Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1910 — IN THE WORLD OF SPOUT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN THE WORLD OF SPOUT

Larned, One Athlete Who Could Come Back. • -U--.-.- J,- . . ' ' i

Jim Jeffries tried hard, but could not come back. Many other athletes have also had it proved to them that they could not keep at the top all the time or retain the title after remaining idle for some time. But William A. Larned, the five time national lawn tennis champion, has shown that he can come back. On June 22. when Larned was scheduled to play Gustave Touchard. he was unable to fill his engagement because of a strained tendon, but rather than win the match by default Touchard agreed to postpone his match with Larned until the latter was physically able to play. It was a good act of sportsnianship on the part of T uchard, but resulted rather disastrov sly for him, as the match was prayed recently, and Larned won with ridiculous ease. also showed his class later by defeating Maurice E. McLoughlin, the nlneteen-year-old Californian, who was picked to win the Metropolitan handicap. This victory gave Larned permanent possession of his third Longwood trophy. For twenty years he has been in the game, and today at forty we And him as the best lawn tennis player in America.

Leach a Great Ball Player.

Tommy Leach., the Cleveland boy playing the outfield for the world’s champion Pirates, is the greatest of all ball players, past or present, in the opinion of George L. Moreland, Pittsburg baseball statistician. George has been figuring major league batting and fielding averages for thirty years and has seen all the big players. “You can talk of your Wagners, Lajoies. Cobbs. Mathewsons, Josses, Walshes and Youngs, but I think Tommy Leach is the greatest ball player that ever lived.” says Moreland. “Looking at his work from every angle. you can’t find a single weak point His fielding is remarkable, he uses rare judgment in running the bases and a more timely batter never stepped to the plate. “Above all. Leach knows how to do it and when to do it on the ball field. . “There’s no wasted motion. He’s always looking for and seeing an opportunity to help his team.” Blind Baseball Fan Knows Game. The most enthusiastic baseball fan in Kansas is C. Gish of Abilene, a piano tuner, who is totally blind. He attends all the ball games at Abilene and is well acquainted with the names of the players and the merit of each on the field. Mr. Gish can tell you how many balls or strikes there are on a batter and how many outs on the side at bat. After the game he can tell the features of the game and enjoys talking over the play with his friends. “How can I enjoy a ball game when I cannot see a play?” said Mr. Gish recently. “Well. I listen to what the people about me are saying. I can tell every play that is made provided there is not too much noise.’’ Would Use Compressed Air Bats. There is a member of the Kansas City team who is experimenting with bats loaded with compressed air. It has been proved that an ordinary hitter can knock a ball loaded with compressed air to great distances, so this player believes a bat loaded the same way would act in the same manner. Howell to Be Ump. Harry Howell, the famous pitcher of the St. Louis Americans, will be appointed a big league umpire. Kerin, who has been ill. which compelled the single umpiring system, may not return to the game. So the president of the American league Is scouting for umpires.