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).