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SCANNING SPORTSBy HARRY GRAYSONGrover Cleveland Alexander blames v tte automobile and the movies for the : unmistakable decline Jn baseball.There's no Betting away irom the fact that the kids aren’t playing the ; game as much as they used to, the . renowned .pitcher told me when T f pumped into him and his hairy House . of-pavia team at Erie, Pr„ the othernight, '.Alexander's .report after four years :bf touring, front • coast to coast and from Canada to the gulf, reveals why major league . clubs ■:cannot obtain tunable athletes from the minors for love or money.To1 many amusements and too coii-: Venient transportation.” asserted old Pete. “When I was a boy at St. Paul, Neb., there was no way of pumping over to the next town to see what was going 011 there. You had to stay .put. and we played, baseball because We liked to. ... .While Alexander does not believe' Your.g Anierica's turnlnS a w a y f rom the sport ever will aif.ect the big show . as it has the minors, he.fears that the 1 Standard of play never ftgaip. will be 'as high as ii was during his 20-year, Etv in the National.League.Bidriksnn for Alexander IAlexander rather enjoys his long bus ride each season with a team til- | Iceedly ■ representing .the . religious | colony at Ben ton Harbor. Mich; There ; are two of these sou ads booked, by Ray j Doan, of Muscatine. la; Alexander is ; the show; window of the eastern clivi- I sion this terni. He has company :in ■ Ear I Smith.. the formeT Pittsburgh, ’■ New York, and St. Louis catcher. , j Old Pete , was the star- of the far western: outfit a year. ago. and Babe j DI dr ik son. th e women’s Olympic star, j being signed to replace him fin the j Epiing. iliusirates to what extent pro- j meters have to go nowadays to drug the customers through the baseball turnstiles,iir.be nidrikson. find mules, .rent c.tked Alex- Donkey baseball is played as a sideshow to the House of David j games. . : . jAlexander. Smith, and a shortshop ; named Moulder, are. the only members j of .he eastern array.hot fiecoraied with j the. regulation House of David chin j adornment. j“j couldn't wear those whiskers. j sa::'. Alex. . i didn't need whiskers ; when 1.was good.. ;Alexander, now 47. believes he'still eouid win in a A A league.. . j”0:i my control alone. he explained, i “and 3 can pour that old cohyincer j through . there now and then. s ' Eut he declared lie was receiving a j better, straight salary than that con- i ta imd in any one of a dozen offers, J and pointed out the advantage of i having no pennant to worry about. ( Alexander pitches at least one in- I : ntng. nightly, as well as taking his : turn when games are booked in. the i af fcvnooh. And si til exhibit the easy I motion that accounted for 373 major j !ergue victories, with .16 shutouts for j the Phillies in -1916r—a NationalILeague record.UN- Biggest .Moment •A'ex anclei’; recently. saw his first , ir'. or.league .game in two; years when / he dropped Into NnvLn Field. Detroit. I to.c;os:his old friend. Rogers Hornsby. ; K a great admirer of the boss of the | Bi r.vns. j .'’he only time I didn't get along • with Rog was when 1 pitched.to him, i he beamed. jfi was Hornsby who gave him - the ! office to take . that long and highly! dramatic shuffle across the field, with |. the bases loaded in the seventh ;in-.i : ning of die final world scrics game j between the Yankees and Cardinals in \ 2926. 'As you might suspect. Alex lists his j :striking-out- Tony Lassen hi that set- | Up as his greatest thrill... !■1 And 1 wasn’t soused the night be- ; fore, rS it so generally Was reported. !. A1 r antler. who now drinks nothing! '.stronger than lager, went on. As a \ matter ijf fact. I slept in s twin bed jjext to Horsby. II'might; have imbibed .a bit too' freely occasionally. but if I had con-, tinually: nursed u bottle of whisky, I hardly would have stuck around for 20 years:.My habits also were discussed when Joe ■ McCarthy did me the Liver ol shipping me from Chicago to Horns-b: ‘ pennant winners that season! when the iruth was that mir argument was cause hv my wanting to p;fli to Travis Jackson,1 of the Giants, one way, and he another.‘ I pitched. McCarthies way, and Jackson hr. the bail bin of the park.
Newspaper Details
Danville Bee
Danville, Virginia, US
Mon, Jul 16, 1934
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 17 Jul 2023
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