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HERE'S WHAT THE "BIG FIVE” OFTHE AMERICAN LEAGUE ARE HITTING RIGHT UPTO DATE
COBB 330 140 .424 SPEAKER 348 136 .391 JACKSON 337 125 .371 LAJOIE 216 72 .333 COLtINS 312 102 .327
T . her * ' Peach'" leagu ® * esterda y- Cobb ha» a lead of 33 points over Speaker, while Jackson is I Collins has struck his stride again and is likely to boost his average during the week. Today he is 97 points behind the leader. It be-
33 points behind the lieoigia reach. Lajoie is still out of the game and will have to do a lot of hustling to give Ty a race this year. I nins to look now as though Cofb is sure of again carrying top honors with the wagon-tongue.
BRADY CURDED
TOmLTDDAY
AGAINST BILLS
MONTGOMERY, July 22.—Charley
Hemphill led his Crackers into this
vi.i.ige today for a series with the Bil
iikens. The Atlanta chief predicted this
morning that it is right here that his
team will start climbing and that noth,
irg will stop 'em until they get right
into the first division.
Brady is carded to do the hurling for
the visitors this afternoon, and as he
f 5 now in tiptop condition he is sure
t'n give the local batsmen a peck of
trouble if he gets the "breaks.”
The Crackers came over from New
Orleans. They were scheduled to play
tn? Pelicans a double-header yester
day but it rained hard and Charley
Prink was forced to postpone the bat
tles.
The Cracker-Billiken series Is sure to
j,rove a red-hot argument. McElveen
-tiys he will play the best ball of his
career here and show that Dobbs made
a fatal mistake when he traded him to
Atlanta.
There is bitter feeling between the
t«o teams over the McElveen-Dobbs
fi.-t fight in Atlanta, but no trouble is
expected on the field during the series.
Cnless Manager Hemphill feels bet
ter than he did this morning. Graham
will take his place in the outfield. Oth
erwise the line-up will remain un
changed.
Paige will hurl and McAllister catch
fm the Montgomery team. Danzig, the
big former Montgomery first baseman,
who has been ill several weeks, re
joined the team last night,. Hereafter
he will he used as a pitchet.
THREE MANAGERS AFTER
•UMP’ WESTERVELT’S JOB
XKW YORK, July 22.—A protest
against empire Westervelt to be lodged
with President Ban Johnson, of the
American league, will be drawn up at
a secret meeting of Manager Stovall, of
the St. Louis Browns; Manager Harry
Davis, of Cleveland, and Manager Jim
my Callahan, of the White Sox. it be
came known today. The baseball men
ne t secretly yesterday in a hotel here.
It was learned that the protest against
Westervelt is on the ground that many
of his decisions are wrong. Manager
Stovall was suspended recently because
of an argument with Westervelt.
This will be the first known organ
ized protest against an umpire, and the
result will be watched with keen in
terest by baseball men in .both the
leagues.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE TO
HAVE FIVE UMPIRES
MEMPHIS. TENN., July 22.—Pres
ident Kavanaugh, of the Southern
league, stated today that, the season
•multi be completed with five umpires.
They will be Pfenninger. Rudderham,
Kellum, Breitenstein and Hart, who re
cently left for the bedside of his sick
« ife but will return in about a week.
During the day President Kavanaugh
was In consultation with F. E. Kuhn,
former president of the Nashville club.
Ii is understood they were discussing
matters pertaining to the Nashville
cluli but nothing was given out by
either.
THE BASEBALL CARD.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE.
Games Today.
Atlanta in Montgomery.
Chattanooga in Birmingham.
Nashville in Mobile.
Memphis in New Orleans.
Standing of the Clubs.
W L. P C. XV L. P C.
R ham 54 35 .607 C'nooga. 41 43 .436
Mobtie . ,49 43 .533 N'ville. .39 44 .470
M mphis 43 41 .513 Mont ..39 49 .443
x "r. 40 39 .512 Atlanta .35 46 .432
Yesterday's Result*.
New < trleans-Atlanta, rain.
Mobile 1. Chattanooga 0.
Memphis 4, Birmingham 2.
SOUTH ATLANTIC.
Games Today.
' Minah in Albany.
'/'lumbia in Jacksonville.
' '’lambus in Macon.
Standing or tne Clubs
W. i. p XV. L. P C
' I t 6 .700 Macon . .11 10 .524
• 13 7 .650 Albany . 715 .318
J •" 12 9 .571 Cola. . .6 16 .273
Yesterday’s Result*,
games scheduled.
AMERICAN LEAGUE.
Games Today.
it" in New York.
c' i.oids tn Philadelphia.
/"'’•t in Washington.
1 eland in Boston.
Standing of the Clubs.
W I. PC W L P.C.
61 27 .693 (."land. .43 46 .483
. 54 33 .621 Detroit .43 46 .483
50 29 .562 N. York .25 56 .30!)
1 'E" 15 40 .529 S. Louis 25 59 .298,
Yesterday’s Results.
1 carries scheduled.
NATIONAL LEAGUE. f
'
Games Today. /
, ' in Pittsburg. /
w “fk in Cincinnati. /
‘ Kl> nin Chicago. /
1 I idelphla in St, Louis. /
Standing o* the Clubs.
Y , L ,'Y'nF' P - C . W 5- P <?
"A ..I, Phlla. . 45 Art 495
L ',’l O N. I.ouis 34 45 430
1 . :.. c ’ ! * ; 'BO Br'klyn. !•/ 53 .n*..,
1 44 44 -524 B/ston . 62 .262
Yesterday's Result*.
1 ork 12. Cincinnati 6
Lv,' F ’ ro,,k ''" 1 Gl’.wi game >
- I ' «• ond game.)
■ urn .1. PhfladelplU t n
J ‘‘tsburg-Boston, oft
Chief Meyers Tells of “The Job of a Catcher”
Heavy-Hitting Backstop Reveals Inner Workings
By John (“Chief”) Meyers.
SOMETIMES on a hot summer aft
ernoon when I’m there behind the
plate all weighted down with an
iron mask and a big protector and a
four-pound mitt and shin guards—and
the boys come sliding in. spikes first,
regardless—l think that’being a base
ball catcher is no business.
The boys don’t care much for you
when they’re headed from third to
home. And they’ve got the right of
way, you know. You've got to stand
there and duck the spikes and the col
lision. and put the ball on them first—
outpoint the fast ones, loaded down as
you are.
And you've got to stand behind the
swinging bats (and get one onhe in a
while) and pick up foul tips on the end
of your bare fingers, and you’ve got to
do more work than anybody on the
club, considering that you’re on the
job every day, and the only harder
working fellow, the pitcher, goes in only
every four or five days.
But I wouldn’t trade my job as a
catcher for any other T know of. at that.
To my mind, it’s the most interesting,
most exciting of all. You see more,
know more, learn more about the game
behind the bat than in any other po
sition. And the game is still the big
thing to me.
I am going to try to tell here just
what "the job of a catcher" is, from the
inside viewpoint, the catcher's—just
how he works, what he has to do, how
many things he has to watch.
Work Starts in Morning.
Mell start, then, in the morning.
That’s the beginning of the catcher’s
day. Say we’re at home and are to
play the first game of a series with a
visiting club that afternoon. Before
doing anything else, I get with the
pitchers and we talk over these fel
lows we've got to deal with, beginning
with the top of their line-up and going
all the way down.
What can they hit? Or, rather, what
can t they hit? That's our problem.
What are we going to serve them? We
talk over each of the eight men down
to the pitcher. We don’t usually bother
about him, for pitchers are notoriously
poor hitters, although I’ll bet many a
National league battery in the morning
discusses Old Doctor Crandall, of our
club, who’s the Larry Lajoie of twirl
ers. However, that's incidental.
How do we know what these visitors
can or can't lay their bats on? We
have to study every man. That’s a
catcher's job all his catching life. When
I broke Into the big league the old
catchers and pitchers on the New York
club taught me all they knew about the
other chaps. Once in a while I have
got tips on batters’ weaknesses from
friendly mask men of other clubs, but
not often. Nearly always it is a matter
of close study.
When there is a new man in the op
posing line-up whose weakness hasn’t
yet been got at. of course, we’re up
against it. There’s nothing to do but*
try him out. Perhaps for a few times
we’ll serve him something which is just
what he wants. He whales it and
laughs at us. That's why, because of
the undiscovered weak point, many a,
youngster splurges .400 in the big show
for a time and then drops back to .200.4
We get him.
Like General Laying Plans.
You see, then, the theoretical part of
the game comes first. It's like a gen
eral laying his plans before the battle.
How these plans are going to work out
Is the big question that only-the game,
itself can settle.
Before the bell rings in the after-,
noon the man who is going to pitch has
talked over with me the first three /or
four or five of our opponents again. As
the first man walks out swinging a
couple of hats we know just what w»’re
going to offer him. And he knows, that
we know that.
"Play ball!"
Now, this fellow, say, is a flow ball
hitter. That means lie can Mind on a
ball served between his waJsn and his
knees and lift it far and fast. His
weakness, then, is a high /ball. There
fore. the first one coming/to him is one
high up around his nectk—in the hope
that he may take a sw*tng at it. If he
lays his bat omthat or/e at all. it will be
a weak blow. Well.—-he doesn’t. Ball
one.
The next one* then, comes a trifle
lower—enough lower, maybe, to fool
the batter into nraking a try for it. or
to fool the umpire into calling it a
strike. The <l lever fellow knows this,
and lets that>one go. He’s getting us
in a hole. "Tmo and nothing."
Now on»y must be handed to him
within hiy hitting range—say, a ball
about hi'^/waist—but with a curve that
breaks toward him or away from him.
We must see whether or not he can be
fooletl/that way.
Bung!
"/here il goes! A pretty single to
right and he’s safe on first.
Now my job gets exciting. In my
/bpinion, the toughest situation for a
catcher is "one on and none down.”
Especially if the runner is a clever,
brainy fellow. He's going 10 try to
worry me. And so is the next man up
at bat. Bescher is a bad worrier who
comes to my mind just now. A couple
of others are Lobert and Paskert. Any
one of these boys will make me a lot of
trouble.
The base runner dances off while my
pitcher is getting ready. Is he going
down? If he is, I have to call for a
"pitch-out" -a hall delivered straight,
fast, away outside the plate and just to
my right shoulder, so that 1 can get it
I'HK ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. .MONDAY. JULY 22. 1912.
Meyers One of the Greatest Backstops
Chief Meyers i« one of the greatest catchers of all times. When he
first joined the Giants a few years aggo, fans all over the country thought
McGraw had a "lemon" on his hands. But the Giants’ manager saw the
makings of a first-class backstop in the Indian and developed him. Today
Meyers is the greatest “man behind the bat" in the country, with the
possible exception of Jimmy Archer,
standing up and snap It to second. I've
got to judge, before the ball leaves the
pitcher’s hands, whether that break of
the runner is a real one or the "bunk,"
If he fools me, and it's a fake start,
and I have called for a pitch-out,
there’s a ball wasted on my pitcher
and handed as a gift to the batter. And
he’s trying to fool me every time.
The next time, knowing that I'll hes
itate before wasting another one, the
clever runner may go down and, force
me to try to nail him after having
caught a difficult curve ball in an awk
ward position. He's trying to outguess
me, I to outguess him. It’s a pretty
battle of wits.
The successful catcher is the one
who learns to pick out the genuine at
tempt to steal from some little foot or
body movement of a runner, and to
know these characteristics of each op
ponent, and to remember them.
A big thing, too. Is the throw to sec
ond. Now, a catcher need neither
know nor care who's going to take that
throw. Most of the time he does not
know. He throws for the bag. not for
the basemen. The perfect throw to
second starts from a point about six
feet high (above the catcher's shoul
der), just to the right of the plate, and
goes on a straight downward line to a
point about two feet over the bag, so
that it can be put on the runner with a
swift downward sweep of the base
man’s hands.
The second baseman and shortstop
decide between them who is going to
take the throw. I generally know
whether it’s to be Doyle or Fletcher,
from their movements; but it doesn't
make any difference. One Is always
there to back up the other anyhow.
Well, in this case, say I've out
guessed the runner; Matty or Mar
quand or whoever is pitching has given
me a perfect pitch-out; the baseman
has put It on the opponent at second—
and we're all mighty relieved. I can
turn my attention to the batter.
He turns out to be one of the easiest
kind to handle. The easiest kind is the
batter who makes up his mind that
he’s going to strike at a certain ball; or
that he is not going to strike. I mean
a man who, when he is going to swing,
gives some little sign. He pulls bhett
the shoulder nearest to me. for; in
stance; or he digs in the ground with
one foot to get a better "toe-hold.”
There are many such batters. I've
spotted lots of them from just such lit
tle things. If I see that he is not go
ing to swing, I signal, or "sign,” as we
call it, for a fast one right in the
groove. He isn’t set —and it's a strike.
Then, when the pitcher is getting
ready for the next onA. the batter does
set himself. I sign for a bad one "to
bis weakness.” He goes after this and
we’ve got him in a bad way—two
strikes and no balls, and nervous or
rattled I’ve often got such batters
on thiee pitched balls.
But the great majority of players
give the catcher no such welcome tip
as to what they’re going to do. And a
few of the real good ones have no
known weakness. Os course, every
body's heard the old story about the
new pitcher who asked the veteran
backstop what Hans Wagner's weak
ness was, and was told: “A base on
balls, old top!”
Refuses to Take Chance.
Well, there are two down. The
worst of the worry is over for a time.
But we don’t take a chance. I sign the
pitcher against the third man's weak
ness (or, if he is one of the older pitch
ers, I don't have to sign him; he
knows). This fellow "stops” a drop
ball, it bounds easily to short, and a
1 elegraph KUU
There is something
compelling about a
telegram.
It commands instant attention. It
is never laid aside to be read later.
No man is too busy to stop and read
a telegram.
Let the Western Union handle your
business letters by telegraph.
Information by Telephone.
THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY
quick throw to Merkle has him beaten
by a yard.
As soon as we reach the bench the
pitcher and I sit side by side again and
go over the next lot of batters to come
up. Every single one is talked over.
He may be a high-ball hitter, a wide
ball hitter, a close-ball hitter, a low
ball hitter. He gets, first, what we
think he can’t hit.
Here we are to the second inning.
The other club's "clean-up man/’
fourth on the list, is at bat. He hasn’t
any particular weakness, and he wal
lops a long double to the fence. He
goes to third on a short single by the
next man to left.
Now comes up a play that puts grav
hairs on top of the catcher’s head. That
man on first is going to go. or pretend
to go, down to second, where another
single will score both him and his
mate. He is going to try to draw a
throw from ms to the middle bag,
which may allow his mate to come
home with a run before the throw
back reaches the plate.
It is up to me to stop them both if 1
can; at ail events, to stop the run, ami,
if there is one of the two to be put
out. to get the man on third.
There are variations of this play, and
here I need the fastest and brainest
kind of help from pay Infielder who
takes the throw. I have to judge
quickly whether or not the man on
third is coming home. If he apparently
is. and if he has a fairly good lead off
the bag, I will make a bluff throw to
second, and. instead, throw to third,
trying to get him in a “run-up" be
tween Snodgrass and myself. Between
us we’ll probably nab him.
Different Kinds of Throws.
If I think lie is bluffing or hasn't
got a good start, or isn’t a very fast
man, I will make a full throw to second
base. But it will be a different kind of
a throw from the one I made with a
single runner on base. This will be a
high throw, which the infielder will
take "coming in,” and take at his
shoulder height, so he can whip it back
to me low, so I can put it on the fellow
coming home.
Or, there may be a '’delayed steal”
bluff by the mtyl on first, in which
there may be no thfoxY at all, and both
runnot-s -Trip stay .Mere they are.
/f&i-.pLay.. ticklish, excit
irlg'situMicm which Dm always glad‘to
get out of. We beat it oftener. 1 think,
than not. So the game goes on.
The game of baseball, of course, be
gins and ends at the plate. The batter
starts ,there and-.tries to finish there.
And so The catcher sees the whole
game spj-fad b?fbrq iym.
I have read many articles about in
tricate systems ot signalling, and I
must say that most of that sort of talk
is foolish. J have very few signs.
There is one for a fast ball, one for a
curve and one for a pitch-out. Those
three are the only ones I use constant
ly, and with some of our pitchers 1 can
work almost without anything but the
pitch-out sign. Occasionally I give a
sign for the pitcher to snap-throw to
first to catch a runner far off. But
most I}' he works that play himself.
Signals Are Never Stolen.
I have never known any of our signs
to be stolen, either by a batter looking
around, by a coacher, or by a runner
on second base. If ever we think the
other boys are getting wise to us we
can shift signs In a second.
The easiest club for a catcher to
work against—to help his pitcher, and
that’s his main Job —is a club where
the majority of batters have the same
weakness. Brooklyn, for Instance. Out
of their eight regular men. seven all
except Daubert are high-ball hitters.
so we serve them low balls regularly.
TlTat's why I think we can beat them
easier than any other club.
For the Fuhs and the Pirates and
some others we have to "mix 'em up,"
and that’s hard going.
So. you see, the job of a catcher is no
easy one. He must be a big, strong
fellow, able to take hard knocks, able
to work through eighteen innings of a
doiible-header on a July afternoon with
all his h e avy Junk upholstery, and able,
above all, to keep his head working
every’ minute of the .time.
He doesn’t get the glory a pitcher
does, though lie’s getting more credit
than be used to and the fans are com
ing to realize that lie must be a pretty
responsible and capable sort of a fel
low.
SOUTHEASTERN LEAGUE
WILL FINISH SEASON
SELMA. ALA., July 2'-’. The South
eastern league was resuscitated yester
day and indications appear right for it
to finish the season as a four-club or
ganization, though efforts may be made
during the week to increase it to a
six-club organization again. If the six
club organization is decided on Pensa
cola will get in and some other city
will be selected for the other club.
Manager Stickney, of the Selma dull,
and Manager Seigle, of the Gadsden
club, were communicated with by Man
ager Biggs, of the Talladega club. An
nouncement was made that Rome will
stick, and now there is little doubt but
the c lull will finish out the season. A
new schedule will be made for the rest
of the league season during the week.
SEASHORE EXCURSION
VIA
SOUTHERN RAILWAY.
MONDAY, JULY 22, 1912.
$6 Jacksonville; Limit 6 days
$8 Tampa; Limit 8 days
$6 Brunswick: Limit 6 days
$6 St. Simons: Limit 6 days
$6 Cumberland: Limit 6 days
TICKETS GOOD RETURNING ON
REGULAR TRAINS WITHIN LIMIT.
Tickets to Jacksonville and Tampa
good only on special trains leaving At
lanta 8:00 p. m. (Pullman sleeping cars
only) and 8:30 p. m. (coaches only).
Tickets to Brunswick, St. Simons and
Cumberland good only on regular trains
leaving Atlanta 9:30 p, m. Both phones,
Main 142. Write James Freeman, D. P.
A., Atlanta, for further information.
Dr. Hughes
SPECIALIST
Nerve. Blood and
Skin Diseases
I treat successfully
all private diseases.
Kidney, Bladder and
Prostatic Tr.ouble.
Blood Polson (In
herited and otherwise). Piles, Fistula
and Nervous Debility I give 606 suc
cessfully. 1 cure you or make no
charge. FREE examination and con
sultation.
Hours: Ba. m. to 7 p. m.; Sundays
10 to 1. Call or write.
DR. J. D. HUGHES.
Opposite Third National Bank.
16' j N. Broad St., Atlanta, Ga.
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GFT IT TODAY
'J 0 2 11 117 17/A I REDUCED ILLUSTRATION—ActuaI Size 8 3-4x7 Inches
Crackers* Batting
Averages, Including
Saturday's Game
These averages include all games
played to date:
Players. G. AB. R. H. AV.
Becker, p. 3 s 1 3 .375
Hemphill, es. ... 78 296 35 93 .314
Harbison, ss. . . . 29 95 10 29 .305
Alperman, 2b. . . 83 315 44 89 .283
Bailey, es. . ... . . 83 295 51 82 .278
Donahue, c 32 100 9 25 .250
Callahan. If. ... 41 171 20 40 .234
McElveen, 3b. . . 89 327 39 76 .232
Graham, e 31 92 9 21 .228
Baying Trusses
BUYING a truss is easy enough,
but a little thought.
Rupture is too serious to
leave to guesswork. You should get
the truss that fits exactly.
In our truss department we have
not only the scope of stock, styles
and sizes, but an expert who knows
which is best and how to fit a truss
exactly. Private Fitting Rooms
at. our Main Store, Second Floor,
quiet. and apart from the general
business. Men and women attend
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Belts and Bandages
Stout persons can be made mo-e
comfortable by using a belt to sup
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It will lessen the girth and prevent
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style In the
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and better cloth
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be larger each
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A savings ac
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