Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 206, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1910 — HOW ST. LOUIS MANAGER WINS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW ST. LOUIS MANAGER WINS

Winning Teams Are Always Hustling ' for Every Little Point-Team Work Necessary.

BY JOHN O’CONNOR.

(Copyright, JSIO, by Joseph B. Bowlew) Keeping every player on his toes every minute of every game is what wins—and this regardless of our own showing so far this season. Whenever players begin to touch their heels to the ground, either fielding, hitting or running the bases, they are getting ready to lose a lot of ball games. All the winning teams I have played with, or managed, have been teams that kept hustling every minute for every point The study of heel and toe was the most Important. Persons outside the business do not realize the Importance of this. A base runner, for instance, who moves off first with bis heels down, loses nearly three feet in reaching second because he was not on his toes and jumping when- he started. Inches count in modern baseball and men who lose feet are bad ball players no matter how good they are. To win every man on a team, not only those on the field, but the coachers, must know what is to be done. In this experience and familiarity with each other’s style of play helps a lot. If one man does not know the habits and style of the others he is likely to destroy all team work and ruin the best laid plans of the others. It is the duty of a manager, as I see it, to try to keep up this enthusiasm provided he can force the pace of the men without damaging them otherwise. His position is a hard one. He must know his men intimately, and understand their temperaments. Ho must handle each man separately, yet avoid all favoritism and partiality. He must be strong enough to squelch certain men, and support others. 1 am speaking of the duties of a manager impersonally. Every manager has the same things to contend with and his duties on the playing field really are the lightest of all. If a man’s heart is not in his work and if he lacks confidence in himself and his club he cannot win. What winning I have done in the past is due to this hustling, aggressive style of play which I learned chiefly under Tebeau and with the old Cleveland

team. Perhaps we carried aggressiveness to the extreme, but it won, and I would like to see more of it on these more recent teams. Good team work, aggressiveness, gameness and a little hitting ability will carry a team a long ways and with good pitching will make it a winner.

Jack O’Connor.