Get Your Mitt, Johnny—it's Time For Class!

On a raw, cold night in Auburndale, Fla., this month, a 16-year-old boy, Benedict Trawinski, started at shortstop for the Virgil Trucks Baseball School team against an outfit from Lakeland. In the first inning, Trawinski walked and got to second on a wild pitch. When a ball was thrown past the catcher, he went around third and tore for home. But he began his slide too soon. He momentarily checked himself—always a bad thing when sliding—and then abruptly he was writhing on the ground.

Bobby Thomson made a similar slide last spring and sat out most of the season on the Milwaukee bench with a broken ankle. Trawinski was more fortunate. He got off with a slightly sprained ankle, and he learned something in the process. Inexperienced now, if he goes on to become a good ballplayer, he most likely will never again hesitate on a slide.

This is finding out the hard way, but it is the reason why Trawinski and several hundred other aspiring young ballplayers have been in Florida this winter to attend baseball schools. Baseball is their chance for fame and fortune. They pay their money for the privilege of playing before the critical eyes of veteran players. They play hard and watch and listen closely to everything that is taught them, and some will make the majors.

When I went to one of the schools unintroduced, some of the young aspiring players asked me if I were a scout. Others would ask me if scouts were present or if I knew when any scouts were going to show up at their school. I asked a young player at Sid Hudson's school in Kissimmee what he thought of it.

"What do I think of it? It's our future!"

And another of Hudson's boys said during a meal:

"Big leaguers think in five thousands the way we think of five dollars."

The baseball school is a relatively new institution. The record isn't clear but apparently Ray Doan, promoter of the House of David teams, started the first one in Arkansas during the 1930s. Rogers Hornsby was early associated with him. And in 1939 when Doan moved from Hot Springs, Ark., to Jackson, Miss., he advertised Babe Ruth as a member of his faculty.

THEY RUN AWAY—TO SCHOOL

Jersey Joe Stripp operated the first baseball school in Florida, and most of these institutions have since located there. In 1937 the majors got interested when Joe Engel, president of the Chattanooga Lookouts, established the Washington Nationals Baseball School in Winter Garden. Jack Rossiter, a Washington scout, runs another one of the older schools in Cocoa, and recently Trucks, Ed Lopat, Sid Hudson and Eddie Miller have opened their own places. In short, the baseball school appears to have become firmly established. In the future, it is likely to grow. With minor leagues and independent teams folding up, the schools well may become more important as a source of good prospects.