McGilllcuddy's 50th

In spite of the heat (96DEG) and the transit strike (see U.S. AT WAR), Philadelphians--29,166 of them--jammed into Shibe Park for a jamboree. The hot time was in honor of one Cornelius McGillicuddy, 81, from East Brookfield, Mass. Connie Mack had finished a half-century of big-league baseball management (Pittsburgh, three years; Milwaukee, four years; the Philadelphia Athletics, 43 years).* A jazz band let go, Abbott & Costello clowned. Master of Ceremonies Ted Husing stepped to the microphone near home plate to read a telegram from Franklin Delano Roosevelt: ". . . my sincere and best wishes on your Golden Jubilee . . . may your score card continue to wave from the dugout. . . ."

Connie Mack had risen at his usual hour of 8:30, drunk his usual cup of warm water. His appetite was up to par. For breakfast he had oatmeal, toast and coffee; for lunch, chicken creole, apple pie and iced tea; for the anniversary banquet later on he had the works. He had just been with the Athletics to Chicago, and he expected to go on making all trips with his club. He also expected to keep up with the movies and prize fighting. He did not expect to go to bed before 11 p.m.

Whatta Club. As he strode, thin and vigorous, toward home plate, the crowd rose to its feet. His hair was slicked down, he looked almost boyish in his dark brown Sunday suit and sport shoes. Most of those present expected him to begin with his usual "My gracious!" or "By golly!" But his thanks were formal.

Then Connie Mack beckoned from the dugout, one by one, some of the most effulgent guests who ever gathered to do homage to a baseball veteran. They were the members of his personally picked, alltime, all-star team: George Sisler, "the greatest first baseman ever" (now a Brooklyn Dodgers scout); Eddie Collins, second base (Boston Red Sox general manager); Frank ("Home Run") Baker, third base (Maryland farmer); Honus Wagner, shortstop (Pittsburgh Pirates coach); Bill Dickey, catcher (U.S. Navy); Lefty Grove, pitcher (Maryland coupon clipper); Walter Johnson, pitcher (Maryland farmer); Tris Speaker, center field (Cleveland wine distributer); and George Herman ("Babe") Ruth, right field (who lives on annuities in Manhattan). Absent were Lieut. Commander Mickey Cochrane, catcher, who failed to get leave, and Ty Cobb, left field, who wired from his California retirement that he had a bad case of poison ivy.

When Connie Mack's dream team had lined up on either side of him, all dispute over his selections was drowned in one gasping verdict from the crowd: "Whatta ball club!"

*Before that he caught for ten years with teams from Meriden and Hartford, Conn., Newark, Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh.

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