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Silk Hat Harry' s Divorce Suit He Didn't Mean What the Judge Mean Copyright, 1912, National News Ass'n. By Tad
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Jimmy Archer Is Greatest of All Men Behind Bat
+•+ +•+ -!-«4- +•+ +•+ •!•••!•
Former Atlanta Backstop in Class by Himself
By. W. J. Mcßeth.
WE have with ut today, gentle
readers, one of the real
novelties of the nation’s
delight. Kindly step forward, Mr.
James Archer. of the Chicago
Cubs, till the populace gets a peek
at you.
Rather a handsome young gen
tleman. isn't he, with his raven
locks, swarthy complexion and Ro
man profile? Well, take It from all
the ball players in the National
league he's far better than he looks,
even if he is a handsome kind of a
chap
There may be better catchers in
the profession today than Jimmy
Archer, of Chicago. But there are
no such backstops. There's a slight
distinction between the two classes.
Catcher involves the broader sense
of that special type of athletes that
wears mask, wind-pad and mitt. A
catcher's value Is reckoned relative
to his team worth, talcing In his of
fensive as well as his defensive
ability. Rackstop only implies the
defensive issue—the work of hand
ling pitchers, crossing batsmen and
keeping runners glued to the sacks.
Wherefore —at least that portion
of enthusiasts who reside around
the metropolis—general fandom
will tell you perhaps that Chief
Meyers, of the Giants, is the best
catcher in the National league.
The statement is made keeping in
mind Meyers' all-round utility—
principally hts deadly hitting eye,
for no major league maskman
pummels the pill as does the Mis
sion aborigine But as a backstop
there is no man before the public
who ean hold a candle to the Cub
stalwart From a defensive stand
point he is as superior to Meyers
as Meyers 1s superior to Jimmy of
fensively.
Sils on Back of Heels.
You have often heard a cateh
err”» highest form of flattery toward
hie pet battery mate. "Say. bo.”
sa-ys he, "I could catch that guy
sitting In a rocking chair." Archer
has never been known to make
such a boast. Rut every game he
works he handles his pitcher to the
height of perfection from a far
more difficult positirtn He doesn’t
sit in a rocking chair But he sits
on his heels. And while crouched
on the rear view of his pedals he
can throw just abont twice as ac
curately and twice as speedily as
any other man set firmly on his
feet for a peg.
Jimmy Archer behind the bat Is
the personification of athletic
grace It is worth the price of ad
mission alone to see him work
Fully three-quarters of the time
he squats on his heels firm as a
deep-seated rock He is a well
knit fellow muaeled ike a Greek
runner, but far from giant propor
tions. Yet. while balanced i, n the
backs of his shoes, he can take the
speediest shoots of Ed Reulbach
without rocking an inch and Reul
bach. when pushing them over.
renowned for terrific speed
A Nimble. Agile Fellow.
Few pitchers that work with
Archer have main wild flings dm
tr>< a season For his peculla.
specialty gives Jimnij a marked
advantage in receiving From his
regular working attitude lie is so
low to the ground that a low ball
can scarcely get past him He can
smother it In the dirt with his big
mitt qr shift more quickly from his
crouching attitude to intercept It
if it takes a mean hop. He is a
nimble, agile fellow, quick a> a cat
on his feet and with his hands
Wherefore, i* the ball shoots high
he has simply to spring up and
spear it. Ir is a well known fact
that it is far easier to go up for
high ones than to dig down for
crazy chucks. The same natural
advantage that protects a pitcher
a
from wild flings also keeps Archer's
passed balls to a minimum.
Backstopping literally means the
receiving of the pitcher's delivers
In this special line, as pointed out,
Archer has no equal. Rut his re
sources do not stop there. His pe
culiar catching attitude seems to
be admirably adapted to perfect
throwing. .Archer Is a deadly
marksman. Either standing or
squatting, he can peg the bull's eye
at any cushion hit times in 100. His
throws snap out with riflelike ve
locity. but his greatest adjunct is
the faculty of getting that throw
away at once. He wastes no time
in starting the ball on Its course.
The minute the ball hits his glove
It’s awmy again He never draw's
back his arm; he shoots the ball
with a snap peculiarly his own.
and he saves stolen bases by mak
ing the foe hug the sacks. Let a
man stray two feet beyond safe
ground at any base and he’s dead
as a door nail, if any one is on the
job at the other end. His squat
ting position behind the batter
seems to give Archer a distinct
Advantage over a base runner. He
can watch his man like a hawk
without tipping his hand.
Good For Many Seasons.
Hal Chase revolutionized play
around first base. Archer has not
revolutionized catching simply be
cause there are none to follow his
lead There Is just one Archer as
there is Just one Chase Rut they
can not mimic Archer as they try
to Chase, for he—as mentioned in
the Introduction sentence is the
real big novelty or the national
pastime Until there comes a gen
eration of acrobats reared on their
heels instead of high chairs Jimmy
FODDER FOR FANS
The departure of Pitcher Kent from
Brooklyn to Toronto marks the end of
another man sent up from the Southern
last year He was a Baron in 1911.
• * •
Bill Douglas, right hand hurler. who
has been a star with Des Moines, will
join the White Sox next week
George Pierce, tried by both the I'ubs
and the Giants and listed as a total fail
ure, has again been bought bv the Cubs
He has starred wijh Scranton tins veal
He struck out 21 play era in a recent gam<
* • »
Clark Griffith, who has seen everx
Pitcher worth mentioning since the days
when thex began to throw iem overhand,
says that Walter Johnson is the greatest
pitcher the world ever knew He says
Walter has it on Busies best efforts in
speed and control.
• • «
Joe tVtllis, the Cardinal southpaw, lias
a couple of misplaced ligaments in his
shoulder and is due a week of rest no’
that it will make any material difference
in the pennant race
• • •
Cobb Is a great ball player, all right
But that strike he started so disorganized
the Detroit team that it hasn't been in
the running since The signing of a two
year contract with Detroit by Jennings
marks the end of that famous incident
* * *
Even Birmingham now admits that the
Barons will win the pennant
• M •
The players who kick don't last the
longest on the diamond, according to
Hank ’ » Dax \'ine times out of ten."
sass Henry, "the players kick to rum
up their <»w n faults
• • ■
If Daubert lakes the job hs iiianap r at
Brookix n it is certain that tie will not <
haw anx xetx high managerial standards
to live up to
I hex sax that Tris Speaker, of Hub
bard x’lix. Texas, is the reason Texas is
called the Lone Star State
• • »
New ’Ohans has accepted a first divi i
sion berth for the Pelicans as the best <
thing that can be hoped for and is talk I
mg of 1913
• • •
X winning ball club disciplines itself
l«ast year Paisx Donovan just couldn’t
keep a lot of the Red Sox from tanking ,
up This \ear. with pennant and world's
series tn sight a man who took two beers
in a row would be paddled bx- his own ,
teammates
• • •
In building for next xear all the old ’
material Jennings intends -to use s T\
Cobh. <’raxx ford. Hush and Stanag*
• • •
These I '.iy 'mach'' league managers
are <■>!!- -lent Sa'S Moffett. ..I KmA-
Ville. My new first baseman, Hanes, is
TTTE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. MONDAY. AUGUST 12. 1912
Archer is very likely to get the big
hand as one of the passing side
shows.
Almost as astonishing as the
great t'ub catcher's backstopping
and throwing skill is his natural
speed. Few cat< hers arc fast. Rut
Archer, is an exception He belies
the theory that constant squat
ting slows up the leg muscles of a
leceiver. Archer is far from a poor
hitter; in fact, he is above the
average as catchers go. He's an
all-round star any way you wish to
take him.
Crackers Fairly Started on Semi-Final Trip—With Two Defeats in One Day
PLAY 2 HAYS IN NEW ORLEANS, THEN 00 TO MOBILE
By Percy 11. Whiting.
T A 7 KI " L ' af,Pr losing two games
y\ their first day away from
home, the Crackers are
fairly started on their semi-final
road trip. They play in New Or
leans today and tomorrow. Then
the club gets a couple of off days.
Ami after that It opens in Mobile
tor three days of hard going.
Not that it makes any particular
difference.
Nothing matters now but next
year.
And that doesn't matter so much
—now.
* ♦ ♦
J* ORMER Southern league play
ers, with such notable excep
tions as Daubert, Rucker. Joe Jack
son. Dode Paskert. Tris Speaker
ami the chaps who always make
good, haven't shown such a tre-
one of the best first basemen in the coun
ir\ He works like Hal Chase and I be
lieve him to be in a class with that peer
ess performer. Manes has just been re
leased by the Northwestern league "
And tliere you are
• • •
The Appalachian league nas sold a half
dozen players to clubs of higher classifi
cation alreadx and is negotiating for the
disposal ot others. Knoxville got $3,000
for Pilcher Davis which is almost more
i han the salarx of all the players on the
team for all the season.
♦ * *
Pitcher Dixie Walker, kicked out bx
Washingion. has slumped from Baltimore
to W ilkesbarre Pitcher Martin has also
been sent to that dub
• • •
>ernon. recently picked up bv Wash
ington. is the Amherst c ollege star, signed
originally by the Cubs.
If Washington should happen to beat
the Red Sox. Jim Mi Aledr would feel that
lie had been whipsawed
• •
\rmando Marsans is said to be the one
best but of the Red team this rear. Next
>ear the Reds will have ixx o Cubans plax -
ing with them regularly.
* ♦ ”»
The bitterest cup for o Day to gulp
down is the thought that but' for those
fifteen straight games that <iin Reds
handed McGraw, the New York team
xxouldn t have an absolutelx' commanding
lead in the National.
• ♦ *
The extremelx high mice paid for mod
ern pitchers is said to be due to the
lively hall It is a lot harder lo get
awax with it now than it used to be
♦ ♦ •
I horpe. tht .ill r.cind athletic champion
of the world. xx ill probablx begin pilch
ing lor the Pirates at the end of the I9i:i
• ollege season Thorpe is salt! to be a
Sac ’or Sauks> Ind’un. with s«»me con
siderable white blood in his veins
• • •
Lee Tannehill lasted a long time in the
big leagues and all he had was fielding
abiliix IL couldn’t hit and he was slow
on bases
• • •
Hank O’Day admits that enough is
plenty He has passed on the news that
he is through as a manager and that he
will ask for his old job of umpire back
again
• * ♦
Harry Stahlhoefer. of Evansville, is a
candidaic fol the $3,000 job of president
of Hie Central league I nfortunately for
Han they offered him the Wheeling
franchise' last year and lie taetfulh re
marked, -aJive SS,OOO for the Wheeling
fraitelilse ' Why I wouldn't give SS,OOO
sot tile whole leagttt ' And flow they're
holding dial bright remark against hint
ami somebody else will get the SI,OOO
job.
I
Ihe Big Race |
Here s how the “Big Five” of the
American league are hitting the ball,
the averages including yesterday’s
games:
PLAYER. A.B. H. P.C.
COBB 402 168 .418
SPEAKER 427 171 .400
JACKSON 401 155 .387
COLLINS 382 127 .332
LAJOIE 263 80 .304
Cobb has been out of the game for
two days now and both Speaker and
Jackson have climbed up nearer to
him. In Saturday and Sunday games
Speaker garnered four hils in eight
times at bat. Jackson did even better,
smashing forth six swats in eight at
tempts. Collins got four hits in ten
trips to the plate. Lajoie connected
twice in eight chances.
mendous lot in the big leagues this
year.
Kirke who looked like a wonder
with the Rraves. isn t in the line
up now. Jackson. Who went from
the Memphis team to the Braves, is
doing better, though his batting av
erage is perceptibly less than the
.347 he made in the 39 big league
games he worked last year.
Northern is doing goqd work with
Brooklyn, and so is Red Stnitli.
while Pitcher Frank Allen manages
lo hang on. though he isn't going
very strong. But Brooklyn has sent
back all the other Southern leag
uers of last year's crop—Daley,
Kent, Coulson and the rest, and also
Dolly' Stark.
Pat Flaherty has passed back.
Bi'idwell has been out of the game
virtually all of the season with an
injured foot. Mclntyre, former
Memphis hurler. has dropped out of
the running and will go in for sa
looning. Os course. Buck Recker
and Tris Speaker, graduates of the
lamented Little Rock team, con
tinue to play big ball for league
leaders. Hank Griffin has come
back to the Southern and then
dropped out of this league. Hub
Perdue manages to keep In the
» limelight in one way or another,
and so does Hess, who went to the
same club from the Southern. Rut
i Bugs Raymond has dropped out of
baseball entirely; Oldring, a former
Montgomery player, has slumped
tremendously with the Athletics;
Neal Ball continues to be too er
i ratic for tegular big league service;
Lively has dropped off the Detroit
team: IJndsay didn't stick with
Cleveland, neither did Butcher;
Clarke has gone front the St. Louis
team, and Casey has departed from
Detroit.
Hotvever, at that the Southern
league is probably as brilliantly
represented in the major leagues
t ight now as any Class A league. So
, long as Joe Jackson. Jake Daubert.
Zack Wheat. Dode Paskert. Beals
Bicker. Jimmy Archer. Nap Ruck
er. Slim Sallee. Tris Speaker. Ed
Sweeney and Russ Ford continue
to represent tin* Southern in tile big
show as brilliantly as they have in
the past year, the Dixie league will
not soon be forgotten.
» • •
,l1 '" t,le Birmingham team
has got the pennant and gone
with it. it is recalled with some
amusement that at the first of the
season Baron fans and some Baron
snort writers couldn’t see the Bir
mingham team at all. AVhlle At
lantans were picking the Barons to
win the pennant, the Baron base
ball experts were poking fun at the
team and panning the life out of
Moles w orth.
It's an odd thing, but somehow
Birmingham has not been able to
appreciate Molesworth. He has had
hi- team "right up there'' ever since
ho really got h straightened out
and going some. And he is going
to take this pennant in a canter.
lohnson a Wise Champion in Retiring From Ring
❖•■{• -i-e-I- 4**4* +••{•
Flynn Fight Made Him Realize He's Going Back
By W. W. Naughton.
JACK JOHNSON says he has re
tried, and it remains to be seen
whether he means it. Just at
present his resolve is of an ada
mantine character. He swears that
the world will never hear him say,
as John L. Sullivan said. "J tried
once too often,” and that, never
hereafter will the lure of gold bring
him back to the ring as it brought
Jeffries back, when he was far past
his athletic prime.
The writer believes that Johnson
Os course, he has had enthusiastic
financial backing—but so did
Hemphill. So that doesn’t provq
anything
* ♦ »
L' ROM a man who claims to have
1 seen the letter, it is learned that
the Atlanta Baseball association is
conducting a near-dicker with Nor
man Elberfeld to take the manage- ,
ment of the Cracker club for next
year.
We are a trifle inclined to doubt
the story. In the first place, the
local club isn't going to do any
dickering with a man under con
tract with another club.' In the sec
ond place. Kid Elberfeld has had
his chance as a manager and has
failed The Kid knows baseball and
he has the pepper. But Elberfeld
never has been able to control him
self and will never be able to con
trol others.
|NEWS FROM RINGSIDE]
Paekey Hommey was signed up a few
days ago to meet either Jim Coffey or
Boyo Driscoll for next Monday’s show at
the Garden A. C. in New York If Hom
mey gains the decision Matchmaker Gib
son lias promised him a scrap with Young
Shugroe or some other leading feather
weight.
• • •
Although Luther McCarthy lost the
popular decision to Jim Stewart in Go,
tham a few days ago, he is not a bit de
spondent. Luther is matched with Tom
Kennedy a week from today and says he
will win in a walk. The big battler said
the crowd got his "goaf last time, hut
that now he has got used to the mob and
will show them some speed next out.
♦ * ♦
Mike Gibbons is about ready to descend
upon the East once more. This time
Michael will carry along his brother
Tommy, who is as good as Mike, so Mike
says Anyway, the pair will reach Go
tham early next month
• • •
Eastern sport scribes believe Jack
Johnson's retirement from the ring is
simply a bluff to get larger nurses for
his tights. Johnson could star in seclu
sion for several months until some "hope'’
has made such an impression on the pub
lic that the promoters would be willing to
offer another purse, such as was posted
when Johnson fought Jeffries, then all
"Lil" Arthur would have to do would be
hammer him around awhile, collect the
money and then retire again.
• • • *
Harrv Rafael, who is managing Charley
Miller, the latest entrant to lhe "white
hope " ranks, was in New York a few
days ago blowing about what Miller could
do. He says what Charley will do to Rai
ner and the rest of the big [mgs will be
enough to send him to the electric chair
Miller will leave for the East after his
battle with Jim Flynn on Labor Day.
• * •
Luther McCarthy ifnd Jess Willard are
scheduled to mingle at the Garden A. C
in New York August 19.
• * •
Jim Stewart has challenged Al Palzer
for a ten-round Iwttle to he staged in
Gotham Stewar't has won eight of his
recent fights by the K. O. route and says
he has earned a crack at the big tighter
• • •
The Terre Haute boxing club is trying
to match George K. O. Brown with Kid
Skelly for a match there Labor Day
• • •
Packet McFarland will signalize his
return to lhe ring and the start of his
fall campaign of 1912 by a six-round en
gagement with Joe Hirst tn Philadelphia
August 3(1
• * «
Johnnie I Mjcm kru*. wrJ
is out of the game to stay. The
heart knoweth its own bitterness,
and no one knows better than
Johnson what rough sledding it was
with Fireman James Flynn at Las
Vegas.
Two years ago Johnson would
have literally spanked Flynn for his
bad ring manners. As it was, the
best Johnson could do was hold on
and holler for help. Two years of
acquaintance with th.e Paris cases
and the pleasure haunts of I-ondon
had told in Johnson's case just as
similar dalliance had done in the
case of Peter Jackson.
When the state police were clam
bering into the ring in New Mexi
co and Referee Smith was mopping
his perspiring brow, a little bird
whispered in Jack Johnson’s ear,
"The time is ripe for retiring.”
And who can blame him? He
has Required a competence through
the use of his gloves, and now that
he feels he is not as spry or as sure
fisted as he used to be. he is show
ing good judgment in sidestepping
possible disaster. Because other
champions made mistakes is no
reason why Johnson should.
Wants To Quit Unbeaten.
In getting out at this time, John
son is catering to an ambition he
has long felt, even though he may
not have given expression to it. He
would dearly like to be known as
the only negro who held the world's
championship and then retired un
defeated.
In support of this view, it is only
necessary to recall Johnson's 'atti
tude toward other colored fighters'
since he became champion. It is
claimed that he deliberately back
ed out of a match with Sam Lang
ford. in London, after signing con-
appear as the headliner of a boxing ear-
• nival to be staged in Cleveland August 13.
Joe Rivers and Charley White have
• been practically matched for a bout to be
t staged some time next month. No club
has been mentioned, but it is probable
the match will be staged in the East
somewhere near Chicago.
The only' reason Young Jack O'Brien
was not knocked out in the sixth round
by Leach Cross in New York the other
, night was that he held on to Leach so
tight that the dentist could not hit htm
EAST VS. WESTON BOXING
CARD IN N. Y. THIS WEEK
NEW YORK, Aug. 12.—The East and
the West will be pitted against each
other in the only two important boxing
bouts that will be staged here this
wedk. At Madison Square Garden to
. night Jack Bnitton, a Chicago light
weight. will tackle Eddie Smith, of
Harlem.
On Wednesday night at the St. Nich
olas rink. Gunboat Smith, a Califor
nia heavyweight, will box ten rounds
with Porky Flynn, of Boston. There
are several other bouts on the program,
but all are of minor importance.
McFarland and wolgast
TO MEET IN GOTHAM OCT. 3
NEW YORK. Aug. 12. Ad Wolgast
ami Paekey McFarland will meet in a
ten-round bout under the auspices 4
Hie Garden Athletic club in this city
October 3, according to word received
lodu.v from a representative of that I
club now in Cadillac. Mich. Both men
are to weigh 133 pounds at 3 o’clock on
the day of the fight.
RITCHIE STARTS WORK
FOR BOUT WITH HOGAN
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 12.—Willie
Ritchie, who is to meet "One-Round"
Hogan in a four-round bout at Dream,
land Friday, has begun training. Willie I
plans only light work. Hogan also
went to work today. He fought fifteen
rounds with Tommy McFarland a lit- ■'
tie more than a week ago ami is in ex- •
cwilent condition. t
tracts. He has been a veritable
will o' the wisp to Joe Jeannette,
who has been after him for a long
time. He has often talked of going
to Australia to box Langford and
McVea, but, judging by his actions,
he was never for an instant sincere
in this.
If the last has really been seen
of Johnson as a pugilist, he will be
remembered as a fighter who was
seldom if ever fully extended. Some
say that his fight with Tommy
Burns in Australia was his hardest.
This may be so. He certainly
never had any hard fights in the
ordinary acceptance of the term in
this country. His go with Jeffries,
from which so much was expected,
was so extremely one-sided that it
lives in memory as the joke of the
century.
A Great Xjppercut Fighter,
Johnson's style of boxing was all
his own. He was master of the
straight left and right crosses that
educated boxers usually employ, but
he seldom relied upon them. In
the use of hooks, uppercuts and
lifting punches generally he prob
ably never had an equal.
Arguments frequently arise as to
how Johnson would have fared if
he had been sent against a Queens
berry crackajack like Peter Jack
son when the latter was at his best.
Well, there is no harm in forming
and holding an opinion on the point,
but right there the discussion ends.
It is a sporting aphorism that it is
bootless to argue any matter that
can not be settled by a bet, and
certainly there is no way of deter
mining which was the better man—
Peter Jackson or Jack Johnson.
The remark is often heard that
Johnson was lucky—that when he
reached bls prime there were reaJly
no good heavyweights in sight.
That is true in a measure, but it is
the luck of the game. It very often
happens that staleness and long
service contribute to a champion's
defeat as much as anything else.
Seldom 2 Good Men at Same Time,
in the heavyweight division, it
was seldom in recent years that two
really good men developed about
the same time. Possibly the best
Instance of genuine rivalry in this
respect was when Jeffries and Shar
key were working to the front. No
more stubborn engagements than
the two in which Jim and Tom
were the principals were ever wit
nessed probably, and if Sharkey had
had a few inches more of stature,
ring history might have had an en
tirely different twist.
AA ho will be Johnson's successor?
Some people do not see much hope
for the hopes because Langford,
McVea and Jeannette are still ac
tive. But these colored gladiators
are not by any means as youthful
as they used to be, and as there is
no negro novice in sight, there is
good reason for arguing that a
white man will rule the heavy
. weight roster within the next cou
ple of years.
ALL WAIVE ON STORCH.
NAbllA ILLE. TENN.. Aug. 12. II
A\a- announced this morning that
waivers had been secured 'on Harrj
Storch, utility man of the Nashvill,
team, and he did not accompany the
team to Montgomery last night. Storch
has been with the Nashville team sin< <
the beginning of the 1911 season, being
secured from Dallas, Texas, where he
was the leading home run hitter of the
league. He may go back to the Texas
league.
MILLER KNOCKS OUT YOUNG.
('Hit AGO. Aug. 12.—Hirsch Millet
knocked out Billy Young in the third
round of a fight held over the state line
yesterday afternoon. They boxed for g
side bet and s3,()on changed hands oi
the battle. A big rowd saw the bout.