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F9 ITEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, GA„ SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 1912. 11 D atest Stories From Tennis Courts and Golf Course: SCHULTE SAYS LAJBIEISBEST HITTER OF ALL Cub Outfielder Declares Cleve land Slugger Is Easily the King of All Batters. C hicago, ill., Aug. 23.—Lajoie Is the real king: pin hitter ac cording to Outfielder Schulte, of the Chicago Cubs, himself some what of a slugger. Schulte was in terviewed by Harold D. Johnson, a Chicago sporting writer. Here Is the result: Quoting F. Wildfire Schulte the home run kid, “There’s hitters, and again there’s Lajole.” Not that the Cub star Is coyly making fresh with the club swinging abilities of certain present day greats, to wit, Helnle Zim, Joe Jackson, Tyrus Cobb, Hans Wagner, Trlstam Speaker et al., for Wildfire Is a knowing cuss. He’s hep to the fact that these are dangerous birds at any and all stages of the milling. He has seen them all, lamped ’em carefully and makes bold to pro claim the reformed hack driver from Woonsocket, R. I., the master mal- letier of all time. • • • of those fanfares always in season when the elements go amuck and weep copiously, convert ing big league battle fields Into tem porary natatoriums, gave Schulte his cue to compliment Larry. It Isn’t a case of hero worshiping with Schulte. Here’s a big leaguer who counts his pals in legion. He Is rated one of the truly greats in af fairs pertaining to the game of swat. Once only in all his days as a nation al pastimer has Wildfire sat in when King Larry was batting. It happened down at Commy’s grounds some eight years ago. The Cubs were off that afternoon, being scheduled to catch a rattler, leaving at midnight for St. Louis. Schulte’s memory failed him when he tried to name the White Sox flinger opposing the Naps. Whoever he was, he sure got a fine combed mauling. Said Wildfire reminiscently, warming up to his recital: • • • <<T ’D heard a lot about*this man A Lajoie and grabbed the chance to look him over. As I remember he batted fourth and he had his first time up In the first inning. I was sitting in the stand where I could draw a bead on everything aimed at that Frenchman. Careless like, he ambled up to the plate, swinging his slap-stick like a drum major on parade doing trick stuff with his baton. He didn’t miss a trick that time, but I did. I watched carefully, yet he didn’t seem to set himself or take the toe hold so common among batters. Instead he stood up there as if he might be talking with the arbi trator. “Whoever was pitching took a wind up, then—“Zowie! ! I down the right field line ninety miles an hour and up against the bleachers. That’s what he did to that ball. Two innings passed and I saw Larry prancing to bat, carelesslike. the same as before. The same thing happened, every move the same, only this time he tripled down the left field line, putting his brand on the bleachers. “Just to show he had a change of pace the big fellow poled a double to center his third time out, and to top off the exhibition he singled past short in the fourth trial. By that time I was sure enough pulling for Larry. He had shown me how to crack that, agate. • • • “THE remarkable part of Lajoie’s * batting lies in the fact that he seldom gets an infield hit of the bunt variety. None of that stuff. It’s a thousand to one shot he will lay on the pill every time, and after all that’s the sort of batting the fan wants. His poise at bat, his graceful yet terrific drive, his ability to clout all kinds of pitching and to keep on hitting above the .300 mark for 17 years, with but one or two slumps below that notch entitles him to a position at the top of the heap—the greatest nat ural slugger since the days of Ed Del- ahanty, who rolled up an average of .367 for twelve years. “Infield taps by naturally fast men like Cobb may be all right and serve to get the old average padded to a high figure, but I’m one of the com mon herd that always pulls for the big wallop.” Arthur Pelky to Box Johnson in Paris Burns Wires Acceptance of Match With Colored Man—Thinks Jack Has Gone Back. SAN DIEGO, Aug. 23.—Tommy Bums, manager of Arthur Pelky, the present holder of the heavyweight champion ship, announced to-day that his protege would box Jack Johnson in Paris with in the next three months. Burns received a cablegram from “Jim” Pratt, the Parisian promoter, aa follows: “Will you permit Pelky to fight John son in Paris? Public here anxious for the match.’’ Burns filed the following reply: “Pelky will fight Johnson if terms are satisfactory. If I were not abso lutely certain that Pelky can defeat Johnson I would never make the match. I feel that Johnson has led a fast life since winning the title and the first good man the negro meets will defeat him Wire terms and date.’’ KANSAS PLAYERS GRADUATE. GREAT BEND. KANS., Aug 23.— Pitcher Riley and Shortstop Smith, of the local (Kansas State League) team, were sold to-day to the Wichita CWest- ern League) club. Riley has won all of the ten games he pitched for the Great Bend club, and Smith also has made a splendid record. THORPE’S BROTHER ONLY 14. m Thorpe’s young brother Tom, now p^Mylng at the Carlisle Indian School, is only 14 years old. different and better in purity and flavor The best drink anyone can buy. Be sure to get the genuine. Ask for it by its full name—to avoid imitations and substitution. Send for free booklet Young Golfers in the Limelight +•4- +•+ +•+ -!•••!• +•+ •!•••{• Three Great ‘Kids’ at East Lake Owners Scramble for Players By W. J. McBeth. N EW YORK, Aug. 23.—The major league drafting season has once more arrived. The next week or ten days may prove the most im portant of the season for a number of big circuit clubs now struggling for recognition. Conditions within the past several years have greatly changed. No longer is it possible for indiscriminate drafting. The new working agreement under which or ganized baseball operates holds ail major league teams to a rigid roster limit of 35 men, besides limiting the liabilities to draft from leagues of inferior rank. Only two winters ago Charles H. Ebbets, of the Brooklyn team, se cured, through draft, something like forty players. Of course, he had no idea of carrying even one-quarter of these through even the spring train ing trip. He was so profuse in his claims simply as a business proposi tion. He wished to retain a few of the very best players secured, as near, of course, as could be judged, with out thorough trial, and to utilize the rest as “farm” material or In con templated deals. Besides, when there was no limit to draft numbers, the more athletes he bagged, the more were kept from rival clubs that might benefit thereby. • • * T HE roster limit as at present con stituted has struck a telling body blow to the former curse of the draft. Major leagues can not gamble so heavily in green material, if they would, and must necessarily exercise far greater caution in selections. But In limiting the field of draft doubt less a far greater premium has been placed in blind luck. We will try to see how this is so. The draft is more or less luck, any how. It Is simply a case of outlucking a rival in the draw, nine times in ten. Every major league, club has the righ 4 to claim so many players from a league of inferior ranking. It is, therefore, possible for every major league club to put in a draft for some certain player. When more than one team claims a certain man, his fate is decided by lot. It is, therefore, possible for some certain club to se cure all the prizes of the draft, while, on the other hand, an owner may draw nothing from his lottery even if he has put in the most claims for talent. • • • S IMPLY because of the loopholes of the draft have such fancy prices been paid this season for minor league stars. Charlie Comiskey gave $18,000 value for Outfielder Larry Chappelle, of Milwaukee. Frank Farrell paid equally dear for Inflelder Malsel. of Baltimore. Either might have landed his prize for $2,500—the draft price- had he waited till August 20. But each magnate realized a delay might be dangerous. It was reasonable to suppose that athletes of such caliber had attracted the attention of many scouts and that practically all the clubs of the two big leagues would be willing to hazard an outlay of $2,500 apiece for such stars. To protect their Interests and absolutely assure the delivery of the cherished material, the Chicago and New York promoters had to pay some seven times mors than recogiiized market value—as es timated by the standards of inter league business. * • • I^ARRELL and Comiskey are cited as examples simply because of the unusual expenditures for indi vidual minor league stars. In both cases, these single transactions rep resent a very small fraction of the outlay of the promoters In question In their quest for new blood. Frank Farrell, for instance, paid $6,000 re cently for Pitcher McHale, of Jersey City. Besides, he has purchased some eight or ten other promising minor leaguers at sums ranging from $1,000 up. There is not an owner of a big league club who failed to close at least three or four purchases, and the reason for all this outlay of money was fear that the desired talent might escape elsewhere through the chan nels of draft. • • • npHE fact tha/t most clubs have done A unusually stiff marketing prior to the big mad scramble will not take the edge off this year’s draft in the least. There is no doubt at all that many managers are hopeful of saving substantial outlays by beating someone else to it. The scouts have gone thiough the “sticks” with a fine- tooth comb, and any performer of abil ity who has escaped sale Is not likely to be overlooked in the call to come up higher. It is not always the players who command the fancy purchase prices who turn out most valuable to a team. Nap Rucker, the great Brooklyn southpaw, was drafted bv Ebbets. He cost $750. He would bring 25 times that amount on the market to-day. Ty Cobb and Joe Jackson, the American League slug gers. came up through the channels of draft. Russell Ford, for several years the backbone of the Yankee pitching staff, resulted from the ex ercise of an option on the Atlanta club for the services of a “farmed out” drafted player. Some of Mc- Graw’s most valuable talent are play ers who were drafted—Chief Meyers among them. Rube Marquard, on the other hand, purchased for $11,000. was of no use to his team for two long years. Second division teams of the two leagues might be expected to be most interested in the draft. But this is not the case. The cham pions of the rival big leagues will fight just as bard to draw the prize packages as the tallenders, and gen erally. too, with more success, for in the word of the swain: “Them that has, gets.” • • • T HE drafting season is a harbinger of the year to come. It serves only to create speculation, for the accruing material does not report be fore the close of the season to which it is affiliated, if indeed, before the following spring. But indirectly if affects the current Issue In that It drives home the purchases earlier than might be otherwise. Teams that pay fancy prices for minor leaguers may be excused in their desire to get back some of the coin. Especially in second division clubs is the public interest so great as to justify the im mediate outlay of salaries for adver tising purposes, if nothing more. Be side, the manager can In addition get a line as to whether the reputed wonders are likely to turn out plums or lemons. Vean Gregg Proves Himself Workman Nap Twirler Does Regular Job as Plasterer After Joking With Men. NEW YORK, Aug. 23.—Sometimes you can beat a feHow at his own game. They’re finishing up a skyscraper across from the Naps’ hotel here. Plasterers are the busy parties there now. Vean Gregg and a couple of Naps went over to see the workers toil away recently. “What do you think of their work, Vean?” asked one of Gregg’s compan ions. “Oh, pretty fair,” replied Gregg. One of the plasterers immediately became grouchy and said aloud, for the ball players’ benefit, “Lot of wis^ guys looking on here. If you askeJ one of these ball players to do a man’s work, he’d faint.” Gregg rose to the occasion. “Lend me your tools and that long coat for a minute,” he said. The plasterer grinned and complied with Gregg’s request, thinking It a good Joke. After Gregg had done as pie*tty a job of plastering as any of them had ever seen, at a spot selected by the workers, they were willing to concede that Vean had slipped one over on them. “You QRn never tell what a man may be able to do by the clothes ne wears,” said the surprised plasterer, as Vean surrendered his clothes and tools. * Would Trade Stars To Strengthen Team Miller Huggins Is Trying Desperate Means to Bolster Up Lowly Cardinals. ST. LOUIS, Aug. 23.—Manager Miller Huggins, of the St. Louis Car dinals, Is having troubles of his own a/ttemptlng to build his team up. It is said he stands ready to trade prac tically any member of his staff if it will strengthen his forces. The Cardinals were long tail- enders. At the season’s start Hug gins was reported to have said that if he did not have a first division team by July 15 he’d quit. His play ers failed to gain the first division, and Huggins did not resign, so it is to be presumed that he feels he can still make good as manager and boost his team up. Ed. Konetchy, Harry Sallee, Bob Harmon and even the recruits will be swapped if there 1* a chance to strengthen the club. Negotiations have been opened with the Giants. Reds and other clubs, and if the Car dinals can get the long end of the deal anybody will go, barring Hug gins himself. KIRK AND DIXON REMATCHED. FORT SMITH. ARK.. Aug 23.—OllSe Kirk, of St. Louis, and Tommy Dixon, of Kansas City, were to-day rematched to fight fifteen rounds here on Labor Day. at Montgomery and made a credita ble showing during the early part of the week, but the constant grind of 36 holes a day wore him out toward the end and in his match with Hardy he was not able to play his game at all. Charlie Hardy, of New Orleans, Is another youngster who made his de but at Birmingham. In this, his first tournament away from home, he had a bad case of stage fright and did not make much of a showing. This tournament, however, taught him a lot. of things, and ho made a fine showing at the Southern a few weeks later. He qualified weU up in the championship flight and won his first match, but lost his second In a close match with Jack Edrington, who was going very well that day. This put him in the second flight, where he worked his way to the final. Here he met W. H. Rowan, who was playing par golf on nearly every round, and he went down to defeat, though he made a brilliant effort In the after- nbon to regain the big lead Rowan secured in the morning. D. S. Weaver, of Memphis, had his son, Dudley, at Montgomery last June for his first experience in a tourna ment away from home. Before the tournament this youngster did some good work, but the qualifying round got on his nerves and he failed to qualify. Down at Savannah they have a youngster, FYed Howden by name, whom I saw play in a team match last winter, and who has all of the ear marks of the making of a good play er. For a youngster he drives an exceptionally long ball with a good carry to it, which is absolutely neces sary to clear the old fortification*, which are used as hazards on nearly every tee shot at Savannah. Here in Atlanta there are three boyg, who, if I do not miss my gues#, are going to give anybody a lot of trouble to beat them in the course of two or three years. They are Perry Adair, Bob Jones and Frank Meador. All of these boys can get around the East Lake course In less than ninety, which is better than a large majority of the older players can do. Perry and Frank have both been around In 84, while Bob reeled off an even 80 a couple of weeks ago. This is a good score for any player In the club, but when a 12-year-old boy, who won’t weight over 75 pounds, causes a golf ball to travel around a course 6,400 yards in length in 80 strokes, it is remarkable, in big let ters. In doing this round little Bob was out in 38 and back in 42, which Is one stroke better than bogey on each side, while his total score was only five .strokes over par. Give the-?** boys a few years to obtain additional weight and strength and they will be making golf history in the South or I mlsa my guess. Drafting Season Arrives Again © ® © © © 0 © By Tick Tiolienor. I N amateur golf in this country as a general rule it is the young golfer who Is in the limelight, while in England old John Ball and Harold H. Hilton still hold the cen ter of the stage In almost all of the Important events, as they have done for the past twenty years. If any Investigation was made of the ages of the players who qualified last in the amateur championship in this country I firmly believe that ir would develop the fact that 75 per cent of them or 24 of the 32, who successfully weathered the qualifying day, were under 30 years of age, while many of them were around the 20-year mark. Chick Evans, who Is the pride of the West, even though he was beat en by young Allis In the Western championship, is hardly more than 21 and there are a host of others about the same age around Chicago, which is the golfing center of the West, who may not shine quite so brilliantly as Chick but who are able to put any golfer to his best to have them down at the finish. In the East, Jerome Travers, the present title-holder and the only man placed at scratch on the handicap list of the U. S. G. A., is hardly more than 25 or 26. Of course there is the grand old man, Walter J. Travis, who Is always dangerous in any tournament, who Is the exception to all rules as he did not take up the game until he was past 35 and yet has won two, or is it three, cham pionships. As a winner of tourna ments—big and little, large and small —I believe that Travis would easily head the list in the number of prizes won during the year. In the South the young players do not stand out in such numbers as? they do in the East and West. This is very probably due to the fact that in the beginning of the game in the* South the idea was prevalent that It was an old man’s game and It was an generally laughed at by those who had never tried it, that for a 1 mg lime it did not seem attractive enough to draw any of the youngsters away from their other games. Within the last three or four years there has been a change in the idea entertained by the boys as to the game, and they are more and more taking it up and seeking to master its intricacies and overcome its difficul ties. There are at this time in the South quite a number of boys who have the foundation of a good game well started and who will In the course of two or three years> give any player all he wants to defeat them. It was only last May that Rollo Steinmehl, a. 15-year-old boy, upset the dope of the Birmingham Invita tion tournament by winning It when he was practically unknown even to the members of his own club. A few weeks later he went to the Southern Greatest Pitcher Ever Seen on Diamond, Says Hans Wagner of Mathewson H ANS WAGNER, of Pittsburg, in speaking of Matty, says: “Mathew son is the greatest pitcher ever seen on the diamond. Some may differ with me, but I have batted against him many times, and Just when I thought I had him, <he would shoot one over, and I went to the bench. He has as much speed now as he ever had, but as he can win games without using It, he does not resort to trying to knock the catcher down. I remember one game he worked ajgalnst us last summer in which he did not use a curve ball. He had such excellent control that day that he used nothing but a fast, straight one. You can say for me that I think Mathewson is Just as good to-day as he ever was.” Four Lads Destined To Play In Majors Three Sterling Performers In New York State League; Another In Canadian. NEW YORK, Aug. 23. — Four youngsters who are destined for high places in baseball are playing in the New York State League and the Canadian League. Mike McNally at short, and Joe Leary, at first, for Utica are the real sensations of the New York State League. Leary, It is said, will go to Cleveland In the fall and McNally to Detroit. The playing of McNally Is described “as the most marvelous In the history of the league.” The boy is playing his first year In professional ball. Leary is not a big man, as first basemen go. but he Is playing the best first base the league has ever seen. “Pinners” Quinlan, left fielder of the Scranton team, seems a big league sure shot In 1914. He has played professional ball two years with his home team, and a losing team. In any other place, Quinlan would hit better than .280. his pres ent average. He has been looked over by scouts, and Bobby Lowe, of De troit. is Impressed with him. Bill Donahue, winning pitcher of the Hamilton, Ont., club, Is the best pitcher In the Canadian League. This* is his first, year as a professional. He is a right-hander and a big fellow, only twenty, and noted for his splen did control and speed. TRACERY IS WORTH $300,000. SARATOGA. N. Y., Aug. 23.— August Belmont’s Tracery, the horse which won the Eclipse stakes of $50,- 000, Is worth at least $300,000 to Bel mont, according to Belmont, who wiys he might part with Tracery for that sum, providing he had a chance to buy as good a horse for $200,000. TWIRLER FOR “REDS.” SAN ANTONIO, TEX., Aug. 23 — Pitcher Dave Davenport, of the San An tonio Texas League club, was sold to the Cincinnati National League club yester day. The price is reported to be in ex cess of $4,000. Love is the big fellow at the VWf. PU£>TQORkPU.C» BLACKBURN IS RECALLED. CHICAGO, Aug. 23.—The Chicago Americans to-day recalled Shortstop ■'Lena” Blackburn from the Milwau kee American Association team. top. Dent is shown in the lower panel. T , uc rnr*A_mi a oon/f d a m v A ~TT A KIT A For Everybody, Everywhere For workers with hand or brain—for rich and poor—for every kind of people in every walk of life—there’s delicious re freshment in a glass of Whenever These Young Cracker Hurlers, Dent and Love, Go to Clark Griffith for a Trial With Senators Next Spring