
lous and absurd for the medals
to be taken ruthlessly on a
.technicality."
1.-THE restoration Of the med
ais" said Branch Hickey, gem
eral manager of the Pittsburgh
Pirates. will have the quick ap-
proval Of mature sportsmen
throughout the world"
After Thorpe finished school,
several major league clubs bid
for his services. The New York
Giants finally paid him a re-
ported 5000 to sign. This did
not prove q happy choice for
Thorpe, however.
Manager John McGraw, it
seems, didn't like college boys"
very much to begin with. And
Old Jim-he always referred to
himself that way-Soon worsened
matters by hurting one of Nc
Graw'S most valued pitchers in
a friendly wrestling match.
Thereafter, Thorpe was under
explicit orders not to touch a
teammate in play. He always
complained that McGraw never
gave him a real chance to be-
come a regular in the outfield.
There was legend that Jim
couldn't hit a curve. Thorpe
denied that by pointing to his
batting average during his last
year (1919 in the majors.
In two games with New York
that year he hit 1888, and in so
with Boston 1927.
II must have hit a few curves, Z"
he observed.
His 1919 mark was far and
away the best hitting Thorpe did
in the big time with the Giants,
Cincinnati and finally the Boston
Braves. Mostly he had difficulty
in getting his average above .250.
But as his admirers pointed
out. the mere fact that he stuck
in the National League for six
seasons, even though not a
regular. indicated he was pretty
good. The most games he played
in any one season was II with
Cincinnati in 1917.
Twin Brother Died.
Thorpe was born in a one-room
log cabin near Shawnee, Okla,
May %. 1888. one of twin boys.
The twin brother died at the age
of 8. Jim's mother gave him the
Indian tribal name Of Wa-Tho-
Huck or Bright Path. From his
fathers side he inherited the
Irishman's love of combat. That
combined well with the speed,
cunning and grace of his In
dian forbears.
Thorpe's paternal grandfather
was an Irishman who took as his
bride a granddaughter of the
famous Sac and Fox warrior,
Chief Black Hawk, for whom the
Black Hawk wars of 1881 were
named. Thorpe's mother was an
Indian.
Ignored Training Rules.
Nobody will ever know just how
good Thorpe could have been in
any sport if he had been geared
to do his best at all times. Hab-
itually, he called upon his great
natural skill just sufficiently to
win, and he never saw a training
rule he couldn't break into small
fragments.
Pop Warner. who rose to
coaching fame when he had
Thorpe and other Indian greats
at Carlisle, always said Jim was
the perfect player except for one
little thing-he was lazy.
Once in a tight game, Warner
recalled. the opposition threw a
long pass into the territory
Thorpe was protecting. Jim, he
said, made no effort to knock it
down, but watched entranced
while an opposing end raced to
take it on his f1nger-tips for a
touchdown.
Thorpe" Warner screamed,
"why didn't you knock it DOWN."
Coach" the Indian grinned,
IT didn't think he could reach it,"