Coaches of Major Sports at the University Have Excellent Records

Coach John T. Slattery of the University nine has had wide and varied baseball experiences ranging from the college diamond to the big league circuit. Because of his knowledge of baseball in all of its different phases, Mr. Slattery has an insight into the psychology of college ball that is the good fortune of few of the major league ball players who are engaged in coaching teams at schools and colleges.

Mr. Slattery was born in Boston in 1880 and obtained his early education in the South Boston High School. Upon his graduation he entered Fordham College and it was there that he received his first intensive baseball training, catching on the Fordham nine. At the close of his undergraduate life, Mr. Slattery decided to enter Tufts Dental School but the lure of the diamond had too strong a hold on him, and in 1901 he signed his first big league contract as a catcher for the Bostor Red Sox.

Caught for Chicago White Sox

Two years later Mr. Slattery caught for the Chicago White Sox and afterward with the Milwaukee Club. He then went back into the major leagues playing first with the St. Louis Cardinals and later with the Washington Senators. With all of these clubs he made a reputation for himself as a batter, hitting well above average each season. In 1909 Coach Slattery led the league batting on the Pacific coast and continued this enviable record by scoring the highest batting and fielding averages in the International league while with the Toronto club in 1910. During his active baseball career Coach Slattery led a total of nine professional and semi-professional teams in batting averages.

Leaving professional baseball in 1914. Coach Slattery accepted the position of baseball coach at Tufts College. He built the Tufts team into one of the most powerful college nines in the East, showing to a marked degree his ability to develop batters and batteries of high order.

Came to University in 1919

After three years of coaching at Tufts, Mr. Slattery became coach of the Boston Braves, a position which he held up to his taking charge of the University players in the fall of 1919. At the University he revised the old system of coaching and inaugurated numerous other changes. The next spring the team under his supervision, after a number of discouraging defeats finally accomplished his ultimate aim by defeating Yale. The 1921 season was more successful and Yale was defeated in two straight games after a mediocre season in which Coach Slattery's charges won 14 of the 22 pervious games. Last year after losing only 4 of the 24 games played previous to the Yale series, the Crimson, after dropping the first game and winning the next lost the final game and series to Yale.

One of the marked effects of Mr. Slattery's coaching is the hearty spirit of co-operation existing between himself and the players. Under his direction the Crimson nines have shown steady improvement each year.