[Did NLer Clyde see AL games? See Babe Ruth play?]

CLYDE SUKEFORTH: I played against him in spring training. We played the Yankees a lot in spring training. We played 'em an exhibition game in Cincinnati. In those days, we had an off day, why, there was no television money coming in, you know...if you had that off day, the club had arranged an exhibition someplace.

[About Dizzy Dean not showing up for the Cardinals' exhibitions and management's displeasure...]

He was a magnet, I guess...

[Was it more competitive, more cutthroat? More a feeling the opposition is the enemy?]

No, about the same. Used to have a fight once in a while. But whether the spirit wasn't as high then, or possibly higher. I don't know.

[There was less charging the mound then.]

This is getting to be ridiculous. I mean, you'd think they had a meeting and declared the inside of that plate is off limits! You throw a ball in there and the guy's wanting to fight you. I mean, they're carrying that to a ridiculous extreme.

[On picking an All-Star team...]

Oh, I don't like to compare ballplayers. I had a lot of admiration for [Rogers] Hornsby, particularly his hitting. And I think he was a good manager too. You know, he was a real good thinking baseball man. I sat in hotel lobbies in New York. Sometimes the Cardinals would be coming in there. It was later when I was scouting, you know. And Hornsby, he would sit there and talk to you, baseball all night. But don't change the subject! He was strictly baseball. He was a dedicated baseball man. He wouldn't go to a movie because he was afraid that the flickers could affect his eyesight. Maybe some of the rest of us shouldn't have gone! But I don't think we'd have all hit like Hornsby.

[He was weak on pop flies.]

Yeah, "C'mon Jim". He used to holler "C'mon Jim" when a pop fly up, calling to Jim Bottomley [Cards' first baseman.]

[About Hack Wilson and the green suit.]

The ballplayers had certain restaurants that they liked and there was one in Brooklyn. They served something special, maybe it was corned beef and cabbage. Something out of the ordinary you didn't find on everybody's menu. Once a week. Different specials.

Well, this time, Hack came in there. Now, [Lefty] O'Doul was a dressy fellow and he had tailor-made suits, you know. And he had a green suit. And it looked very good on him. And then, Hack, he came up with a green suit. Now, there was nothing wrong with it.

That night he had a few beers, and some fellow over at the bar made some remark about a "green ---". And Hack misunderstood it, I think. And went over to that guy and grabbed that guy and said "one more smart remark like that and I'm going to run this down your throat." The guy didn't know what it was about.

Then we're riding up to the Polo Grounds in Hack's car. Some guy came barging out of a side street and Hack had to jam on the brakes. It was a cab that came out. It was an obvious intrusion, no question about it. He just came barging out of there. Hack had to avoid the collision. Hack yells at him, "Who the hell do you think you are? Mr. New York?" The guy had stopped, you know. Very late. So now he gives Hack this, or this, I forget which, but he shook his hand at Hack. And then he stepped on it and away he goes. Now Hack's madder than ever. I don't know. Things just seemed to happen to Hack, to follow him. He didn't go around looking for trouble, it just seemed to follow him.

[Was Hack's decline a drinking problem?]

He didn't change his habits. Some guys who take perfect care of themselves have better years and worse years. I don't know. It gets psychological. You get into a slump or something. It reflects in your yearly average. People have good years and bad years. It doesn't necessarily have to do with you did more drinking this year than other years...It don't have to be, necessarily, that you did more drinking this year than you did the other year.

[Was Hack Wilson a good outfielder?]

A pretty good outfielder...He played centerfield. He didn't hurt 'em.

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