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pKSKHAT WOW fflyEW * EXBUF Tommy McMillan’s Baseball Life Began at Tech ■?•••> 4-*4" ■?*•*£■ .»*•?’ -:-•■!• -I-e-I- Highlanders’ Small Shortstop Is a Natural Player ' By Percy 11. Whiting. T T THEN the first call went out VV for baseball candidates tn the spring of 1904 at the Georgia Institute of Technology, there was the usual response. A hundred or more young men turned out —and one little boy. The boy f was a clean cut little shaver, in short pants, about the size of a half-grown bat boy. When Coach Heisman looked them over he saw the makings of a fine team —and he also noted the kid "I hope he doesn’t get in the way and get hurt. I’ll have to eliminate him at the first cut,’’ was Coach Heisman’s comment. Then followed a lot of indoor work. For days the candidates worked as best they could in the restricted space of the gymnasium, doing such small things in the baseball line as the scant room afforded. When the time for the first cut came Coach Heisman wielded the pruning knife with reckless aban don, as usual. But when he came to the name of the kid he didn't uso it. “I guess m see that boy work In the open," was his comment. Another cut came. And then ths final one. Whan the first game was played the smallest man on the squad was at shortstop. He had shown such a positive genius for baseball that he had stuck through. The name of the boy was Tommy McMillan. M• • • x; OW, Tommy McMillan was un ’ doubtedly the very Utt lest boy who ever got on a real varsity team In th* South. He won his place because he could bat fairly well, because he could field excel lently, and most particularly be cause he had a baseball mind. “McMillan ha*," nays Coach Heistman, who perhape knows him better than any other man, "that rare faculty of knowing whore a ball is going to be hit. He seems to #iw the matter no thought. No doubt he divines the thing by the working of his subconeclous mind. <liven a batter he knows and given some hint of what is to be pitched to him and lie can come nearer to telling where It ia going to be hit than any living man who has ever come under my observation." It Is this faculty that has given McMillan positions on three big league teams and that lias made him, with the sole and glowingly brilliant exception of Willie Keeler, the greatest bail player of his inches who ever graced a diamond. • • • THE faculty of knowing wtiere a ball wm going to be hit was McMillan's most troublesome weak ness at first. When he figured out th*t the srtiare was going to be hit between first and second he didn't hesitate st aU to run over back of th* pltotisr and tsks it away front tile second bneem&n. And thio peenrtarty Irritated the second bweman- -who was. the year Me Millan broke tn, that ex cellent performer Fr«d Richardson, n took all of Richardson's patience •nd eJi of Coach Heisman's author ity to confine McMillan's activities to a territory about twice ae large as any other shortstop in the Rooibem college world covered. And to this day he can come as near to playing the entire infield unassisted jut anybody you ever •aw • * • JXJST how diminutive McMillan waa it) hie first year is hard to realize. Coach Heisman estimates that st the time he ™ probably five fleet, five Inches tall and that he weighed perhape 110 to 115 pounds. How young he Is best illus trated by a story told by one of his team mates that year. The Tech team wae off on a trip, it doesn't matter particularly where; and after a game the boys went out for an evening at a girls’ jc ollege. Tommy was the first man home and he was particularly glum "What’s the matter?" he was asked on his return. Aw. those girls make me tireqj,” said Tommy. , He was pressed for particulars "Why, confound it.'* said Tom in), "one of ’em wanted to kiss mi-.'' Wheieupon he went indignantly tn bed. • • • epOMMV required a world of 1 coaching —and he got it. Final ly. by agreeing to let him play two or three extra innings after the game was over, all by himself, they got him confined inside a normal territory Ami after that he began to electrify the college world with his (>erformanees- I remember his first appearance In Nashville, w here I was then writing sports for the lamented Nashville I tail) News Tommy was the hero of a brilliant series with Vanderbilt His small size and his wonderful work made him particu- larly conspicuous, but one play he made stands out above-all the rest. A ball was hit tbward 1< ft field. It was a liner and normally a sure hit. Tommy turned with the crack of the bat. ran without looking at the ball, to left field, stole one glance at the rapid!' appro.ichng leather, and with his back toward the home plate he jumped an in credible instance into Ihe all- and speared the ball. It may not sound spectacular, but Coach Heisman calls it the greatest fielding play he evi-r saw on a college diamond, and I’m well content to agree with him in the verdict. A VOLUME could be filled with a '* narration of Tommy's wonder ful stunts. Once in a game at Clemson, 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 hfs hands. This he did. and lying flat on the ground on his back and with his hands 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 twin ers- -and It won 23 out of 26 games. The .rackets hail 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 bad used overmuch Hine on the lines. With the score 3 to 1 In Tech’s favor in the eighth inning and with men on second ami third basen, the times were tense. The batter hit the first ball pitched a mighty wallop toward 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, the runner was out and the side retired. As McMillan came back to the bench he was pawing at his eyes and almost blind. "Well, how In the Dickens did you see that ball?” Coach Heisman asked "Aw, I didn’t see it,” replied McMillan lightly. “t lust 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. "But don’t you suppose I know where first is?” • • • • lIfHEN McMillan finished his col ’ ’ lege course he decided on baseball as his profession. And Bernie McCay grabbed him and took him to the Baton Rouge club, where he played his first profes sional season in 1906. batting .187 and 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 hie club with Vedder Sitton, a present normal gait, batting .258 and lead ing the shortstops of the league with an average of .934. The year 1908 was McMillan's hist In the South Though his rec ords were not as good as the pre vious year (batting .217. fielding .918). Pat Donovan looked him over carefully while his Brooklyn team was training in th. South and in the fall he grabbed him. McMillan continued bls sensi tlonal fielding In the National league and showed a mark of 914 tn 105 games with Brooklyn. His batting average, however, was but .212, The following year, 1910,■ McMil lan's battim* slumped and Brook lyn asked waivers on him. Cin cinnati claimed him. His batting mark for that season was only 183. but bls fielding was .921; and iie ranked with such men as Sweetie), of Boston. Fletcher, of N w York; Downey, of Cincinnati, and Zimmerman, of Chicago, Fli.it year it was decided to send hint to the Eastern league. But Brooklyn wanted him for the Roch • st, i team, while Clark Griffith, then with Cincinnati, wanted to sene, him to the rescue of Bill Smith at Bufialo. After a big wrangle, in which Ebbets was fined sot sending him to Rochester with out getting waivers. Tommy fin ished out th< season in the Nation- Las'. year Ebbets managed to get McMillan to Rochester in time for ATLANTA GEOKGIAN ANIWA’S, TFESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3. 1912. him to play 24 gamek at shortstop. In Eastern league company Tommy fielded .201 and batted .279. This \ea: .McMillan got a grand Start with Rochester. So brilliant was his work that Harry Wolver ton lm.tg.it him a couple of weeks ago a <1 he has joiner the High landers. When lie left tin- Inti r natlonp! league he was batting .300 .’nd was’far ami a wav the best shortstop in the organization. Who McMillan will be able to accomplish in thK American league is uncertain. if athing inter feres with his success, it will be hfs alarming lack of size. Barring that, he has everything that goes to make a ball player. w x. Lk- — hSF' vR.. I *Ft ; wdo / H? .’.I Z&ie Hk\ \v'W *FTw 1 * ■ ;yr. I. y wfc\ ba’ / z . ; a " * f .. y y”’// ' / It ■ • / A s ■' - ■>' y> y y-y*< : ~ /f** /• IF / / A# / ' / \ " IJgjgz Mr / L SPEARING A HIGH LINER. Here is another one of Percy H. Whiting’s sparkling stories on Georgia boys who are mak ing good in baseball. Mr. Whiting witnessed McMillan in ateion while Little Tommy played with the Tech team, and in this story describes many sensational plays the wee one made while a member of the Yellow -Jackets. RIOT WHEN MONTE ATTELL FOULS BENNIE CHAVIZ TKIXII COGO., Sent. 3 Bennie Chaviz. of Trinitiad. was awarded the de cision over Monte At tell, of San Eran cisco, on a foul. In the twelfth round of a gruelling tight here. I‘elivery of the foul caused wild excite ment Spectators crowded into the ring and the platform collapsed, but no one was injured. HOUSTON CLUB LANDS TEXAS LEAGUE PENNANT !>.\l.Jj.\S. TKX Sept 3 The 'Texas league seasoh of 1912 ■ nded yesterday, with Houston in first place, San Antonio seonit'. W aco third and I‘alias fourth. Houston gn’ned the had early in June and r< tained first position unt’i the end. Austin linishvd fifth, Galveston sixth, Fort Worth seventh and Beaumont last. Here's Tom McMillan In a Yankee Uniform / ‘ ■ - / i / Here's How Crackers Are Hitting the Ball Right Up to Date These avnrag» s include yesterday's dou ble bill with Memphis: Players— G. AB. R. H. AV. Price, p 1 2 0 I .500 Harbison, ss . . 71 248 28 70 .282 Alperman. 2b123 403 01 129 .279 Bailey. If 125 435 79 120 .270 Agler. lb 61 203 34 54 .266 Callahan, cf 84 318 30 82 .258 Graham, c->0 185 17 45 .243 McElveen. 3b .. .130 470 52 111 .236 Becker, p 15 35 2 7.200 Reynolds, c 22 68 11 14 .206 Wolfe, utility .... 16 42 5 7 .167 Brady, p 22 G“ 2 11 .159 Sitton, p 27 64 II 10 .150 Johnson, p 7 • 14 0 1 .071 Waldorf, p 10 25 0 I .040 r - , Fhe Big Race Here is the up-to-the-minute dope on how the “Big Five” batters of the American league are hitting: Toplayer— a. b. h. COBB .7, 467 192 .411 SPEAKER 491 195 .397 JACKSON 475 175 .368 COLLINS 442 147 .333 LA JOI E 342_ 111 .325 Tris Speaker lost five points yester day when he failed to get a single safe swat against the New Yo r k pitchers in six times at bat. On the other hand, Ty Cobb gained a point by grabbing two hits in four times up. Jackson was up six times and garnered two safeties. Collins grabbed one hit in an even doz en chances. Lajoie hit .500 for the day. He was up six times and made three hits. Waldorf and Price Force Turtles Twice to Defeat No, ’Tis No Falsehood! Crackers Did Win Two MIRACLES are popularly supposed to have gone out o? fashion. Occasionally we hear of psychic phenomena, but This shows Wee Tommy slammiro- cut a long hit to center. McMillan has been hitting Well since joining the New York team, and is leading off for the Hilltop crew. I FO DD E R FO R FA N S 1— , What credit Birmingham Is entitled tn tb.i: year goes mostly to the pitchers. ’They won the gaxhes in the Gull-Baron series that stalled off Mike Finn’s rush and clinched the rag. • • • No wonder the Pelicans are nowhere. George Kobe is their leading batter. • * • One reason why the proposed round tlie-w-rhi trip of the Giants is fiicltering is because McGraw wanted all the players who were to go to put up a big deposit to guarantee the finhm la - ees ol the af t.iir. This listens like a to a ball player. * * ♦ t’y Morgan was rung in flip other day on an amateur team at Bryn Mawr. It was playing in one of these sassy society leagues and when the real truth leaked out there was much nawsty talk. ♦ ♦ * Jimmy Callahan is talking of taking his team to Hot Springs (Cai., not Ark..) for training next spring They have sul phur water there and it is said to be great for what ails you. • • • Th?) re having a new wing added to the Arlington hotel, at Marlin, Tex., for the special accommodation of the young pitchers John McGraw is rounding up. •lawn Is sort of trying to corner the market. • • • The report that Fonnie Mack would ghe *IO.OOO for another pitcher as good as Bender seems incredible. * • » "Pennants follow new ball parks' is a big league hum h. In ti e big leagu- s look at the Ped Sox this year. Pirates in V.iOu. the Athletics the year Shibe park was opened. The Giants landed the year the Brush stadium war renovated. In the Southern. Atlanta won a rag mighty soon after Ponce DeLeon was opened. Bir mingham grabbed one after the new Rick wood was opened, and the Pelicans .brought one to their new park. • • • Morat Let's have a new ball park. We don't ..wed one, but it might change they are rare and often not well authenticated. This being true, it behooves the Society of Psychical Research to look into the- fact that the Atlan ta team, lowliest of Southern league tuil-enders, grabbed both > our luek. ... From Lynn. Mass., comes the storv that 1 a ten-year-old boy batted a fly ball with such force that it knocked over a tele graph. pole. Either they have mighty weai. poles or mightv strong liars up Lynn-way. • « • Mike Simon, the Pittsburg catcher, has , made only two errors this year. » « * « , Hans Wagner has denied the report . that he is to retire after this vear. "I'm 1 too old to learn any other business," said Hans, when questioned, “and yet they say I'm not too old to play baseball.” * * '« . Clarke Griffith's chase of the Red Sox ‘ this year reminds one that it isn't his , first fruitless attempt to overhaul the Bostonians. The famous pennant that Grifi lost by a single wild pitch the fa mous hurl of Jack Chesbro’s—found a : permanent resting place at the Red Sox 1 park. CAROLINA LEAGUE RAG IS WON BY ANDERSON J CHARLOTTE, N. C.. Sept. 3-The I Carolina association closed its fifth suc j cesslve season yesterday with Anderson i winning the pennant. Winston-Salem | and Charlotte clubs followed in order. I Anderson’s percentage was .600; Wln ston-Salem's. .573, and Charlotte’s, 1.570. Both Charlotte and Wlnston-Sa : leni won morning and afternoon games . ! from Anderson and Greensboro, re ■ . spectively. The Anderson team has been in the lead rince May 25. but clinched the pen nant only a few days ago by defeating decisively Winston and Charlotte in the critical series. The race between Win ston and Charlotte for second place has been on for a month. games of a double-header here v<. .. terday afternoon from Bernhard. Turtles. The scores were 3 to 1 and 4 to 1. It can be demonstrated beyond any question that this thing actu ally happened. Not less than 5 or,, fans saw It transpire—and mar veled. The crowd which celebrated a torrid Labor day by journeying . Ponce DeLeon was one of smallest holiday crowds that (• 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 a? fine an exhibition of baseball as one would care to see. Crackers Played Like Champ,. It wasn't any especial disgrace for the Turtles to lose. They w ?re up against pennant baseball. The Crackers were weakened by the ab sence from the game of their stead iest hitter. Whitey Alperman. Thev used on the slab in the first game Rudolph Waldorf, who hasn’t won a game since bas.e hits were in vented, and in the second a new. comer. Price. Both pitchers worked like de mons. Each allowed a scant four hits and it took everything in the Turtle shop to send one runner across in each game. In the first contest Bernhard slipped in his angular and fre quently effective southpaw, d oc Newton. The doctor couldn't have labored more industriously if | IP had been operating on a million aire patient. Somehow all his pre scriptions failed. He wasn't regu larly lambasted. But what hap. pened to him was enough. Ferguson Was Dead Easy. In the second game Ferguson took the hurling assignment and it proved a tough one. The Crack i ers biffed him vigorously, and. what was worse, his support was punc tured. Right off the reel things be?an to break badly for the hurler. With two tucked away, Harbison sin gled. Then he stole second. Gra ham struck out and the ball got by Seabough, just as one of Gra b-'m’s third strikes had sneaked •v from Tonneman in the pre ■s game. Harbison went to third on the passed ball. Where upon Seabough picked up th“ pel let and hurled it over Bales' head Harbison started In on this punk peg, but Crandall fielded the wild throw neatly and threw to the plate. The hall 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 two errors on a play w hich allowed a runner to advance one base. Sea bough would have got them. In the next inning came a play which made Pitcher Ferguson con sider himsrlf a badly abused man. After he had allowed McElveen Reynolds and Callahan to single, scoring McElveen, and after M'olfe had fanned, Price, who was pitch ing for the Crackers, slipped a hook down between Bales and the third sack. At least, that’s where Empire Dan Pfenninger said it went. Reynolds and Callahan tal lied and the game was lost. Os course, Ferguson protested like a major and swore-and-be-cussed f it was a fair ball. But Pfenninger having no other alternative, stink by his decision. This decision look the heart out of the Turtles and while they worked well enough Os - fensively 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 This man has been barnstorming this season with the Nebraska In dians. of which trjbe he is not a bona fide member, being an Irish man by inheritance and an Ameri can by birth. As an Indian, he worked under the name of Schegg. but having returned, to civilization, he has resumed his own cog. He has had a bit of league experience in the South Michigan league. He hurled cleverly against Memphis, an’d 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. JOSEPH, MO.. Sept. 3. Nelson beat Steve Ketchel, of Chi 'aF in fifteen rounds here. Nelson displi’)"' flashes of the old-time form that n' a ' him famous. He worked both hands free ly to Ketchel’., body, and in return r ' many blows in the face. Ketchel ’9’ floored in the eleventh round, but <'»"< up gamely. Hetchel had the better ot tu ’ rounds and Nelson of six. The othe* were even. BASEBALL WEDNESDAY ATLANT* vs. MEMPHIS Ponce DeLeen Perk Game called 3:30.