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Crackers, Under Alperman, Are Changed Team
4**+ +•+ +•+
Developing Some Real Pep and Spirit at Last
By Percy FI. Whiting.
THE Crackers are a different
tea.m! The new, Alperman
menaged ball club may not
be any better than that which
played under Hemphill But it
looked better, anyway— and played
better yesterday.
The old, morose “pap”-less gang
of th* earlier part of the season is
gone In Its plane is a team with a
lot of life and considerable ap
parent fondness for the work The
iong faces, the grouches, the som
berness of the old gang have de
parted. In Its place is a club that
Is fighting baseball battles for the
tore of the fighting
Yesterday they fought the Peli
can team to an R-to-7 victory Ad
mittedly. it was “town ball." It
had more rough edges than a por
cupine. It was the old biff-bang
stuff, with small science and much
sport. But chiefly of interest is
the fact that the Crackers won. No
matter how many runs the Peli
cans made, and they made a plen
ty. the Crackers always made just
one more. They tied It and untied
It time and again. But always the
Crackers were there with Just
enough of the old punch to score
the winning run. And when the
tight pinch came in the first of the
ninth the walvering line of defense
stiffened and held. And the Peli
can attack was thrown back and
battered down.
Also It looks as though the
Crackers had plenty more of the
same stuff packed away for use to
day and tomorrow and all the rest
of the season
• ♦ •
gEFORE the end of the week the
Crackers will be considerably
gtrengthened for the final rush to
the wire. The Atlanta Baseball as
sociation has gone into the thing
deep now. Before the purchases
contemplated now are finished It
will run to 1'20,0n0 for the season.
The coming of Kid Howard will
be a grand help If the "Kid" has
his wing back he will be the won
der of the league He was a very
marvel last fall This spring his
arm was pitifully weak and that
not only made him look a boob In
throwing, but it got his goat so
badly that he forgot how to field.
ft was on the testimony of "Buck"
Recker, the Washington pitcher,
that Alperman decided to recall
Howard. Becker had seen Howard
play recently and said that his arm
appeared all right
With Howard on third and McEl
veen in the outfield, the Cracker
team ought to look pretty fair
• * *
pON'T forget one thing
"Whitey" Alperman is going
to manage the Cracker ball club as
long as he is manager. The direc
tors gave one manager free rein
and he didn't do much for the
cause Bpt that hadn't sickened
them of the system. They have
turned the < htb ove- to Mperman
just as absolutely as they turned it
over to Hemphill. It's up to him.
And as for Alperman, he’s a tol
erable determined eh.m himself and
ran handle the players
ft is strongly suspected that the
firn thing Alperman will do with
the duh will b- to reform or file
any hard drinkers Alperman is a
"Dutchman" and doesn't see anv
harm in beer. Rut he's
the old “red eye." and he is likely
to deal harshly with the lushers on
the club. He hasn't made anv
particular th'cals, but it is noted
that the consumption of ■>,. juke
has fallen off vets sharply.
Another good point about Alp.-r.
m in is that ue is aide to handle his
players without friction He doesn't
believe in “bawling tn out." H<
doesn’t ohjei t to a show of good
aplrlts by his men however and
lan't likely to fin* anybody for a
little good-natured kidding on the
bench.
• • •
A L/PFIRMAN Is making no an
nouncements about the players
he 1s after, but It Is strongly sus
pected that he needs pitchers.
When a club Is baiting hard and
yet is losing games steadily the
pitchers are usually at fault. Os
course, In this case the Crackers
aren't altogether to blame. For
they have the unhappy faculty of
making more hits for lees runs
than any team that has played here
In a long time. This has been
partly due to slowness and bad
judgment on bases, partly to hard
luck. However, there have been a
peck of games this season when
the Crackers have made from two
to six runs before tjje other team
even got started—and thep lost.
And that has been because of
weakness In the pitching staff
Just which pitchers are to be let
out is hard to say. The work of
the staff has been so erratic of late
that it Is hard to tell which is en
titled to the coin and which to the
can.
• • •
XAfHEJN the company that adver
tises with the aid of big bull
signs , stuck up In ball parks put
the “bull" tn the Ponce DeLeon ball
park they played It safe. They
agreed to pay SSO to any ball play
er who would hit the bull on the
fly with a fairly hit ball in a game.
But they made sure nobody would
hit it by putting It so far from
home plate that it couldn't be hit
NEWS FROM RINGSIDE
Jim Stewart is training hard for his
ten-round scrap with I,other McCarthy In
New York August 6. Stewart knows a
win over the big "White Hope" would
redeem the defeat handej} him by Bom
bardier Wells some time back
♦ ♦ ♦
K. O Brown, who was injured In an au
tomobile wreck recently, has fully recov
ered and will start training shortly for a
series of bouts on the Pacific coast His
manager lias arranged for him to meet
some of the best lightweights In the busi
ness in California next fall.
Sandy Ferguson. White Hope." was
arrested at Boston the other day for
maintaining a liquor nuisance.
Frankie Burns and Jack White are
scheduled to go ten rounds at Oakland
August 7.
Tommy Murphy,will receive SI,OOO, win.
lose or draw for his bout with Abe Attell
on the coast the first of next month.
• • •
George K. O. Brown, the middleweight
Greek, who has been taking a vacation.
Is on the warpath again. The Chicago
pug Is an.tlous for a return match with
Eddie MeGoorty «n<l says he will also
give lack Dillon another try.
Harry Tracey, the Philadelphia feath
erweight. will tackle Young Shugroe in
McFarland and wolgast
LIKELY TO MIX IN GOTHAM
CHICAGO, July 30.- Champion Wol
gast and Packet McFarland may meet
in the near future if some promoter is
willing to give the title holder $15,000
sot his end of the tight. In a confer
ence yesterday with Emil Thlery, Pack,
ey’s manager. Wolgast agreed to meet
the south side tighter, even going so far
as to concede weight
Ad says he will allow Paekey to weigh
in at 135 pounds at 3 o'clock, or at
least seven hours before tlte bat le
STOCKHOLM OLYMPIAD IS
A FINANCIAL FAILURE
.lul.y :u» As t*xpe< u*<l,
th* < Uvmph guYm-s proved a failure frmii
a financial point of view Stockholm's
» x !<♦ i h hoe was similar t<» that of London
during the coronation, the Swedish for
eign press printing stories of prohibitive
pr:< • s asked for accommodations at the
hotels ami apartment houses heir with
the result that the crowd stayed away
'l'hls despite the efforts of the manage
ment <d the games to counteract the
newspaper report* bj extensive adver
tising \s a matter of fact, there was
prentj of room at reasonable prices.
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. TUESDAY. JULY 30. 1912.
with a thlrteen-inch gun.
Hut that was before Rudolph
Waldorf broke Into baseball.
Now, If the said Rudolph ever
gets one fair wallop at that ball
and starts it for the bull, the ani
mal will shortly be minus a rib.
Never before has there been such
a walloper on the Atlanta club.
The big guy stands way over six
feet tall and must weigh along to
ward 200 pounds. He takes one
of those wind-mill wallops at the
pill. And when he hits It the ball
flattens out —but It goes a mils.
Yesterday in batting practice
Waldorf batted everything that
came his way. A couple of wallops
be bounced off the back fence for
sure home runs. A half dozen more
were long enough for three bag
gers. A dozen were good for two
baggers And he didn't hit any
singles.
Mark this prediction—that big
bully is going to knock three home
runs in the first game he finds a
pitcher to his liking.
• • •
'T'HE signing of Hampton Rey
* • nolds, of the Albany club, gives
a line on Alperman’s plans for
strengthening his club. “We've
tried the big leagues and they don’t
offer us any encouragement,” said
Alperman this morning, "so we
have decided to pick up some prom
ising youngsters and see if we can't
patch up a team wflth them.”
Doubtless the excellent ball that
Harbison is playing encouraged the
Crackers to take a shot at other
kid performers.
Newark tonight. Shugroe will have the
advantage in weight, but Tracey says
he will offset this by his cleverness.
• ♦ ♦
Kid McCoy is still being held by the
London authorities pending the capture of
the thieves who stole a bunch of jewelry
from the Palace hotel in that city. Mc-
Coy was stopping at the hotel at the time
of the theft and he was at once suspected
of the crime.
• • *
Frank Moran baa agreed to stop two
men in the same ring at Palm Beach in
side of ten rounds or forfeit his share of
Hie purse
Patsy Haley and Joe Kastner are sched
uled to box a< the Jamaica A. C. in
Brooklyn tonight.
• ♦ •
George Kitson, who is managing a box
ing club at Nashville, knocked Eddie
Walsh out In the fourth round at his
club recently.
Promoter Coffroth. of San Francisco, is
still trying to sign Jim Flynn and Tommy
Burns for a muss to be staged in Frisco
Labor Day
• • •
< >ne week from tomorrow Young Jack
O’Brien, the Philadelphia lightweight,
and Loach Gross, the fighting dentist,
will clash at the Garden A. C. In New-
York This promises to be the best ten
round engagement over staged in Gotham.
CUBS OFFER $17,000 FOR
PHILA. RECRUIT HURLER
PHILAI’HLPI IL\. July 30 President
Horace F. Fogel. of the Philadelphia Na
tional league baseball club, has refused a
genuine offer of $17,000 for Pitcher Fpp
Rixey. the University of Virginia giant,
whom he recently signed The offer was
made 1»\ President Charles Murphy, of
the Chicago Cubs
Murphx, in making the offer, declared
that Rixey is the best pitcher he has seen
in \ ears and Is far better than Marquard.
'The offer was made as a result of Rixey’s
wonderful performance against the Cubs.
Rixey joined the Phillies five weeks
ag<». when he was signed by Fogel At
the University of Virginia he had estab
lished a remarkable record on the mound,
lie is the tallest pitcher in the big
leagues, measuring 6 feet 4’., inches in
height
JOE SHERMAN WINS OVER
YOUNG SAYLOR IN 8 RDS.
MEMPHIS. TENN' July 30.-
Young Saylor, of Indianapolis, lost the
decision to Joe Sherman, of Baltimore,
in their -fight-round bout here last
night Sherman fought under the name
of Young Joe Grim." Saylor was al
most a 3 to 1 favorite in the betting
and the result was a big surpri»e.
BASEBALL
Diamond News and Gossip
-
Artie Phelan, former Baron now with
the Reds, has an injured hand and is tak
ing a three weeks' vacation. Eddie Grant
Is back on the old third base job while
Phelan is out.
« • •
The Giants have made more errors than
any team in the National league. The
N. £.. teams have not been able to take
much advantage of the Giants’ errors.
But what of the Red Sox?
* * *
The playing of the Cincinnati team has
been so bad recently that sporting writ
ers have recalled some of the past awful
ness of the Reds. It is even alleged that
one Red player. Mike Grady, made four
errors on one ball. They were: 1 Fum
bled it. 2. Threw it wild Into the bleach
ers. 3. Fumbled it when it was thrown
back. 4 Threw over the catcher’s head
» • •
Everybody laughed at the thought of
Otto Hess and Hub Perdue In the big
leagues this year—the former because he
was too old and the latter because he was
a dub. Yet these two have proved to be
two of the most useful workers in the
major leagues, though they have been kept
down by the fact that they are working
for the Braves.
• * •
The Western league has 31 regular play
ers batting .300 or over. Borton, of St.
Joseph, leads with .397.
» » •
A. J. Heinemann, president of the Ya
zoo City club, has just sent a deaf mute
to DeMontreville’s club and is about ready
to sign an outfielder with a cork leg.
Will Bradley, an umpire, recently com
mitted suicide at Clinton Junction Wis.,
by hanging himself. Enough said.
• * *
William M. Kavanaugh married the oth
er day. But not the president of the
Southern league. Instead it was a man
of the same name who plays third base
on the Trenton, Trl-state league, club.
And still they go. The Bucks County
league has just blown up.
* • «
Bobby "Wallace, after seventeen years in
the major leagues, is about due to quit.
Stovall is talking of getting rid of him.
Wallace says he will never play except in
the major leagues and he probably means
• • ♦
Buck Taylor, of the Carolina associa
tion, who has been kicked about the
league from team to team this season,
pitched a no-hit game the other day for
Spartanburg. Roy Radabaugh, who op
posed him, gave up fourteen hits.
• • •
Jesse Burkett, part owner and manager
of the Worcester team, will quit baseball
after this year. And it's about time. Kit
ty Bransfield is said to be slated to suc
ceed him.
• • ♦
Tex Covington knocked two players un
conscious in a recent game with pitched
balls. One was forced to go to the hos
pital.
• • •
President Carson, of the Central league,
is making a tour of his circuit. Instead
of going by train he rides in a touring car.
• * •
Bill Phillips' team is fifth In a 12-club
circuit, but Bill isn't satisfied and is sign
ing a player or two a dav,
• » *
I.avender and Larry Cheney are the
only winning pitchers of the Cub team.
They will be the nucleus around which
Chance will try to build a staff next year.
• • •
Well. Gabby Street has followed Jack
Knights into the International league.
Providence gets him.
• • •
Philadelphians are panning the Ameri
can league umpires Tn particular they
are kicking because they allow the play
ers to use profane and indecent language
that can be heard in the stands.
• • •
Cincinnati has offered Mitchell. Egan
and Grant for Bill Sweeney, of the Braves.
♦ • ♦
Somebody asked John T. Brush once if
it never occurred to him that things might
be done differently in handling the Giant
team “Only once," replied Brush. “That
was all 1 had an idea one day and I told
it to McGraw. 'lt won’t be done.' said
McGraw. I’ve never had another idea.’’
• • •
• Cy Morgan, pitcher and vaudeville art
ist. has signed as an actor with a moving
picture film company.
• « «
Rube Benton has been slowly slumping
with the Reds and will be lucky if he
doesn’t get “sent back” after a bit
• * *
The St. Louis Cardinals are the only big
leaguers who have been in train wrecks
this year They have figured in two. But
that isn’t what's the matter wdth them.
• « •
The Cleveland team has made such vig
orous raids on its farm, the Toledo club,
that It has practically ruined Topsy Hart
sel's learn.
• • •
Pickpockets don’t consider baseball
players legitimate marks. Some mushy
diij has just returned a watch and fob he
lifted from Grover Gilmore, former Buf
falo player.
• * •
The Baltimore News avers that the Bir
mingham club is in the Cotton States. It
would be helpful at that if it were.
RIVERS STARTS WORK
FOR MANDOT BATTLE
LOS XNCHLKS, July 30 Mexican Joe
Rivets in a week will begin light train
ing for his schedules! 20-round battle on
Labor Pay with Joe Mandot. of New Or
leans Mandot and his manager are on
the way here today
Promoter McCarej states that Willie
Ritchie <an meet the winner of the
Rivers-Mandot bout providing the San I
Franviaco bo\ makes 133 pounds ringside.
Matty Is Greatest of All Pitchers—Chief Meyers
“His Fine Control Makes Catching a Delight’*
By John (“Chief”) Meyers.
WHO is the biggest man in the
game of baseball, from the
popular viewpoint?
The pitcher.
Whom do the fans talk about
when they’re reading their papers
on the way home from business at
night, or on their way downtown In
the morning?
The *pltcher—-the man who “had
them swinging like gates;” the man
who “stood them on their heads;”
the man who fooled them so that,
as the saying goes, “they couldn’t
hit the ground with their bats.”
Working behind the plate, as I
have, for a few years, I have been
able to studj' a few of these pitch
ers and to become pretty familiar
with the pitching game as a gen
eral proposition. And now I’m go
ing to try and tell a little bit about
some of the pitchers I have worked
with, and how they tvork.
I don’t want to get too eloquent;
but I would like to say that if you
take all the pitchers in the world,
and all the “stuff” they've got, and
roll up all their careers into one
and then look the product over,
you'll find one man —and one name
—sticking out.
I don’t think I need to mention It.
I can hear a chorus of fans all over
the country—friendly or hostile —
speaking it;
Christy Mathewson.
There’s no comparison between
Matty and any pitcher that ever
tossed a ball, or, in my opinion,
that ever will toss a ball. He’s
the old master, the perfect artist.
I think that every person who ever
saw him start will agree with me
that when he takes the box It must
be realized that the finished prod
uct, the best ever, is at work.
In the club I’ve often said to the
boys; "Why, I could catch Matty
sitting in a rocking chair.” That
might sound to an outsider like
loose talk. But it’s true. I could.
I'd do It on a bet. Here's the rea
son: He has perfect control.
When I'm working with Matty I
know that there’s to be no hag
gling over batters. I mean, no sig
naling by me. then .negative shak
ing of the head by him, then an
other sign from me, and perhaps
another "nix” from him. He knows
just what he's doing all the time.
He knows the weaknesses of oppos
ing barters better than his catcher
does. He’s the boss of the battery,
and yet a chummy boss, a pal, all
through the game.
Curve Ball His Mainstay.
The best thing that Mathewson
has —which may be a surprise to
the casual baseball reader—is his
curve ball. The way Matty works
is to spring his curve—a big curve
which starts to carve all of a sud
den —on a batter as soon as our
club is in any kind of a hole. He
lets the batter know that he “has
something.” And, having fooled the
hatter once, he generally fools him
again.
In some cases, where, for In
stance, a very clever fellow will ex
pect Matty to switch to another
ball, he'll send the same one over
again. Or, with -a fellow not so
clever, and who’s looking for a re
peater. he'll switch to a straight,
fast one-
And, once the sort of ball is de
cided upon between Matty and my
self, I know it’s going to be right
where it's marked for. I won’t have
to dig down in the dirt or go up in
an aeroplane after it. I think Mal
ty could put up a silver dollar on
a barn door am! bitig it ever) tiim
from ihe regulation distartVe.
There has been a 10l of talk
about Matty’s "fadeaway” ball, I'll
tell a little Inside “stuff" about that.
The "fadeaway” is, In plain words,
an indrop curve. It Is a hall that
comes up to the plate straight, and,
just as the batter swings, slowly
reverses itself (with the "reverse
English” of a poo! or billiard ball)
and falls down and away from the
batter.
Summing up a comment of Mat
ty, the Old Master, I would say that
he is the greatest of all because of
these reasons: His curves, his fade
away, his common sense in not
working too hard when he doesn’t
have to, and, above all, his superb
control.
I am coming next to a speed
pitcher—Rube Marquard. But be
fore we get to him I want to say a
word about another man who has
throwm, in my belief, the fastest
balls that ever crossed a plate. 1
don’t except Rusie or any of the
other old-timers who were sup
posed to serve very smoky balls.
I refer to Walter Johnson, now with
the Washington club of the Ameri
can league. It may be news to
some fans that I used to catch him.
We had an exhibition series in
California a few years ago—All Na
tionals versus All Americans —and
Walter and I were the battery for
the Nationals. The way that boy
could throw! Why, after handling
him I'd almost be willing to do the
circus stunt of catching the cannon
ball shot out of the big gun with
nothing on but my old mitt. I think
Johnson is the speediest pitcher
that ever tossed one up to the plate.
The palm of my mitt hand used to
be red and sore from taking his fast
ones.
Marquard Improving Steadily.
But we are talking of Marquard
now, whom I know better and more
recently. There is a young fellow
who has made a world’s record for
consecutive victories, and who is
getting better all the time. I think
I can tell something about the Rube
which even the baseball experts do
not know—the principal reason why
he can fool so many batters and
win so many games.
He has speed, of course; that's
one of his big assets. And he has
mighty good curves. And recently
he has splendid control. But to my
mind, the Rube’s one big winning
play Is his “wind-up," or "motion,"
as we call it.
He has a long swing, from which,
all of a sudden, the ball snaps out,
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eweak or diseased blood, it tones up and regulates
every portion of the system, and creates an abun
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circulation and bring health to the body. S. S. S.
is made entirely of healing, cleansing roots, herbs
and barks, which are also possessed of great tonic
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eral or other harmful drug, and is therefore the pu
rest and safest .blood medicine for young or old.
S. S. S. cures Rheumatism, Catarrh, Sores and Ul
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1 Hessheim i
Ji (joodoiT|oke
| rfii< X^ =; y7Por( o
and before the batter knows it it's
in my mitt. Many spectators, no
doubt, think that a "wind-up” is an
affectation, a pose by the pitcher.
But it’s not. It’s intended prima
rily and mainly to fool the batter,
to get him looking at the pitcher’s
motion, and then shoot* one over
before he realizes it.
John McGraw, our manager,
knows this very w'ell. When a
"scout” 'comes in reporting that he
has discovered a new pitcher that
looks good, one of the first things
Mac asks him is; "How Is his mo
tion?”
Marquard has the best and most
deceiving motion before delivering
the ball of anybody in the big
leagues, I think.
Marquard also has a lot of con
fidence now. It used to be that he
couldn't even pitch to batters at
practice in the morning. They used
to kick and holler and say:
"Here’s that Rube again; we’re
going to get
Josh Devore, who doesn’t like a
left-handed pitcher, would throw
away his bat and try to duck. And
the boys would bawl Marquard out
—which didn’t help him any, of
course.
But now he’s got confidence in
himself, and he's got all the fellows
pulling for him, and we’d rather
have him than any one else serv
ing them up to us in rjj’actice. Os
course, he’s got the curves and
everything else that go to make
up a splendid pitcher. He should
last for years and be one of the
best the game ever knew.
PRESIDENT LYNCH GIVES
OUT HIS REVISED DATES
NEW YORK, July 30.—President Lynch
of the National league announced dates
fixed for playing off postponed games as
follows:
At Pittsburg—August 14 (2) with Phil
adelphia, game of July 11; August 15 <2i
with Philadelphia, game of July 10: Au
gust 23 (2) with New York, game of Jul'
18; August 26 (2) with Boston, game of
July 24.
At Cincinnati—August 15 (2> with
Brooklyn, game of July 8.
At Chicago—September 27 (2) with Cin
cinnati (previously bulletined as one
game for September 25).
At St. Louis—August 17 (2) with Bos
ton, game of July 10.