Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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In February, Billy Evans announced that his team would remain in New Orleans for the duration of spring training. After consulting with manager Peckinpaugh, it was decided the team would be in better shape by not doing any traveling until the regular season. The Indians had only six exhibition games scheduled, two each against Cincinnati, Brooklyn, and the New York Giants. A handful of games were also arranged with the New Orleans Pelicans. Any other contests would be intra-squad. Evans thought the train rides and traveling in general were tiring for his ballplayers and he wanted them at peak condition by the season opener on April 16. Some of the ball clubs trained out west in Arizona and California. The temperatures were great, but Evans believed the thousands of miles of travel negated the positive effects of ninety-degree weather. Sportswriters and fans alike were curious to see if Evans’s innovative theory would pan out in the campaign ahead.

A day before the journey to New Orleans, Evans orchestrated another major deal. He sent third-string catcher Chick Autry—and cash—to the Chicago White Sox for left fielder August “Bibb” Falk. The trade surprised the baseball world, as Falk had been a star in Chicago since the 1920 season. He was a bona fide .300 hitter with a high of .352 in 1924. Falk was now part of a talented outfield that included Charlie Jamieson, Earl Averill, and Dick Porter. These players had a real chance to surpass the great Cleveland outfield of 1920 consisting of Tris Speaker, Elmer Smith, Joe Wood, and the now-veteran Jamieson.