Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

HERE’S WHAT THE "BIG FIVE” OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE ARE HITTING RIGHT UPTO DATE COBB 330 140 .424 SPEAKER 348 136 .391 JACKSON 337 125 .371 LAJOIE 216 72 .333 COLLINES 312 102 .327 T ?* r i? th- l ,a< ? of ? 3 P°'" tß ° ver Speaker, while Jackson is I Collins has struck his stride again and is likely to boost his average during the week. Today ho is 97 points behind tho leader. It be- 53 points behind the Georgia Peach. Lajoie is still out of the game and will have to do a lot of hustling to give Ty a race this year. I oins to look now as though Cobb is sure of again carrying top honors with the wagon-tongue. BRADt CARDED TOHDRLTDDAY AGAINST BILLS MONTGOMERY, July 22.—Charley Hemphill led his Crackers into this village today for a series with the Bil- Ukens. The Atlanta Chief predicted this morning that it is right here that his team will start climbing and that noth, ing 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 Is now in t|ptof> Condition he is sure to give the local batsmen a peck of trouble if he gets the "breaks." The Crtrckers came over from New Orleans. They were scheduled to play the Pelicans a double-header yester day but it rained hard and Charley Frank was forced to postpone the bat tles. The Cracker-Bllllken series is sure to prove a red-hot argument. McElveen says he will play the best ball of his career here and show that Dobba made a fatal mistake when he traded him to Atlanta. There is bitter feeling between the two teams over the McElveen-Dobbs fist fight in Atlanta, but no trouble is expected on the field daring the series. THE BASEBALL CARD. SOUTHERN LEAGUE. Games Toaay. Atlanta in Montgomery. Chattanooga in Birmingham. Nashville in Mobile. Memphis in New Orleans. Standing ot the Ctuß». W L. fC. W. I*. PC. B'ham. .54 35 .607 C'npoga. 41 43 .488 Mobile . .49 43 .533 N ville. .39 44 .4.0 M'mphis. 43 41 .512 Mont ..39 49 .443 N. Or. .40 39 .512 Atlanta 3o 46 .432 Yesterday’# Reauite. New Orleans-Atlanta, rain. Mobile 1. Chattanooga 0. Memphis 4, Birmingham 2. 60UTH ATLANTIC. Game* Toda*. Savannah in Albany. Columbia in Jacksonville. Columbus in Maron. Standing or tne Club*. W. 1, • W.L.PC C'bus. . 14 6 .700 Macon . .11 10 .»24 Sav .13 7 .650 Albany . 7la .318 J’viile. . 12 9 .571 Cola. . . 6 16 .273 Yesterday’s Results. No games scheduled. AMERICAN LEAGUE Games Today. Chicago in New York. St. Louis in Philadelphia, petroit In Washington. Cleveland in Boston. Standing of the Clubs. W I. !•“ W. L. P.C. Boston . 61 27 .693 CTand. .43 46 .483 Wash. . 54 33 .621 Detroit .43 46 .483 Phila. . 50 29 .562 N. York .25 56 .309 Chicago 45 40 .529 S. Louis 25 59 .298 Yesterday’s Results. No games scheduled. NATIONAL LEAGUE. Games Today. Boston in Pittsburg. New York in Cincinnati. Brooklyn in Chicago. Philadelphia in St. Louis. Standing or the Clubs. W. L. P C. W. 1.. PC N. York 62 21 .747 Phila. . 45 46 .495 Chicago .51 32 .614 S. Louis 34 45 .430 P'burg. .47 34 .580 Br'klvn. 29 53 .354 Lnati. . 44 41 .524 Boston . 22 62 .262 Yesterday's Results. New York 12. Cincinnati 6. Chicago 6. Brooklyn 1 (first game.) Chicago 11. Brooklyn 4 i second game.) St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 0. Pittsburg-Boston, off day. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. Games Today, Columbus in Milwaukee. Toledo in Kansas City. Indianapolis in St. Paul. Louisville in Minneapolis. Standing of the Clubs. „ W L. P.C W. L. P C bus. . .64 36 .647 M’w'kee 44 58 .43? M apolis 63 36 .636 S. Paul 42 58 .424 Toledo . .61 37 .622 L'ville. .37 59 .385 k City 50 48 .510 I'apolis. 35 65 .350 Yesterday’s Results. Kansas City 5, Toledo 1. Milwaukee 7. Columbus 1. Minneapolis 4, Louisville 2 (first game.) Louisville 4, Minneapolis 2 (second game.) St. Paul 5. Indianapolis 0. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE. „ , Games Today. Baltimore in Montreal Providence in Toronto. Newark in Rochester . Jersey city in Buffalo. Standing of the Clubs ~ u W. L. P C W. L. P.C. .51 37 .580 Newark. 44 41 .494 Brnore. .46 36 .561 P’dence. 39 48 .448 [orono. .47 40 .641 Buffalo .37 46 .446 City 45 43 .511 M»treal .35 53 .398 Yesterday's Results. No games scheduled. COTTON STATES LEAGUE. Games Today. 'dumbus 1n Jncknon. lazoo City in Vicksburg, inly two games scheduled. Standing of the Clubs. W. L. P.C. W. L. P.C. pdian 18 8 .692 J’ckson 13 12 .520 ...hibus 15 11 .577 G’wood 10 14 .417 ' k sb g 14 11 .560 Y. City 519 .217 , Yesterday’s Results. Jackson 6. Columbus 4. ..'eksburg 11, Meridian 1 (first game). • lerldlan 1, Vicksburg 0 (second game). APPALACHIAN LEAGUE. , . Games Today. Asheville In Bristol. ' leveland in Johnson City. •Morristown In Knoxville. Standing of the Clubs. K’xVGl 3 ,tU A'eville Yi 31 358 l‘ <■ 26 659 C’v’l’d 25 30 .465 •' City 27 39 .482 | M'town 26 35 426 .. Yesterday’s Results. No games schedule*! 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 pnee 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 I 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. We’ll 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, 1 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 era. 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 vague 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. 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 those plans are going to work out is tho 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 bats we know just what we're going to offer him. And ho knows that we know that. "Play ball!” Now, this fellow, say, is a low ball hitter. That means he can land on a ball served between his waist 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 neck —In the hope that he may take a swing at it. If he lays his bat on that one at all, it will be a weak blow. Well —he doesn’t. Bail one. The next one, then, comes a trifle lower —enough lower, maybe, to fool the batter into making a try for it, or to fool the umpire into calling it a strike. The clever fellow knows this, and lets that one go. He's getting us in a hole. "Two and nothing." Now one must be handed to him within his hitting range—say, a ball about his waist —but with .a curve that breaks toward him or away from him. We must see whether or not he can be fooled that wayi Bang! There it goes! A pretty single to right and he’s safe on first. Now my job gets exciting. In my opinion, the toughest situation for a catcher is "one on and none down." Especially if the runner is a clever, brainy fellow. He's going to 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 ball delivered straight, fast, away outside the plate and just to my right shoulder, so that I can get it THIS ATLANTA GEORGIA:* AND NEWS. MONDAY, JULY 22, 1912. 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 mo 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 thflr 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 quard or whoever Is pitching has given me a perfect pitch-out; tho 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. Tho easiest kind is the batter who makes up his mind that he's going to strike at a certain bail; 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 back 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 one, the batter dues set himself. I sign for a bad one "to his 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 three 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 TEXAS LEAGUE. Standing of the Clubs. W. L. P.C. W. I*. P.C. H’ust'n 63 34 .650 B’mont 41 53 .436 S. An'io 61 39 .610 Austin 43 56 .434 Waco 57 41 .582 G’v’sfn 38 58 .396 Dallas 49 51 .490 F. W’th 38 58 .396 Yesterday's Results. San Antonio 4, Waco 3. Galveston 4, Dallas 1. Fort Worth 3. Houston 2 (first game). Port Worth 3, Houston 2. Beaumont 9, Austin 4. CAROLINA ASSOCIATION. Games Today. Charlotte In Greenville. Winston-Salem in Spartanburg. Anderson in Greensboro. Standing of the Clubs. W. L. P C W L. P C A’ders'n 45 27 .625 Sp'b'rg 32 40 .444 C’rlotte 43 29 .597 G’sboro 32 40 .444 W.-S'm 40 35 .533 G'nville 26 47 .356 Yesterday’s Results. No games scheduled. 1 elesraph rasiM 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 backstop what Hans Wagner's weak ness ivas, 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 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 I next man to left. Now comes up a play that puts gray i hairs on top of the catcher's head. That man on first is going to go. or pretend i to go, down to second, where another I single will score both him and his i mate. He is going to try to draw a | throw from me to the middle bag, which may allow his mate to come home with a run before the throw back reaches thp plate. It is up to me to stop them both if I can; at all events, to stop the run, and, if there is one of the two to he put out, to get the man on third. There are variations of this play, and | here I need the fastest and brainest i kind of help from my Infielder who i 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, 1 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 he is bluffing or hasn’t got a good start, or isn’t a very fast man, I will make a full throw to second I base. But it will be a different kind of i a throw from the one I made with a I single runner o.nl base. This will be a high throw, which the infielder will take “coming in,” and take at his 1 shoulder height, so he can whip it back i to me low, so I can put it on the fellow coming home. Or, there may be a "delayed steal” bluff by the man on first, in which there may be no throw at all, and both runners will stay where they are. This play provides a ticklish, excit- i ing situation which I'm always glad to i get out of. We beat it oftener, I 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 spread before him. I have read many articles about in tricate systems of signalling, and I must say that most of that sort of talk VIRGINIA LEAGUE. Games Today, Petersburg in Norfolk. Richmond in Newport News. Portsmouth in Roanoke. Standing of the Club*. VV. L. P C. W. L. PC P'sb’rg 49 35 .583 R’annke 36 35 .507 P’sm’th 47 39 .547 N. N'ws 35 46 .432 Norfolk 43 39 .524 R’hm'd 34 50 .405 Yesterday’s Results. No games scheduled. FIGHTS FOR KENOSHA AGAIN. CHICAGO, July 22.—Promising four ! high-class battles to interest the Chi cago fans, John Keating, of Kenosha, has declared positively that the game would be reopened In the Wisconsin city within six weeks. Keating has tentatively signed Packey McFarland and Eddie Murphy, Eddie McGoorty and Billy Papke or Bob Moha, Johnny Coulon and Frankie Burns, and Charles White and Joe Mandot. is foolish. I 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 I can work almost without anything bitt the pitch-out sign. Occasionally I give a sign for the pitcher to snap-throw to first to catch a runner far off. But mostly 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 h, a fceeond. The easiest club for a catcher to work against— to help his pitcher, and that's Ills 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. That's why I think we cen beat them easier than any other club. For the Cuba nnd the Pirates and some others we have to “mix ’em up," and that’s hard going. Ho, 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 double-header on a July afternoon with all his heavy junk upholstery, and able, above all, to keep his head working every minute of the time. Ho doesn't get the glory a pitcher does, though he's getting more credit than he used to and the fans are com ing to realize that he must be a pretty responsible and capable sort of a fel low. 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. SDr. Hughes SPECIALIST Nerve, Blood and Skin Diseases I treat successfully ail private diseases, Kidney. Bladder and Prostatic Trouble. Blood Poison (in herited and otherwise), Piles, Fistula and Nervous Debility. I give 606 suc cessfully. I cure you or make no charge. FREE examination and con sultation. Hours: 8 a. m. to 7 p. m.; Sundays 10 to 1. Call or write. DR. J. D. HUGHES, Opposite Third National Bank. 16i/ 2 N. Broad St., Atlanta, Ga. PRF2FNTFn T0 —«“ s I It LUL 11 I LU Georgian FOR th . s - MAPS ONLY 6 HEADINGS CLIPPED FROM THE S FIRST PAGE LIKE THIS: : Atlanta Geokc zd v-i > y. (Just to show part of heading with date, .'A i ■' and the expense fee to defray the neces. sary items of the cost of handling, ***** * •?'*BnP3K*A‘.*.‘ 'V packing, shipping, chocking, account- A'*’*''*’’’•'*’* ! h'.TNRB' .',*.*** L’; S' To get your Atlas, just present the six y.*.. 'K;*S. : ‘.!*’v^'t2 : ‘’'f.;;.'* !;. headings of consecutive dates CJ - 'l'.'ll'■ ot this office with the expense jAC *:‘"ilt *> VV ’.’J? BY MAIL,ISCENTSEXTRA FOR POSTAGE || | I 'T'HTS Standard Atlas s3s should be in every fam- ; -’* ily where t here are children &-X ifflß ft of school age. It is tile one book that contains tho es- ’s3ss&T?dSSfii if: sential features of a dozen b( oks, in such concise form -yS that one may get the desired :•;*• ’v 111 formation at a glance. It’s the handy Atlas for every- >♦; dav use - ’ << Ci FT IT TODAY ULI 11 IWril 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 8 1 3 .375 Hemphill, cf. . . . 78 296 35 93 .314 Harbison, SS. . . . 29 95 10 2'J .305 Alperman, 2b. . . 83 31 5 4 1 89 .283 Bailey, cf 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, c 31 92 9 21 .228 Buying Trusses 1.. BUYING a truss is easy enough, but deserves a little thought. Rupture is too serious to leave to guesswork. Yon 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 it our Main Store, Second Floor, quiet and apart from the general business. Men and women attend* ants. Belts and Bandages Stout persons can be made mors comfortable by using a bolt to sup* port the abdomen. It will lessen the girth and prevent strain of the ab- dominal muscles. We have every style In the finest Imported German goods. Jacobs 9 Pharmacy Atlanta, Ga. Low Summerl Excursion Rafis | CINCINNATI, $19.501 LOUISVILLE, SIB.OOI CHICAGO, - $30.00 ! KNOXVILLE - $7.90 j Tickets on Sale Dai!y, fiood I to October 31st, Returning I City Ticket Office,4 Peachtree i Brady, p. 12 36 17 .194 Atkins, p 16 43 3 8 .186 Agler. lb 20 63 8 11 .175 Sitton, p 17 43 8 7 .163 Coombs, utility . . 6 10 0 1 .100 Waldorf, p 2 5 0 0 ,000 I Save while the 0 children are I young. Your ex- I penses will' in- I crease as they fi grow older. There must be a * larger house, more and better cloth ing, and the outlay for schooling must i be larger each | ; year. A • ''' A savings ac- J count started now ga will provide for *![ these obligations J n and free your mind f ( from worry and r' I stress. |We pay 4 Per Cent on g Savings I City Savings Bank | 15 E. Alabama St. I vjx MARTIN MAY NT S 19y, PEACHTREE STREET UPSTAIRS STRICTLY CONFSDENTIAL UNREDEEMED PLEDGES y N. FOR SALE X 7