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6
©OMAN ■ SKIES' QOOEI*EXMETI
EDITED W S FARNSWORTH Z/ 2J V/
Tommy McMillan’s Baseball Life Began at Tech
Highlanders’ Small Shortstop Is a Natural Plaver
Ry Percy H. Whiting.
UT HEN the first Call went out
f for baseball candidates in
the spring of 1904 at the
Georgia Institute of Technology,
there wse the usual response. A
hundred or more young men turned
out—and one little boy The boy
was a clean out little shaver, in
short pants, about the size of a
half-grown bat hot
When Coach Heisman looked
them over he saw rhe makings of a
fine team —and he also noted the
kid
'T hope he doesn't get in the way
and get hurt I’ll have to eliminate
Mm at the first cut,” was Coach
Heisman’s comment.
Then followed a lot of indoor
w>rk For days the candidates
worked a* beat they could In the
mtrictn! apace of the gymnasium,
doing swcb small thing* tn the
btaaebsui line as the scant room
afforOefi.
Wban the time for the first cut
came Coach Heisman wielded the
pruning knife with recklee« aban
don. •* usual. But when be came
to the name of the kid he didn't
use it.
I«um f II sea that boy work in
the open,” wae hie comment.
Another cut came. And then th*
final cane
When the first game was played
the smallest man <tn the squad was
at short Mop He bail shown such
a positive genius for baseball that
he had stuck through.
The name of the boy was Tommy
McMillan.
• • •
NT OW. Tommy McMillan was un
doubtedly the very littlest boy
who ever got on a real varsity
team in the South. He won his
place because he could bat fairly
well, because he could field excel
lently, and moat particularly be
cause he had a baseball mind
‘McMillan has.” aaya Coach
Heisman, who perhaps knows him
better than any other man. "that
rare faculty of knowing where a
ball is going to be hit. He seems
to give the matter no thought. No
doubt he divines the thing by I lie
working of his subconscious mind
Given a batter he knows and given
some hint of what is to be pitched
to him and he can come nearer to
telling where it Is going to be hit
than any living man who lias ever
<<>me under my observation"
It Is this faculty that has given
McMillan positions on three big
league teams and that has made
him. with the sole and glowingly
brtlliyu exception of Willie Keeler,
ball player of his
’ > Jjpmes Who ever graced a diamond
• • •
'J' HE faculty of knowing where
a ball was going to be hit was
McMillan's most troublesome weak
ness at first. When he figured out
that the sphere was going to be hit
between first and second he didn't
hesitate at all to run over back
of the pitcher and take ft away
from the second baseman
And this peculiarly Irritated the
second baseman—who was, the
year McMillan broke in. that eg
cellent performer Fred Richardson
It took all of Richardson's patience
and all of Coach Heisman's author
ity to confine McMillan's activities
to a territory about twice as large
as any other shortstop in the
Southern college world covered.
And to this day he can come as
near to playing the entire infield
unassisted as anybody you ever
saw.
• • •
JUST how diminutive M< Millan
was in his first year is hard to
realize. Coach Heisman estimates
tfcat at the time he was probably
five feet, five inches tall and that
he weighed perhaps 110 to 115
pounds.
How younfc he was is best illus
trated by a story told by one of
his team mates that year.
The Tech team was off on a trip,
it doesn't matter particularly
where: and after a game the boys
went out for an evening at a girls'
college.
Tommy was the first man home
ami he was particularly glum
"What's the mattei "" he was
asged on his return
"Aw. those gills make me tired,"
said Tommy
He was pressed sot partlculai s
"Why, confound it." .-(id Tom
my. "one of 'em wanted to kiss
me."
Whereupon he went indignantly
to bed
• • •
npOMMY required a world of
• coaching nd he got it. Final
ly by agreeing io let him play two
oi thit*< extra inning> after the
game was over, all by himself. they
got him confined inside h normal
territoiy And aft u that he began
tn electrify the college world with
his performances
J remember his first appearam e
In Nashville, u here I wa> then
writing sports foi the lamented
Nashville r>ail\ Npws. Tommy w
the heio of a brilliant series with
Vundmbih. His small sizt and Ins
w -n.« rful work luaut liim paiti* j-
Ik.
larly conspicuous, but one play he
made stands out above all the rest.
A ball was hit toward left field.
It was a liner and normally a sure
hit Tommy turned with the crack
of the bat. ran without looking at
the hall to left field, stole one
glance at the rapidly approachng
leather, and with his back toward
the home plate hi- jumped an in
credible distance into the air and
speared the ball.
It may not sound spectacular,
but Coach Heisman calls it the
greatest fielding play he ever saw
on a college diamond, and I'm well
content to agree with him in the
verd let.
• • •
A VOI.HME could be filled with a
narration of Tommy's wonder
ful stunts. Once In a game at
* lemson. with Tech leading in the
last of the ninth, two out. two
men on bases and the score 5 to .3
In Tech's favor, a nasty fly was hit
back of shortstop. McMillan start
ed back after it and just as he
was slowing down and settling
himself for the catch he stumbled
and fell. There was no time to get
up. no time to do anything but
throw himself full length and
stretch out his hands. This he did,
and. lying flat on the ground on
bis back and with his fiands be
yond his head at full length, he
caught the ball, retired the side and
saved the game
Probably no incident of his col
lege career showed better his in
nate baseball instinct than one
which happened when the Tech
team was playing at Spartanburg
with the Wofford college team
Tech had a grand team that year
with Lafitte and Day as twirl
era—and it won 23 out of 2fi games.
The Jackets had just made a clean
run of 12 straight wins and en
tered the thirteenth game with
some superstitious misgivings, it
was a blustery day. with a gusty
young hurricane blowing into the
faces of the fielders. The diamond
was skinned and sandy and to com
plicate matters the ground keeper
had used overmuch lime on the
lines
With the score 3 to 1 in Tech's
favor in the eighth Inning
and with men on second and
third bases, the times were
tense, The batter hit the first ball
pitched a mighty wallop towaril
McMillan. And as he did so the
worst gust of the day swept a cou
ple of cartloads of dirt, sand and
lime down across the field and
right toward McMillan. The murky
blanket reached the clever little in
fielder before the ball did
The situation looked hopeless No
man could see through the curtain
of lime and dirt.
Yet suddenly, out of the middle
of the miniature whirlwind, the
ball shot, straight into the first
baseman's hands, thi runner was
out and the side retired.
As McMillan came back to the
bench he was pawing at his eyes
and almost blind.
"'3 ell, how In the Dickens did
you see that ball .” Coach Heisman !
asked.
"Aw, I didn't see it." replied
McMillan lightly f just knew
where it was coming and put my
hands out and It jumped in."
Well, how did you manage to
throw it to first you couldn't see,
could you ' Coach Heisman per
sisted.
"See naw." said McMillan Hut
don t you suppose I know where
first is?"
\V HKN finished his <ol
»V | eife course hp decided on
baseball ns his profession. Ami
Bernie McCgy grabbed him and
took him to the Baton Rouge dull,
where in- played his first profes
sional season in 190(>. batting .187
ami fielding .872—n0 very brilliant
performance. The next year, at
Jacksonville, under the leadership
of the eruptive Dominick Mulla
ney and playing then on the same
Cracker, he came nearer to his
club with Vedder Sitton, a present
normal gait, batting 236 and lead
ing the shortstops of me league
with an average of .931
The year 1908 was McMillans
i>i in the South. Though his re.
ords were not ns good as the pre
vious year (batting ,2c.. fielding
818> Pat Donovan looked him o\er
carefully w bile his Brookly n tt am
l l g in th« South amt in
the fall lie grabbed him
M. Millan continued his s.-ns.i
tional ti.dditig In the National
league and showed a mark of Mil
in 105 games with Brooklyn. His
hatting average, how.we . was but
.212.
The following yeai 1910, McMil
lans batting slumped and Brook
lyn asked waivers on him Cin
cinnati aimed him His batting
mark for that -eason was only
183. but tin- fielding was .921 anil
he ranked with such men as
Sweeney, of Boston. Fletcher. of
New lot k Downey, of Cincinnati,
ami Zimmerman, of Chicago
That yen- it decided to nd
him to the Eastern league But
Brook > n wanted him for the Roch
ester team, while ('lark Griffith. ‘
then with Cincinnati wanted to
send him to tin rescue of Bill
Smith at Buffalo After a big
wrangle, in which Ebbets was fined
foi sending him to Rochester with
out getting waives. Tommy fin
shod oat '.' ' - son in t-. Nation-
l.ast Ml.' Ebbets n.mig,,- m sw i
M< M. ~n to Rochester in time for
I’TIE ATLXXTA GEOKG FAN *NP NEWS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1912
ntrr to p'ay 24 games at shortstop.
In Eastern league company Tommy
fielded .91(1 and batted .279.
This y. al McMillan got a gland
start with Rochester. So brilliant
was his work that Harry Wolver
ton bought him a couple of weeks
ago and h<- has joined the High
landers. When he left the Intel
national league he was batting .301)
and was far and away the best
s’hortstop in the organization.
What M Millan will be able to
accomplish in the American league
is uncertain. If anything inter
feres with his su(-os's, it will be
his alarming lack of size. Barring
that, he has everything that goes
to make a ball player.
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SPEARING A HIGH LINER
Here is another one of Percy
11. Whitings sparkling stories
on Georgia box s who <rre mak
ing good in baseball. Mr.
Whiting witnessed McMillan
in ateion while Little Tommy
played with the Tech team, and
in tin* storv describes immv
sensational pla v s the wee one
made while a member nf the
Yellow .la.-kels
RIOT WHEN MONTE ATTELL
FOULS BENNIE CHAVIZ
, I'RINIDAD. |(t , , ,
<. Ia x fz. (»f I i i'i 11:.i. \v;< >a\\ a r<t« . ;Lu (H i
c»sion uvti Monti* \ttvll. of San I'ran
cisuo, on a (onl. m ihv twelfth round ot I
a giitrllirg fight !»■’<
I‘pli\(i\ of the toll! laused wild excite- I
nteni SjHH t at ors crowded into the ring ,
and the platform . nllapsed. hut j.o <.ne I
was Injured
HOUSTON CLUB LANDS
TEXAS LEAGUE PENNANT
Las ’ \ Sei Hu T- xas :
son < • ■ . , ' ,
with lb aston it: first j’ace. San Kntoni. j
S ''', , ,n ,' i 'Villi'; Ourlh.
H 'ti'.t. n gained the had . arlx in lime
and retained ms’ r ; ntii thr •rd i
\itstiv fit;!s!.e< fifth, c.alxoi.n sixth
Fort Worth stvynth anti Beaumont last
Here's Tom McMillan
In a Yankee Uniform
7
, J
/
Here's How Crackers
Are Hitting the Ball
Right Up to Date
These avurages include vosterday s dou
| hie li’ll with Memphis
1 Players— G. AB. R. H. AV.
Price, p i i o i ,-,00
’ Harbison, ss . . . 71 24R LS 70 2.52
I Alperman. Lb.. ’•;■*. 403 4-.. L 7!»
i Bailed If 120 435 79
I Agh-r. 11 . ... 61 JO3 34 54
H'allahan. cf ..84 IIS 30 Sj ::.’8
! Graham. <■ 60 185 17 15 .243
I MeElve*‘n. 3b . . . 130 470 52 111 ,2-’t‘>
! Becker, p 15 35 2 7 .2 0
| Reynolds <• . . 22 68 II 14 .2'6
( W olfe, utility .. .. 16 42 5 7 .167
; Brady, p. ... 22 d • 2 11 ,15!«
| Sil ton. p. . 37 ’Li 11 jo j
1 -lobt son. p 7 14 o 1 071
iWahlotf, p. .. 10 25 0 1 CIO
I he Big Race
Here is the up-to-the-minute dope on
hew the "Big Five” hatters of the
American league ar e hitting:
player— a i a. '
467 19? 41|“
SPEAKER . 491 155 .397
JACKSON 475 175 .368
COLLINS 442 147 .333
LAJOIE 342 11' .325
Tris Speaker lost five points yester
day when he isiled to get a single safe I
| swat against the New Yo k pitchers in
I six times at bat. On the other hand.:
Ty Cobb gained a point by grabbing '
two hits in four times up. Jackson was i
up six times and garnered two safeties.!
Collins grabbed one hit in an even doz
;cn chances. Lajoie hit .500 for the day. j
He was up six times and made three i
hits. 1
Waldorf and Price Force Turtles Twice to Defeat
No, ’Tis No Falsehood! Crackers Did Win Two
MIRACLES are popularly
supposed to have gone out
of fashion. < Jceasionally
"' hear of psvehic phenomena, but
This shows Wee Tommy slamming out a long hit to center.
McMillan has been hitting well since joining the New York team,
and is leading off for the Hilltop crew.
j FODDER FOR FANS
—— ■' * —• ■
> VVI a credit Birmingham is entitl <
, th:.- \».tr gut * mostly to tHe pitchers.
They wi.n the garner *u the ‘ lull-Baren
I set ies that stalled off Mike Finn’s rush
| ami riir.ehed' the rag.
I No warder the Pelicans are nowhere.
■ Cteorgo t: he is their leading batter
J One reason why the proposed round
; th.t'-w tld trip of the Giants is flickering
; is because M Gr.iw wanted all the players
; i who were to go tt. put up a big deposit to
; I gUi'r.mtee Hg- financial suce ess of the as
; I fi'-ir. ’This listers like a dirge to H ball
J Player.
(’\.\h:ga!i was rung in the -ih.er dav
'|< n an amateur Ham at Bryn Mawr. It
was claying in ota- . f these sass\ sociotx
leagues and when the r*al truth leaked
1 I out there was much uawsty talk.
limmv (’ullnhan is talking of taking
1 s to H( j Springs t<al., not Ark.. >
tor training next spring. They haw sal
plmr w.iit r there ami it is said to in gr» at
I for wha t ails \on
« * •
Thi vTe having a m w wing .o! t . |
I the \: lit* cton hotel at lit
iL* special accomim.i alion of tin ' oung i
pitchers John McGraw is rourcing up
sawn is sort of trying to corner the •
market.
'lT.<■ !■<",>.» 1 that Connie Mack would I
give >•10.000 tor another pit< her as good ;
| as Bender seems incredibh
■
Pennants f ollow new ball parks ’ .
big league hui.cii In the big lragm <I. . k
it the I ted Sex this - ar. Pirato m g ; .
the Athletics the >ear Shibe park was:
• ij’pned. ’file Giants landed the ve ar
Brush stadium was renovated ‘| n the
Southern. Atlanta wen a rag mightv soon
after IMneo DeLeon was opened Bir
mingham grabbe i one .tftei the new Rick i
"as -or. a Blbl lhe Pelicans.
‘>r<!igrt one t< th?ir new park
I 5i id i Lei s have a new ball park •
We <. n net . one, b it might yhange’
they are rare and often not well
authenticated.
This being trye. it behooves the
Society of Psychical Research to
look into the fact that the Atlan
ta team, lowliest of Southern
league tail-enders. grabbed both
’ our luck.
♦ • ♦
brom I ynn. Mass . comes the storv that
1 a “ n-\• . r-old boy batted a fly hall w ith
sm'h lore* that it knocked over a tele
graj’h j-ole Either they have mightv
weak po’cs or mighty strong liars up
Lynn-way.
» ♦ *
Mike Simon, the I’ittsbnrg catcher, has
. tnaue only two errors this year.
, Hans Wagner has denied (lie report
that ho is io i. tire after this year. "I'm
too oid to learn any other business. " said
Hans, v, Feu questioned, "and vet thev sav
I m not too oltl to play baseball "
* * *
(‘lark. Griffith's chase of the Red s ( ,X
this y ar reminds one .(hat it isn't his
Ih st fruitless, attempt to overhaul the
The famous pennant that
!' >! O a -ir.glo wild pitch- the t'a
!”"!(■■ ''UH ' f hi! U (Tesbro's found a
I imilleril lesimg place al (he Red Sox
|mrk
CAROLINA LEAGUE RAG
IS WON BY ANDERSON
CHARLOTTE. 2S F s< pt. 3 -The
p arolitia association dosed its fifth suc
' '' tson y( sterday with Anderson
i witining the pennant. Winston-Salem
ind ( l.arlotte elm., followed in order.
' And. > soi.'e | ereentage was .ili'iu; Win
snt-S.ilem's .-,73. and Charlotte's,
•' , ' l Roth ('harlotte and Winston-Sa -
. lent won morning and afternoon games
! 1,111 Anderson and Greensboro re- I
. spei tively.
I ' Andetsor team has been in the |
i'ad since May 25. but clinched the pen- |
mint only .i fev days ago by defeating
pie. :sive'v \v nston and charlotte in the
| critical s. ries. Tin rar, between Win.
ston tnd Ch otte for st eond place has
been on for a month.
games of a double-header here yes
terday afternoon from Bernhards
furtles. The scores wore 3 to 1
and 4 to 1.
It can be demonstrated beyond
any question that this thing actu
ally happened. Not less than 5.000
fans saw it transpire—and mar
veled.
The crowd which celebrated a
torrid Labor day by jou-neying to
Ponce DeLeon was one of the
smallest holiday crowds that At
lanta ever saw. The fans figured
that there was no use in going out
to the ball park to be miserable.
They could get that anywhere—
and at a lower price. Those that
did come out were treated to as
tine an exhibition of baseball as
one would rare to seo.
Crackers Played Like Champs.
It wasnt any especial disgrace
for the Turtles to los They were
up against pennant baseball. The
( nickers w ere w eakened by the ab
sence front the game of th< ir stead,
iest hitter. Whitey Alperm,in. They
used on the slab In the first game
Rudolph Waldorf, who hasn't von
a game since base hits were in
vented. and in the second a new
i inner. Price.
Both pitches worked like de
mons. Each allowed a scant four
hits and it took c.erythlng in the
i urt lf shop to send one runnt r
across In eneli g.nne.
In the first contest Bernhard
slipped in his Angular and fre
-1 cntly effective southjiaw. Doe
Norton. I’he doctor couldn’t hive
/I (bored more industriously if he
had been operating on a million
aire patient. Somehow all his pre
scriptions failed. H> wasn't regu
larly lambasted. Bui what hap
pened to him was enough.
Fcrsuson Was Dead Easy.
!u the second garni Ferguson
took tie hurling assignment and
| it proved a tough one. The Crack
ers biffed him vig, rously. and. w hat
was worse, his support was pttne
-lured.
(tight op" titc reel things began
to break badlv for the hurler. With
two tueaed away. Harbison sin
s|,*i. I hen lie stole second. Gra
ham struck out and the ball got
Ir- Seabough, just as one of Gra
ham's tlii'd strikes had sneaked
ay from Tonneman in the pre
cis game. Harbison went to
third <m the passed ball. Where
upon Seabough picked up the pel
let and hurled it over Bales' head.
Harbison started in on this punk
peg. hut Crandall fielded the wild
throw neatly and threw to the
plate. I’he ball was in Seabough's
hands and he would have had Har
bison by a mile if he had held it.
But he didn't. And the Cracker
shortstop tallied. If it had been
within the rules to give a player
t o errors on a play which allowed
■ i lumit'r io advßTicp on? bas?, Spa
bough \Vould have got them.
In tile next inning came a play
u i)i( h mane Pitcher Perguson enn
sidor himself a badly abused man.
After he had allowed McElveen.
Reynolds and Callahan to single,
scoring McElveen, and after Wolfe
liad fanned. Price, who was pitch
ing for the Crackers, slipped
hook down between Bales and the
thi d .-ack. At least, that's where
I mpiro Dan Pfenninger said it
went. Reynolds and Callahan tal
lied and the game was lost. (>f
course, Ferguson protested like a
major and swore-and-be-cussed if
it was a fair ball. But Pfenninger.
having no other alternative, stuck
by his decision. This decision took
the heart out of the Turtles and
while they worked well enough de
ft nsively they could only get
through with one run.
An Indian No Longer.
Much of the Crackers’ success
in the second game was due to the
useful hurling of Pitcher Price.
Ihis man has been barnstorming
this season with the Nebraska In
dians, of which tribo he is not a
bona tide member, being an Irish
man by Inheritance and an Ameri
can by birth. As an Indian, he
workert-tinder the name of Schcgg.
but having returned to civilization,
he has resumed his own cog. Hp
has had a bit of league experience
in the South Michigan league. Ho
hurled cleverly against Memphis,
and if he can continue the speed
he showed, will be heard from,
even if he is hooked up with a
rather slow organization.
BATTLING NELSON WINS
FROM STEVE KETCHEL
ST. IOSEPH. MO., Sept 3.—Battling
X'clsun beat Steve Ketchel, of Chicag>
in fifteen rounds here Nelson displays
flashes of the old-time form that ma<
him famous. He worked both hands free
ly to Ket< hel's body, and in return to"
many blows in the face. Ketchel vxa
floored in the eleventh round, but cam
up gainelj . Ketchel had the better of tw
rounds and Nelson of six. The other
were even
BASEBALL
WEDNESDAY
ATLANTA vs. MEMPHIS
Ponce DeLeon Park
Game called 3:30.
