3 THE STJXDAT OREGOyiAy. PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 15, 1912 TT TT TPS? T I TIT'T ( , - - "nN "Most of the Time an Outfielder Is Nothing but a Specta tor, Except When an Accident Happens Then He Be comes a Factor on Whom the Result of the Game May Rest" So Says Sam Crawford, the Great Outfielder of the Detroit Tigers Using William E.Wiston as His Quill Wielder, He Tells of the Victories and Vicissitudes of the Outer Garden. .,. r. n of baseball is a 1 outer garden of baseDa i is a I lOE ma lonely place much ol Cite time. A man mltrht Almost aS Wel OK oimiv th emme from the bleachers. except when his side Is In. But now and then the time comes when an out fielder has resting; on blm the responsi bility for the winning- or losing of the game. Ifs then that he counts. And Bam Crawford, crack fielder of the Detroit Tigers, Is one of the best little spectators now In fast company except when the occasion. Just speci fied, arises. Then he's there with bells. Perhaps there Is no one In either of the big leagues who gets more drives to deep center or right than this same Sam. By "gets" I mean annexes, grabs, scoops, nails anything you choose. Wherefore I went up to see him dur ing the recent series between Hughle Jennings' aggregation of wlllow-wleld-ers and the New York Americans, otherwise yclept the Highlanders, to get some pointers on the gentle art of watching the game from the vartage points of the outer garden. And Sam bore me out in my promise that It Is a lonely place most of the time. Afterward he condescended to glTe some opinions on the angles of the National game, as It Is viewed from his standpoint. Nor did he try to tell me that the reason most outfielders hold their Jobs Is because of their bat ting averages. Hi own speaks for Itself. , , Tot for all he said one might think that the men In right, left and center were there for decorative purposes only, excepting always excepting when there are two or three on the aacks and the man at the plate "finds" just the curve he likes. Then, of course But let Bam speak for himseir. II games the outfielders are noth ing more than spectators," said Sam. In response to my question. "But when anything does come their way. they become very Important factors, because when a fielder muffs a fly or boots a grounder it generally means extra h.. for the runner, and sometimes "You see tne men n tm " ... . liaT, IF any young woman who has to earn her living thinks her lot is hard and she has serious handicaps to overcome will read the story of Margie Smith she may be heartened. Margie Smith has been a toiler for more than SO years. For more than 10 years she seemed to make little progress. . She worked early and she worked late, gave the best of her mind and strength, but all that time conditions seemed to be against her. She could Just make a living, nothing more. And then. In the next 10 years, there came a change. She made a little money at first, and then a lot. Once she turned the corner it was easy. Probably she did not real ise, but all that long time of trial, dis appointment and small return was merely a period of schooling, prepara tion and instruction that fitted her for the big role she was to play. Thousands and thousands of men and women in the dry goods business in New York and throughout the United States know Margie Smith. She is the head of the big house that does busi ness under the style of the M. M. Smith Company. Twenty-odd years ago there "You see tne men m tuo umu e i - n?. k v7, or tiiG Vtcm r Stmel 1. are unable to back each other up as I are un ,.,,. Th ir. closelv as the lnflelders. They are 1 practically alone, whereas practically alone, whereas wnn tne men in the infield, even though they j . i with the may miss a ny or a grounuer, mo u" n p RpMnm i- t n more than a. base. "Except on rare occasions, I have .. : , Anv nnxltinn nrher than those in the outer garden, and at those times I leit very mucn ime me in the wood. When a man has played the same position on a ball field for any length of, time he becomes like a man who has learned a trade. He Is - j -1. in hi .hnwn lino hut tt gUIIU VVWl I"'"" 1 " .. . if he attempts to change to some other occupation he s lose rso two podiuuiid nn the diamond can be handled alike. and the same may be said of most players. No two men piay me km position in the same manner. man ananH two. mil three iiea- sons longer In the minor leagues than is necessary, simpiy mcub h uoo them that length of time to discover that they are not suited for the posi tion they are playing. They like some certain spot, and there they stick until turned loose or chance puts them in their proper place. "Sometimes a manager will discover where a player belongs by good luck, i : what. hall nlnvpr changes from one position to another it is merely a sniit mao nouesauw through some accident. "The hardest and most Important part of fielding is to be able to Judge at a glance Just the distance a ball will travel. As soon as a ball raises in the air you must be able to tell, within a few feet, where it will land and then manage to get under It. Practice and a good pair of legs will turn the trick as far as the fielding end goes, but you have also got to be able to hold your own with the stick. "The hardest ball for a center field er to get, for instance, is a hit to 'deep center.' Aa a rule a player who can massage one hard enough to send It there Is sure of a home run, or at any rate he's bound to get extra bases on it, providing it Isn't caught. "No matter how deep you play, some of the boys manage to get one past you than an, If vnn n m unluRkv enough to be playing In close when a deep center,' or aeep ngnt unve made, all you can hope to do Is to relay the ball in In time to stop the runner from scoring. On some of the Ameri can League grounds a 'deep center" hit will lana in- tne oiea-cners. aucu of course, you are only allowed what Tnerfl 18 one imng juu wm nuni-q came a crisis in her life. Her father was in a railroad accident and so dbuij Injured that he has been Incapacitated ever since. He had a large family eight girls and one boy. Marguerite was the oldest, and she had to become the gread-winner of the household. She never had worked before, but was . ... V naairla nillfrV tft 1 HITl nanuy -.... w 7 , and eager to do her utmost to assist in the support or ner ramiiy. A Mrs. Wolfsbruk. sister of Justice BlumenstieU had a dressmaking busi ness In New York, and the girl got i. . i Gha d wH fnr a while. worn ' " . and proved so adaptable and so smart that sne roaae rapiu urou..;. . not Jong before she was designing gar- . TT V. wn.tr TT- u . CAT tTPTl ) SI J t H P menta. -mo - - ' " - , pay was fair and she was comparatively happy, out it iate juu uc money to support an invalid father and a lot of growing children. The item of rent t considerable in Itself. Grow ing youngsters have surprising appe tites. The butcher and the grocer bills of a large household are enough to appall a girl who works. The Item of clothes for a tribe of the sise of the Smith family was staggering. No wonder, then, that Margie Smith, aa her sisters cam along, got employ of course, you ar, only allowed what-1 "Most bonehead ' Pl-y- - "nVvprofesslonal ball "half" a ever tne ground J'""'". ri.J- " '.7" .. ... - of .eason when I Joined the big show and .i .A ,i.n I "There Is one tninur you win notice i miuui, ,vU .iiiUt.u.ut.. z r (jam about most big league fielders that Is lust the oDooslte from their brothers Just the opposite from their Brotners in the minor leagues. It is that tney m me i-o " seldom make -grandstand1 catches dur- lne & tame. S.5ranst s game. f-.. .i.., Ji fUll.r,' arm thA hoVfl who like to rae mem in une-uouueu, so that they can take off their caps in acknowledgement of the applause of the admiring fans. As a rule, most young fielders get this habifc and, while they may be able to get away with it In the smaller leagues, they will find it a great handicap to over come if they ever make the major leagues. "I don't mean to convey the impres sion that ,aU one-handed catches are accomplished simply because the player wishes to be spectacular, because an occasion often arises where a fielder has done his best to get under a ball and dives after it one-handed only as a last resort. "No matter how easy a ball may ap- .. n a nlavAi h. ahnnlil riAVer trV .v ' i ' to get It one-handed, when It is pos- SIDle lO Use DOW JO v ei y una a bearing on the final result, and it's Just possible that the very ball missed -1 l tnm a T-anrixtA.nd' catch will turn the tide of victory against "When you visit a ball park in either of the big leagues, just count tne uuiu- 1 ma-hnnrio,! ImIHai VOU 186. mav trt fm WAaVa o n d WAekj BJld never see a fielder do any 'high and lofty worn. iii'V... -Dana.iaa h. VnOWM that ball missed in that manner will cost him more than he can earn In two or three weeks. Big league managers know as well as the players whether it was possible for a man to put both hands on a ball, and If it was and he didn't the player is sure to receive repnuiauu luu . "Then men In the outer garden must follow the game as closely a the In field. They must actually know, or at least have a very fair idea, of what the man at bat can do against the i.Aha hA wnrktntr This knowl edge Is obtained only by playing against the same men many times. "I often try to recall Just where some certain player generally hits, and I can't do it; but as soon as I see him come to bat It comes to me like a flaBh. The knowledge enables me to gather in many drives that a new man wouldn't get, simply because he'd have "Moet 'bonehead' plays are made by fielders who lose track of the outs. For Instance, you sometimes see or read of ment for a few of them in Mrs. Wolfs bruk's establishment. Their earnings, added to her own. made the burden a little lighter for her, out not mucn. Somehow, the more the workers earned . 1. nnnna TT" 1 naarlAli at Vl H TTT P . TllnBSS. misfortune, or if some unexpected hap pening made a suaaen aenmiiu, uu mar how hard the girls worked they Just managed to get along, and not much more. Then one day, after Margie Smith had been at work in Mrs. Wolfsbruk's for some years, a calamitous thing hap pened. One of her sisters had a dif ference with her employer. It was not a serious matter, and it might have been bridged over, but Margie Smith thought her sister had been unjustly treated, and. foolishly, she and her sisters resigned then and there. It was not so easy to get as- con genial employment again. But after a while she got an engagement with Gui Lurle Company. She had a lot of confidence In herself and had all sorts- of Ideas which she thought were worth exploiting, and when she put these, to Mr. Lurie he thought very well of them. She Inaugurated a white dress business for him on lines which were absolutely new. in ma esiaoiisn a fielder who, with a man on first and third and two out, tries to catch he man going uome, cu out at second. You will find that In nine cases out of ten this player thought there was only one out. J.ne guying of the other players that al- AAO r4th " nlnv like that USU- r a ? j ' . ally prevents a repetition of It. 1 rememDer a pmy St. Louis the first year I was with Detroit. It wasn't exactly what would be called a 'bonehead' play, because tt was caused more tnrougn stage ins" than anything else. "It happened in our uaix m me ninth. We had three men on bases and needed two runs to win. wnn two men out I hit to center and the young fellow muffed It. "Instead of recovering It as quickly as possible and trying to catch one of the runners he sat down on the grass and watched it roll to the bleachers. Four runs crossed tne piaia uum n finally decided he'd go after the ball. i . i,a ma naari to ttood ad vantage years ago, but is seldom tried today is to have the lnflelders play in close, as though they expected the man at bat to bunt. The men on bases would naturally take as big a lead as the basemen. "Then like a flash the catcher would give the signal for a wide one, make a . . ,.,fl.fi whprA the cen- quiCJ5L leiuwi w Bwuui ter fielder would be waiting to receive the throw, as a ruie " catch the man as he attempted to re turn to the middle sack or give the Infield a chance to run hlra down be tween bases. The game Is played too . j ai,rh triples tO be last nowaua " worked very often, but it could be put over once in awnne, uecu it. op posed to be on the dead list and it's always the unexpected that counts the most in baseball. "When I was with the Chatham club in the Canadian League there was a little Irishman named O'Day who was always thinking up tricks which would give his team the best of it. Some of them were very crude, but at one time or another he managed to get most of them over. "He worked one on me in the de ciding game of a series with Hamilton that I will always remember. The score was 3-2 In favor of Hamilton when I came to bat In the ninth. O'Day was playing center field and I drove a hot grounder to him. . .. t . A ,.e. T annnM OnlV lOllK enough to see the ball bounding out toward the Dleacners ana men uu for second. O'Day made a bluff to go . . i . . v. n ... mv anrnrlsa I saw him ainn. turn and throw to second. I was caught standing up. ..TT- A an .vftll IrlnW tft th Um- pire. but O'Day claimed that he never knew the other ball was there, until he kicked it, and as we couldn't prove at the time that he wasn't telling ha ti-nth thA tilav was allowed. I af- . J 1Aavnan that h. had haan C3.T i ..T hall nil rlurlntr the I y watJa. game in hopes of getting the very chance that no aia. "When a big league player figures out a catch play it's got to have merit to it or he won't be allowed to try it. The play I Just related couldn't be used in the big leagues because no manager would stand for it. Catch plays today have got to be within the rules and the man who can figure out praoiicai ones can earn good salary. oVIn hoeahflll MtWAr jh.AS been smoother than most of the boys in the big leagues. In the first place I only played professional ball half a season when I Joined the big show and ment. It proved quite successful and she was delighted. So was her em ployer. But there were other persons around the shop who were not. They were the designers who had been with the firm for a considerable time. They resented her Intrusion and the pref erence that was being shown to the goods she was fashioning. Probably they felt she was invading their ter ritory, and would curtail their earn ings. They made vigorous objection to some things she did. and -hen little attention was paid to them they be came angry. Then they got together and planned united action. They went to one of the members of the firm and served notice on him that If Miss Smith was not dismissed they would leave in a body. The gentleman hesitated for only a short period. It would be a serious thing, indeed, if the designers deserted in a body. It would not be so serious to. lose Miss Smith, although she was proving herself quite valuable. He decided to let her go, so she got her walking papers. It was a pretty rough deal for a girl to get, and it cut Miss Smith to the i . .v. thniicht t Vi p r p was no 1us- Ill-I I- OHO "'""6"" - - , tice in the firm's decision. Probably Eho did not xeallza that sh innocently m . - have remained with It ever since. I opened the season of 1899 with Chat ham of the Canadian League and was sent to Columbus. O., on July 4. In ex change for a pitcher. - "Grand Rapids, . Mich., secured the Ohio team's franchise about this time and I was with that outfit until Sep tember, when Tom Loftus picked me up for the Cincinnati Nationals. When the National-American League broke out I Jumped the Beds and played j... . 1 . hi... a a annn UK the tWO WltU htuuii, leagues decided to work In harmony 1 was orderea paca. to -iiiuinmn... . A OF i j t x - T.nrlA j&. rnitininv at 110.U. 1)1QLI.1 uua - - r . the mercy of the designers, for the trouble occurred at a ji i year when a break with the designers would have been very costly to the firm.- Miss Smith went home to Bay onne half sick, very sad, almost crushed. ' Sne thought over her condition all through the night, and the more she thought the more she determined that no man ever would have the opportu nity to discharge her again. She de cided from that day forward she would be her own boas, and she has stuck to her decision from that day to this. When Bhe came to this determina tion all the money she had In the world waa 70. To help sustain the family her mother was running a boarding house. There was a young woman boarding with the Smiths who at one time had worked for the great house of H. B Claflln Sc. Co. This young wo man "sympathized deeply with Margie Smith, and when MIbs Smith outlined to her some ideas she had for work, the young woman had a. lot of advice to give her. Miss Smith's notion was that she could design dresses for children and young giris, and set up a business pi Ssf-ijcr A. i-f-i "SJ" ?-T . g;- " jar . - ... ' A . .. 1 V s "V- i Samuel EZ7Crawf ord-T Fielder ; in the Fall of 1902 the Tigers bought me. "There are few men, if any, play ing in the big leagues who have the record for games played that I have. I have missed Just, ten games In as many years, or an average of one. a season. This, perhaps, accounts for the number of fans who Imagine that I am an old man, when In reality I am only a little past the 30-year mark. T was born In Wahoo, Mich., in 1880i and Joined the Cincinnati KVtionals In 1899 so all told I have been playing the National game about! 3 years. REAL ROMANCE THE BUSINESS WORLD her own that would be successful If she could manage to obtain the neces sary capital to carry It on. She knew what it cost to make the dresses and the profit to be made out of the sale to the retailer. She had the fullest faith in her ability as a designer. The great trouble was to get the material with which to make the dresses and then to sell the dresses after they were made. The young woman boarder thought H. B. Cliflin & Co. would extend credit to Miss Smith in fact, she had no doubt of it. First, however. Miss Smith must demonstrate she had a market for her products. Miss Smith had a machine in her home, so she went to work. Out of her 70 she purchased some dress 'material at retail, and from this material she fashioned, from her own designs, a dozen samples of children's and misses' dresses. When these were finished she came to New York with them. This was ten years ago. - . . From department store to depart ment store she went with her samples, seeking an audience with, the buyers. It was more difficult in those days for a girl without influence or introduc tion to gain access to the buyers of the big establishments than It is to day She had many disappointments, many rebuffs, for the buyers were busy and she was not known. But she kept at it day after day and managed 4p J 1 i II i And as last season was the best I evel put in, I have hopes of remaining with the Tigers for some time to come. "So far this year I have played in over t hundred games straight and unless something unforeseen happens I expect to finish the season with the) first five hitters. "The records show that there are only IS or 16 men in the league, this season that are batting better than .300, which I think speaks volumes for the American League pitchers." at last to interest one man so that ni gave an order to her for 1350 worth of goods. When he gave the order to her he said he wanted the stuff deliv ered in ten days. Miss Smith thanked him, and went out. ' The question with her then was not only to get the material to make up the goods, but to get machines with which to make the dresses, and to get operatives to do the work. The young woman who had suggested the possi bility of Clafiin & Co. felt sure there would be no trouble about the line ot credit. The next morning Miss Smith and this young woman, ardent, if not enthusiastic, presented themselves at the headquarters of Clafiin Co.. the biggest dry goods concern in the world. The young woman introduced Miss Smith to WiUiam F. Schneider, the as sistant office manager. He listened to her story and then took the two women to the credit man. Enthusiasm !sr all right In its place, but credit men have to view matters in a cold, calm spirit. The credit man asked a few pointed questions, and when they were an swered he said he was sorry, but he did not see how the house of Clafiin Co. could extend a credit of more than 1 to Miss Marguerite M. Smith. This almost overwhelmed the two young women. They left him and started to walk away. There are some blows that are SO sharp, so hard and so sudden that they "1 .Concluded oa Face a. I I J).