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ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16,1907.
BASEBALL SEASON
NOW ALMOST HERE
Wild the New York Aeinrlcans due In
Atlanta March 6 or 6. with the Atlanta
players under wtlira to report not Inter
than March 10. and with the first eihlhl
tlofi game doe March IS. local fan festivals
are warming op materially, and the be
ginning of baseball happenings Is not far
off.
Work baa hardly begun on the new V'onee
|N>|enn |tark. and It Is doubtful If It
Iw flnlstfnl In time for use at alt thla
year. In consequence. IJlJly Nmlih has had
old Piedmont put lu good trim, and be
considers that the old diamond Is foster
and In letter condition than e\er before.
Four or fire Inches of dirt have l*een
spread over the Infield, and after the first
brisk rain It will l*e ready for the opening
reception In honor of the New York Amer
icans.
Clark Griffith. .Iiy the way, has a kick,
liecnnsc he wa* awarded only eight guinea
In Atlanta. This Is the same nunit»er that
Htnlth allowe<l the Urrya Inst spring, but
Griff wants more.
However, his rhances of getting them are
very poor. flinlth has every day from
March IS to April « filled, exeept Hundaya.
and could not sandwich In another game
for love nor money. In addltlou to the
eight games with the New York team.
Atlanta has four with Cleveland, two
with Maron. two with Augusta, two with
Detroit ami two with Itrooklyn
If marrying ruins n IkiII phtyer, then
the Atlanta team Is to the bad this year
for sure. Keller, Hparks and Harley are
the old offenders along this line. Hut to
the ranks have recently l*ccu added Jlin
Fox nlid Otto Jordan. In fact, this pair
of Inflelders stepped off this week An«l
among the l«*i»edlr ts who have signet I f,»r
the first fluie this year are Hall. Castro.
1‘nskert. O'leary. ami. mayln*. others who
have not yet •■oiifessetl.
The gnv Imchehirs are likely to lie vastly
In the minority this year on Ike Atlanta
team, and If there la anything lu the be
lief that marriage ruins a ball playar (and
DlUy Htnlth, who la a thirty-third degree
bachelor, thinks thsre la) then the
married Crackera wilt bare to buetle
keep the team at the top.
During the past we$*k, Dyer. Ze||«r and
Harley have signed, ft*was a Mg relief
to Hinllh to get Dyer's name on a con
tract. The Cincinnati man did not a
especially anxious to play in Atlanta, and
Hiultb anticipated trouble. Fortunately, It
did not come.
The big baseball event of next week will
l*e the spring meeting of the Houtbern
League. If anything Imt the schedule Is
likely to sprlug up and cause any excite
ment at that time. It la not known to us.
The meeting will t»e bald In the Pled*
moot hotel, and after It la over the At
lanta club will give a banquet to the vls-
Itlug ball players oud newspaper men.
Hugo Kelly will probably be Tommy Ity-
n's next opponent at Hot ffprtngs.
•lease the star
£L nr
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
O TECH AND MERCER TEAMS O
O . MEET AT BASKET BALL O
O
0 Macon, Ga.. Feb. IS.—Mercer - * O
O banket hall team will meet Tech O
O In Mnron thin afternoon at 1:10 O
O o'clock. The game la to be played O
O Ut the Mercer gymnasium. Thl* O
O will l<e the firm mutch of the eea- O
o .on for the Altunin Blarkemlth* O
no a it "oil frame should he the O
0 rfHiilt. - O
O O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
C BABB’S MEMPHIS AGGREGATION
BETTER BALANCED THAN IN 1906
Big Gaps in Team
Filled by Very Fast
Men.
Did you ever atop to think just how-
many trama In the Southern League
will be right there thla year In the rare
for the pennunt?
Of courae there la Atlanta—flrat and
foremoat, becauae we are all moat .«•
pectaily Intereated In the Crackera.
Billy Bmlth ha. gathereil In a hunch
which will certainly be In the rare all
the way and which aeemn to have n
ronalderably heller than "one-ln-seven"
chance of winning the .aid pennant.
Howerer, we did not atari out thla
rnomtn# to talk about Atlanta. Nor
are' wa going to apend much time nt
preaent on Birmingham, though the
Barone are certainly pennant*ehaaere
tlila year, and, for all anybody can see
NOT NEWS, BUT VIEWS |
By PERCY H. WHITING.
The time has come when the amateur soothsayers are tak
ing an informal shot at picking the baseball winners.
The pennant prophets are in our midst once more and their
noise is very loud and long. Every tf*am in the league has been
picked to take off the rag.
Speaking of prophecy, the last issue of CoItier'K Weekly
said:
Prophecy is a nice, gentlemanly business, which is finan
cially prophetahle and can he learned, no doubt, at many
cftrrespofnience schools. Hut, pursued as a calling it haa
its difficulties. There is something shiffy, vague and non
committal about the Future. Personally, we don’t like the
future. The tall,, dark gentleman who is going to eroiw our
path often turns out to be short mid blond, and half the
time ho doesn’t cross our path at all, but goes around. Wc
prefer the Past, because it stays put—it is the only really
stationary, dependable thing we know of. Anybody can
tell what he had for breakfast; but wlint will develop at
dinner-time is a matter of doubt nml perplexity.
Picking pennant winners is somewhat more difficult than
this correspondence school game.
So many conditions enter into a winning team—skill, luck,
the manager, human nature, the support, more luck and n few
other considerations, including the opposing teams and the um
pires. You can read up dope from now until August 1 nml then
never half reduce the picking business to an exact science.
The writer has yet to see the placing of the teams done with
any exactness. Of course, with every fan in the league touting
his home club ns the winner somebody has to he riglil. Hut this
placing the teams in the order they will finish is a fierce game
and is not done correctly about once in a million trvs.
Rack in 100.1 (i. Rice conducted one of these How-Do-You
Place-’Em competitions for baseball writers, and this one, who
was in Memphis then, managed—more by the aid of lobster luck
than good guidnnoe—to place five out of eight clubs in the posi
tions in which thee eventually ’finished. Not another writer in
the South hit nearer than three out of eight, and (it least two
had every team wrong.
And at that this writer did not pick the pennant winner.
He called the turn for Memphis and New Orleans won.
This piek-the.peuuant-winner tiling is largely a matter of
patriotism, anyway.
Everybody who is anybody believes, just as long ns there
is a delusion left in bis body, that the home team is going to
win the pennant.
It is no credit to anybody to pick a winner under those cir
cumstances. You just select the home team and let it go at that.
they have »« food a tenm this year t s
the one which won the pennant last
year. *
Likewise there Is New Orleans.
■ hough "That Foxy Dutchman" has not
said much yet. and there Is some doubt
as to what sort of a team Frank has.
However, It will bo right there when
the race begins, nnd so will that
Bhreveport bunch which ts to be guid
ed through the troubled waters of the
Southern League race by Commodore
Thomas Fisher.
But How About Memphis?
All this line of talk was merely to
lead up to our old friends the Memphis
team, and -was brought about by the
fact that we wanted to go on record
as believing thul If It weren't for the
four other teams In the league which
seem to have an equally good cbanco,
the Babblers would certainly win the
pennant.
Charley Babb doubtlsss had won#
gaps and more gaps In his foam than
any other manager In tha league. Be
sides himself tha team boasted of thro*
real stars—"Dutchy" Llebhardt, Nlch-
olla and Nadeau. "Ueby" waa tha sec
ond pest bitter In the league, Nlcholla
was said to be the beet shortstop, and
Nadeau was a .$79 batter.
Well, these three wonders have de
parted. Nlcholla and Llebhardt have
gone to faster company. Nadeau has
been turned back ta the Pelicans, from
which club he was borrowed by Mem
phis.
Just a Few Wore Loft.
Of the last year's men the following
will be bark:
George Carey, first base. '
Forrest P. Plasa, second base.
Kdwurd Hurlburt, catcher. .
Frank Owens, catcher.
Otis Htockdole. pitcher.
Sylvester D. Louche, pitcher.
George Buggs, pitcher.
Jimmy 8mlth, second base.
Manager Charles Babb, shortstop.
Buck Thell. outfleld.
Robert Carter, outfleld.
It will be observed that In the bunch
there Is an “A No. 1“ flrst baseman,
two really good catchers, three pretty
line pitchers, a good lias-bsen and a
good coming second baseman, a short
stop, who was the best third baseman
In the lengua last year, and two good
outfielders—Thell and Carter.
Little enough Is known of the new
men. There are no new candidates tor
the catcher's box, but plenty of new
pitchers.
The list of new twirling possibilities
Includes:
"Joey" L. Bills, of Keokuk, In the
Iowa League.
O. E. Crosby, of Heber, Ark., a pitch
er.
Watson, of the Texas League.
Walker, of Cairo, In the Kitty
Guy Saint, n Memphis semi-pro.
Charles Brotje, of Toledo.
Ed Wagner, of the Iowa State
League.
Henry Schultx, a Toledo semi-pro.
There are eight new men, and from
the number It Is quits evident that
Manager Babb does not mean to be
caught short on pitchers, as he wan
last year. Bills, Watson, Walker nnd
Wagner are the only ones In the list
who need to be taken seriously. Babb
seems to think he has a And In the
"Keokuk Phenom." and very likely he
will make a pitcher. Walker, of Cairo,
Is said to be a big, willing chap, and a
comer. Watson and Wagner may be
the works. Nobody, here knows.
Crosby Is a man plckod out of the
sticks.- C1||« Haiti!-la hardly nf mitHrlent
age or experience to do. The writer
has seen him pitch In the City
League of Memphis, and while he Is
a wonder In that class, It Is not likely
that he will stick In the Southern.
Brotje and Schultx are unknown.
Developing "unknowns" and Improv.
TOLEDO BOY WITH BABB.
In consequence, the Writer makes the following selection:
OIK ONE BEST BET TO IVIN THE PENNANT—AT
LANTA;
Very likely this is a burn Ruess. But it is nn honest belief
thnt Atlanta will win anil nothing will shake it except the vic
tory of some other team.
So here’s to the Atlanta team, winners of the next pennant
racy.
And if it doesn’t win, here’s to it, anyway.
Pitching Staff Will Be
Stronger Than Last
Year.
Billy Smith knows of th* man and had
him In mind once himself Of course If
Richards Is a counterfeit, BeumlllT
may get a trial at the Job, or there may
be shifts of various kinds.
As Carter and Thiel will be bock,
there Is only one gap In the outfleld,
and for this vacant position the candi
dates are: Cecil Neighbors, who was
drafted from Burlington, of the I»wu
League; W. Burt Tufe,' an Indiana
product, and Dakin E. Miller, nf Wich
ita. Kan.
Now. there's the whole outflt, as far
as we know It. If there Is anything
else up Charley Babb’s sleeve he has
not mentioned-It. And. anyivny, this
team looks'like a good one.
Just to summarise: The catching
staff Is the same. The best pitcher
TURFMEN DEJECTED
OVER THE OUTLOOK
j
OTIS 8TOCKOALE.
nn last year's team Is gone, but Loucks
has rounded Into shape, Suggs, the
man with the marvelous curves, will
he nn deck (though rumor has It that
he is holding nut and refusss to sign),
and sight new mon will be tried. Out
nf that lot ought to come better round
ed and more efficient pitching staff than
the one the Babblers had last year.
First base will be as well or better
handled. Second base the same. Short
stop will be guarded by the star all
round Inflelder of lost year's Southern
League—a man who-fields like a (lend
nml huts .X00 Third base ta doubtful,
hut It will not be as strong an It was
last year. The beat man has been
knocked out of the outfleld. but his po
sition will doubtless he well filled.
On the whole, Memphis should have
a more evenly balanced team than lost
year, and one which, under the very
efficient leadership of Charley Babb,
should stick close to the top, from be
ginning to end.
HENRY 8CHULTZ.
This youngster pitched two years
ago for tho Blades In the Toledo
O
Bruce’s Pressing Company
DRY AND 8TEAM CLEANING DYER.
M2 PEACHTREE—PHONE 22S-NORTH.
SUITS PRESSED AND SHAPED 35c.
SUITS CLEANED AND SHAPED $1.00.
MEMBERSHIP, PER MONTH 11.50.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
>••«••••••••••••••••••
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
O 0
O SWEENY SIGNS. O
O O
Ed Sweeny's signed contract 0
O has blown Into the office of the O
O Atlanta Haseliull Association and 0
Q hits I tee it nleil awsy hy Manager O
O Hilly Htnlth along with the rapid- O
O ly growing pile of signed con- 0
O tracts. O
O Sweeny, who was with t'olutu- 0
O hla In the Killy League last year. 0
O tins'been playing Indoor Itaseltall 0
O all winter with the Histidine ». of 0
0 Chicago. .->nil Is In line trim. O
O O
cooocooooooonooooooocoocoo
an independent team at Toledo.
Ho won ninotoon gomoo and tied
one. Tho tie game wae a fourteen
inning affair, in which tho eeoro
wae 3 to 3, and In which Schultz
atruck out ninety mon, Tho To
ledo boy hae fierce speed and Mom-
thie It ti
daxwell.
j Ing "Assies" la, however, Charley
Babb's specialty. Nlcholla was nobody
I at all when ilaltb landed him. and
"Dutchy" Llebhardt had been a failure.
Ilut the Boy Manager made wonders
• out of them and gradunted them Into
!, fasier company In one year.
As to tho Infield.
George Carey Is being counted on to
i play flrst base. Bust Just to keep "the
I old ’un" bustling Itaiehford, the Macon
• player, has been picked up. Katchford
! i Is tinned as a good one and Is said .o , .
• • rank among the top-notehers as a tlr.-t :
j | saeker. However, unless he ran hat a 1 *
i! lot better than Carey he can hardly
11 make n plaee for himself, for Carey is |
‘ us good u tleldlng first baseman as the
league has ever seen,
I Jimmy Hmlih. when In condition. |j
would make un Ideal man for the Bublt. , ;
I lies' second bag. Ilut rumor floats ■ i
i up from New Orleans to the effect that ;
•Jimmy Is not at his best. Evidently'?
' Haiti, Is worried on this point, for he ,s j:
i talking of Forrest Pluss for a regular ’
• Jolt ut second. "The Rabbit" Is a good
lone ami would doubtless make a sue-
| cess in that position, though his bitting
Is not w Imt It ought to be (.193 In
I 191161.
Charley Habh says he will play short-
slop himself, which moans that Nlch-
Itlls- place Is fllled nil right. However,
In case Charley does not play there. Al
Heitmlller, u club mate of Bills, of Keo
kuk. will lie down for a trial.
The problem of putting a man at
third who will do as well as Babb did
Is a difficult one.
The line candidate Is Frank Rich
ards. drafted from Burlington, Iowa.
By J. 8. A. MacDONALD.
New Orleans, La.* Feb. It.—With ths
Anal days of February comes to the
professional campaigner a eenee of the
near approach of the day of dayo—the
"blow" to the Northern summertlde
racing grounds.
Just at this time anticipation and ex
pectation of the coming months Is In
every mind, and. If truth must be told,
the general feeling Is none too buoyant,
for the grand Institution of the turf Is
sorely beset by Its enemies on all
sides.
This Is the hour of Its tribulation,
for within the spare of eight days the
legislatures of two states—Arkansas
and Tennessee—enacted measures
which effectually kill racing In those
respective sections.
Now- comes news of a brewing agita
tion against the sport In southern Call,
fornla. where the professional politi
cians have a Anger In the pie at Loa
Angeles. Cal., and the quiet but never
theless Insidious attack, the reformers
are waging at Albany, N. T„ against
the foundation of the metropolitan
turf.
Why Turfites Are Blue.
There will be no racing at Mont-
l"lri u
gomery Park, Memphis. Ten,,
Cumberland Park, Nashville
this year.
The game Is cooked at Hut >
Ark., and with the roe* course* ,,, „„
note and Missouri crumbling i m ..
through disuse, due to the , r ’
ment of laws against race trj.k tti*'
ling, the whole West may be ,..m ,
"dead" to the nostlmo of rat ing ,> *
oughbreds. ' r ‘
On the whole, the situation m is.
East la none too reassuring.
Here In New Orleans racing i,
thoroughly Intrenched than
outside of New York. n,r *
Benninge Opens November 25
In New York they say racing #|
live as long as August Belmont, n...
In a nutshell, there la the state „r
fairs, and, of course, the man nt,'.
makes his living from following th.
ponies, or the man or woman who A,
H-hts In a holiday of a summer after’
noon down at the trackslde. where , nei
xephyra blow and a decent number ,,t
favorites come home. Is dlstree„a „
the outlook, with the Inception r
real 1107 season but a month nr
away, the Jockey Club schedule r»„.
Ing for the flrst flsg an at Bennln,.
Washington, D. p.. on March 25. '
Local Lightweights Wrestle
For Georgia Championship
In what promises to be one of the
fastest, fiercest and hardest fought
wrestling matches ever pulled off In
this city between lightweights Kid
Burns and Dan York will mix It up
for two best out of three falls catch-
ae-catch-can style Friday night at the
"At" armory halt, on—West—MRehen
street.
The men will wrestle for a $30 side
bet, the lightweight championship of
Georgia and a percentage of the gate
receipts. With so much at stage It Is
a sure thing that It wll be hard fought
from beginning to end.
Dsn York Is a local 133 pound wrest
ler and has already proven himself
capable of holding hla own with some
of himself on the defensive nnd Is ,it-
hie to show the other man s few
In the wrestling game when <.n ih-
offensive.
Kid Burns Is a new comer from Rir.
mlngham, Ala., having been here only
a few months, but In those few montht
he has demonstrated to the thnrouxt
satisfaction' of the followers of
wrestling game that he Is one of ths
hardest propositions for his weight
that any man ever went up sgslnsi
He also It very scientific and game tc
the core.
The proceeds of the bout are to g C
In the treasury of the M Company tc
help defray the expenses of their trip
to Jamestown this summer nnd for that
reason the management hope* that
there will be a large crowd present.
Tickets will be on sale at Brannen 4
Anthony cigar stand, corner Mltrher
of the beet mat artists In this port of
the country. He Is a quick, scientific' iiid'Whitehall, ind T. C.'Lauren? tin!
wrestler and amply able to take care tailor, 13 Decatur street.
Track and Baseball Teams
Are in Training at Emory
Special to The Georgian.
Emory College. Oxford. Ga., Feb. 16.
—Training for the track meet with
Georgia and Tech this spring has al
ready begun at Emory, and every aft
ernoon those who expect to take part
in the meet are out on the track taking
slow runs and getting In form.
Although Emory lost several of her
beet track men this year, among them
Blalock. Johnston and Hearn, still with
the addition nf new- material her pros
pects seem good.
Coach Brown and Captain Blckley,
are working hard and promlee a I
team. Among those showing up »*»
are Bickfey. Rumble. Wilson, Wood rut
Lambert, Hammond, Bonnell, Airmail
Dillard and Blckley.
Baseball practice lias also begin
during ths worm weather. The sea*
opens In about a month and pronifwt
to be an Interesting one. The mznigm
of the respective teame are:
I$07, P. E Bryan; 1*08, W. C. Smith;
190$, D. L. Smith; 1910, Grady Olay;
1911, Jim Bullard.
Many Cars Entered For
Hill Climb on February 22
Plan* arc progressing well for the
Washington's Birthday Hill Club and
the affair In already an nesured sue-
ecus.
he entry blank* have been sent out
and entries are pouring In fast. Not
only a number of local cars have been
entered, but also a couple from Ma
rietta.
John M. Smith, n member of the
ommlttee on cntrlrx, ask* that It he
especially announced thnt entries for
the climb dose February 'JO and all
cars muqt be entered on or before that
day.
An In usual In such events most of
the prospective contestants will
for the last moment to declare their
cam In. but there Is no doubt but that
every event will be*well fllled.
MUENCH&
BEIERSDORFER
THE PEACHTREE JEWELER*
Diamonds. Watches, Jewelry. Fine
Watch, Clock end Jewelry R*P*" >
Ing.
89 Peachtree Street Atlanta. 0*.
Bell Phone 1311.
NAT KAISER & CO.
CONFIDENTIAL LOANS
ON VALUABLES.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooon
0 01
O A LITTLE BPORTOGRAM. 0
o OI
O The must Important relent news O '
0 In the world of epoulng writers 0 ]
0 Is that of the addition to the fam- O
O Hy of Gramland Rice, aportlnx Ol
O editor nf The Cleveland News, of O '
O a little daughter. Mlsa FI irencc O I
O Holll* Rice.. 0
O The Georgian and Mr. hire's O:
O thousands of friends In At'nnta O
O extend Ihclr hr.-trllesl eongmitil.i-
O lions.
UNLESS RUBE WADDELL QUITS
EATING CRACKERS IN BED
SCHRECK JUMPS PHILLY TEAM
The following letter explains Itself, It was received by '
Mat k, manager of the Philadelphia Americans, and It Is Ossie 8chrt > h. n
kick: .
•'Dear t'onnle: Read right «m without fear. This Is not n , " u
advanro n«»r a request for tin Increase In salary. I am perfectly k
to i»alnt my name on the bottom of it contract, hut It's something
It won't be long before you start for spring practice, and I « n 1
along If you insist on my taking care or Rube Waddell, or Kddi’
Insisted on being called while In the South.
"Now, t'onnle. I have done all that I could. I didn't mind Kdfllo **
ing snakes, lizard*, mockingbird* and a pair of white mice In t!i«‘ i’"
to amuse himself at night*, but I do object to his eating err 1 " r -
bed. Not a night passed last summer that he didn't hit the hay
n half-pound of crackers in his south paw. Most of them wei
shape of animals like those you see the kids playing with «t h 1
found It stuck In between two of my ribs. At flrst I thought 1 had !*•••»••
sy and had to go to a doctor.
"By the time Rube got on the outside of these crackers 1 ,n an iM ‘
thing but a sleepy mood, nnd that's why my hitting fell off It didti t
to b.*thrr him, for just as soon «* he was through he would turM „
an«l go to sleep, while I had to pack down the crumbs. I want to fi'
they were not crumbs of comfort, either. This thing has been going • » '
year*, and frequently 1 welcomed ft night on the road oven In an u » 1
in Ed
I.
Ill the
berth.
•in concluding. I would like to know If you can't put a clause In b* *
'a contract to the effect that he Is not to eat cmckera In bed
~ - rould be the same g
0881K BUHB&t k \
die's contract to the effect that he Is not to eat
the year 1907? Then I think Rube and myself would be the sane;
friends as of yore. Yours truly,
GET YOUR LUMBER
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