a defeat will not last long in Base Ball. And the beauty of the thing is, that rarely will he let his faults go far enough to bar him from the game—his love of it is too instinctive and too real. Rather still he let the game correct the faults. And there you are. It's a man as well as a soul builder.
"The psychology of Base Ball? It is the psychology of success.
"I know of nothing which more fitly trains the body, mind and soul. The game plays havoc with a boy's or man's emotions. In a day the player may well rise to the fine heights of victory and sink to the dark depths of black despair in a defeat. And it must be the one or the other. There is no midway station. The score is 5 to 3. You win or lose, and quickly learn that nothing is accomplished by trying to lay the blame, if defeat comes, upon the umpire or upon your fellow-players. Pleading a sore finger or strained muscle or tendon wins nothing for the vanquished player in his own mind or the minds of his associates. That is a good thing. After many victories, and the defeats which are quite certain to go with them, a player must, of sheer necessity, achieve self-poise, learn to take winning calmly, and lose philosophically. He may well reach that super-point where he looks grave in victory and smiles with hope when he is vanquished.
Important in Education.
"Base Ball has for a long time been important in the education of our youth—far more important than most people think—and it is destined to become still more important. The day will come, I think, when all American school authorities will supply the necessary grounds to play the game on as an essential adjunct to every public school. The game means countless benefits, and not a single danger to the boy who plays it. You may have gathered from what I have already said that I consider it the greatest game on earth. I do, and, doing so, am proud of my good judgment. There should be Base Ball grounds adjacent to or very near each public school building in the United States.
"Base Ball is the only sport which is severe enough to benefit and not severe enough to overstrain. Base Ball players live to good old ages, almost always. I wish I had the list at hand. The longevity of ex-professionals would surprise you. I myself began to play on the advice of my physician, and I made a business of it in the end.
"Prizefighters, jockeys, foot ball players, oarsmen, even college athletes, are not long-lived."
I had not asked so very many questions. They had not been needed. Mr. Spalding puts his words across the plate as accurately and as logically as, in the old days, he pitched his balls. But now I asked one.
