Charlie Devens Tells of His Experiences With Yankees---Owes Pitching Success to Mitchell

"Of all the men with whom I have come in contact since I have been playing professional baseball, none of them, in my opinion, have a more thorough knowledge of the game than Coach Fred Mitchell," said Charles Devens '32 in an interview with the CRIMSON recently. Devens joined the professional baseball ranks immediately after his graduation in June, 1932, and after having started last season in Newark, he was recalled to the New York Yankees in July because of the creditable record he achieved while a member of the Newark International League baseball team.

"I feel," continued Devens, "that Coach Mitchell's coaching, together with that of Herb Pennock and Cy Perkins of the New York Yankees, have been the chief factor in whatever pitching success I have enjoyed thus far.

"The most striking differences between, college and professional baseball are the almost errorless support of the fielders and the strictness of the umpires. Many batted balls which go for hits in college baseball would be converted into double plays by the skilled infielders of the professional teams. As for the umpires, in amateur baseball they are inclined to make frequent mistakes and to show favoritism to certain players. On the other hand, the umpires of professional baseball are almost infallible.

"The life of the professional players is a lazy man's existence. You rise at about ten in the morning, go out to the ball park in the early afternoon, and at 6 o'clock you are through. The evenings are left to your own discretion.

"It is also rather a luxurious life, for you stay at the best hotels, have private compartments on trains, and spend over a month, every spring, in the South. The popular idea that all professional ball players are extremely extravagant with their money is false. For the most part, they are a fairly conservative group of men.

"How long I remain in the business of baseball depends entirely upon how successful a season I have next year. The best game I have ever pitched in major league baseball I consider to be an encounter against the Chicago White Sox. During the first nine innings I allowed about three hits. Herb Pennock relieved me in the ninth. Then the game went into extra innings, and was finally won by Chicago.