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6 GEOBSBAM ffiO® | EDITED S FARNSWORTH o v Silk Hat Harry's Divorce Suit He Didn't Mean What the Judge Mean Copyright, 1912, National News Ass’n. By Tad SAN KE6VE.R- THU IS I ( t WANT TO _SE£ OMF ~ ~ g, e g SO \ ~ ' —— - uncle • HE'S PROM Os- THEnv 800 B 3 An-mOCJJ TO SE-E I ... i I*"/ FP-lENO M£F-E , A SAWMiU. TDW/v THE SUDCrE puTS 'N A 8008- ' ( \*£U- fU-TELX- I H£¥ I KNAHTS 7V SEE | ! Uf NORTH And I 'NANI CHE COOLEIL EVEU-N I ' ° -/ ; jL, _I u AVP \ J _ \ aa — —VOU TT> OHOW HIM <T ‘ \ OAy ~~x . / 70G6T AN OwSeP- (XVI OH JVVO€ < A 800 6 ARoCMD THE PK-ISOM y/GET \ SOO 3EE "MEnv ' ) I / A JVIOG-f- ''<T( 1 l’ J 1 COME ON£"£_ ' >—- ' £ Z MM<UMHAUSER. is r T 7/> s®O < , MBSM? (£wiyfi|feJg|f 'tuj L ‘■’mo S ' jtA r ' 1 k ■ \ a <*F* aM^>! 1 / 4o>Mb jK -<. H®. ‘ mh <1 ©OWJIw - ■ ' £jklHL|. ' vv L _________■ ' ,d» z Jimmy Archer Is Greatest of All Men Behind Bat 4-«+ +•+ •!•»•!• -!-••!• *>*•*!■ •?••? Former Atlanta Backstop in Class by Himself By. W. J. Mcßeth. WE have with us 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 hall players in the National league he's far better than he look.-, even If he is a handsome kind of a chap. There may he better catchers in the profession today than Jimmy Archer, of Chicago. Rut there ate no such backstops. There's a slight distinction between the two class, s. Catcher involves the broadei sense of that special type of athletes that wears mask, wind-pad and mitt V catcher s value is reckoned relative to his team worth, taking in his of fensive as well as his defensive ability. Backstop only Implies the defensive issue the work of hand ling ffttchers, crossing batsmen and keeping runners glued to the sacks. Wherefore —at least that potion 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 his deadly hitting eye. for no major league maskman pummels the pill as does the Mis sion aboiigine But as a backstop there is no man before the public who can hold a candle lo the Cub stalwart. From a defensive stand point he is as superior to Moyers as Meyers is superior to Jimmy of fensively. Sits on Back of Heels. You have often heard a catch er’s highest form of flattery toward his pet battery mate. "Say. bo” gays he, "I could catch that guy sitting in a rocking chair ' An-bet has never been known to make such a boast. But every game he works he handles bls pitcher to the height of perfection from a far more difficult position He doesn't ait in a rocking < hair But he sits on hfs heels And while crouched on the rear view of his pedals he can throw just about 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 th, price of ad mission alone to see him work Fully three-quarters of the time he squats- on his heels ti tn as a deep-seated rock He is a well knit fellow, muscled like a Greek runner, hut far from giant propor tions. Yet. while balanced on the hacks of his shoes, he can take the speediest shoots of Ed Reulba, h without rocking an inch, and Reul bach. when pushing them over, is renowned for terrifi. <p t , l A Nimble, Agile Fellow. Few pitchers that wojk with Archer have many wi I dings dur ing a season For ins pet uliar specialty gives Jimmy ~ narked advantage in receiving From Ids tegular working attitud, lie s so low to the ground that a w b.,’. can scarcely get past him H> , .in smother it in the dirt with his big mitt or shift more quickly from (sis crouching attitude to Intercept it if it takes a mean hop. 11- - nimbi,,, agile fellow, quick as i on his feet and with his hands Wherefore, if the ball shoots ■ ig he has simply to spring up and spent it. It is a well known fa, ■ that it is far easier to go up for high ones titan to dig -own fm crazy chucks Th, same nalu.i k advantage that protects a pit. het from w ild flings also keeps Archer’s passed balls to a minimum. Backstopping literally means tlie receiving of the pitcher's delivery. In this special line, as pointed out, Archer has no equal. But his re sources do not stop there. His pe -1 Ulin catching attitude seems to be admirably adapted to perfect throwing. Archer is a deadly marksman. Either standing or squatting, lie can peg the bull's eye at any cushion 99 times in 100 His throws snap out with rillelike ve , loclty. hut his greatest adjunct is tlie faculty of getting that throw away at once. Ho wastes no time in starting the ball on its course. The minute the ball hits his glove it's away again He never drfiws back his arm; he shoots the hall 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. Ho can watch, his man like a hawk without tipping his hand. Good For Many Seasons. Ha’ t'hase 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 of th? national pastime, I util there comes a gen eration of aeiobats reared on their heels instead of high chairs Jimmy | FODDER FOR FANS Th#- departure of [‘ft< her Kent from Brooklyn to Toronto marks the end of another man sent up from the Southern last \ ear. He was a Baron in 1911. ♦ * * Bill Douglas, tight hand hurler, who has been u star with Don Moines, will join the White Sox next week. George Pierce, tried b\ both the Cubs and the Giants and listed as a total fail ure, has again been bought b\ the Cubs. He has started with Scranton this year. He struck out 21 players in a recent game. * Clark Griffith, who has seen every pitcher north mentioning since the daxs " hen they began to throw 'em’overhand, >a.\s that Walter Johnson is the greatest pitcher the world ever knew. He says Walter has it on Busie s best efforts in speed ami control * • • Joe Willis, the Cardinal southpaw, has 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* ail 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 jear contract with Detroit bj J.ennmgs marks the end of that famous incident * » • Even Birmingham now admits that the Barons will win the pennant w w • The players who kick don't last the longest on the diamond, according to Hank o'Day “Nine times out of ten,” says Henry. “the players kick to ('over up their own faults ” If Daubert takes the job as manager at BrookHn it is certain that he will not have any very high managerial standards to live up to. The\ say that Tris Speaker, of Hub haul city. Texas, is the reason Texas is called the Lone Star State • • • New Orleans has accepted a first divi sion berth for the Pelicans as the best thing that can be hoped for and is talk ing of 1913. • • • \ winning ball club disciplines itself. Last year Patsy Donovan just couldn't keep a lot of the Bed S<<x from tanking ip This year. with pennant and *y orld < series in sight a man who took two beers , n a row would be paddled by his own I ’ earn mates In building for next year all thr old I material Jennings intends to, use is Ty j Cobb. Crawford. Bush and Stanage • • • I ‘Da y-Coach” league managers | ate ■ •i '.stent Says Moffett, of Knox | ville. “My new first baseman, Hanes, is THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. MONDAY. ATTEST 12. 19.12. Archer is very likely to get the big hand as one of the passing side shows. Almost as astonishing as the great Cub catchers backstopping and throwing skill is his natural speed. Few catchers are fast But Archer is an exception He belies the theory that constant squat ting slows up the leg muscles of a receiver. 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 DAYS IN NEW ORLEANS, THEN GO TO MOBILE By Percy 11. Whiting. UvELL, after losing two games / their first day’ away from home, the Crackers are fairly started on, their semi-final road trip. They play in New 0i - leans today and tomorrow. Then tl.ie club gets a couple of off days. And after that it opens in Mobile for 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. * * * ORMER Southern league play ers. with such notable excep tions as Daubeit, Rucker, Joe Jack son, Dode Paskert, Tris Speaker and the chaps who always make good, haven't shown such a tre- one of the best first basemen in the coun try. He works like Hal Chase and I be lieve him to be in a class with that peer less performer. Manes has just been re leased by the Northwestern league.“ And there you are The Appalachian league nas sold a half dozen players to dubs of higher classifi cation already and is negotiating for the disposal of others Knoxville got $3,000 for Pitcher Davis which is almost more than the salary of alt the players on the team for all the season. Pitdiet Dixie Walker, kicked out by W ashingt-.n, has slumped from Baltimore to Wilkesbarre Pitcher Martin has also been sent to that dub Vernon. recently picked up by Wash ington. is the Amherst college star, signed originally by the Cubs. It' Washington should happen to heat the Red Sox. Jim McAleer would feel that he had been whips a wed • • • Armando Marsans is said to he the one last bet of the Rod team this year. Next year the Reds will have two Cubans play ing with them regularly. • * • The bitterest cup tor O'Day to gulp down is the thought that, but for those fifteen straight games that his Reds handed McGraw, the New York team wouldn't have an absolutely commanding had in the National * * « The extremely high price paid for mod ern pitchers is said to be due to the lively ball It is a lot harder to get away with it now than it used to be ♦ • ♦ I’horpe, the all-r.uind athletic champion ot the world. will probably begin pitch ing for the Pirate*- at the end of the 1913 college season Thorpe Is said t. be a Sac (or Sauksi Indian, with some con siderable whitt blood in his veins Lee Tannehill lasted a long time in the lug leagues and all he had was fielding ability He 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 lie will ask for his old job of umpire back again. * » * Harry Stahlhoefer. of Evansville. is a candidate to’- the $3,000 ioh of president of the Central league. Unfortunately for Harry they offered him the Wheeling franchise last year and hr tactfully re marked. Give SB,OOO for the Wheeling franchise’ Why I wouldn't give SB,OOO ’or the whole league” \nd now they're holding that bright re# irk agains? him land somebody else will get the $3,000 job. 1 ; _— l 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 hits 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. , Ki,rke. who looked liKf a wonder with the Braves, isn't tn the line up now. Jackson, who went from the Memphis team to the Braves, is doing better, thougli his batting av erage is perceptibly less than the 34 7 he made in the 33; big league games he ’worked last year. Northern is doing good work with Brooklyn, and so is Red Smith, while Pitcher Frank .Allen manages to 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. Bridwell 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 Becker 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 , Bugs Raymond has dropped out of ' baseball Entirely; Oldrfng, a former Montgomery player, has slumped tremendously with the Athletics; Neal Ball continues to be too er ratic for regular big league service; l ively has dropped off the Detroit team; Lindsay didn't stick with Cleveland, neither did Butcher; Clarke lias gone from the St. Louis team, and Casey has departed from Detroit. However, at that the Southern league is probably as brilliantly represented in tlie major leagues right now as any Class A league. So , long as Joe Jackson. Jake Daubert. Zack Wheat. Dode Paskert. Beals Becker. Jimmy Archer. Nap Ruck er. slim Sallee. Tris Speaker. Ed Sweeney and Russ Ford continue to represent the Southern in the big show as brilliantly as they have in the past year, the Dixie league will not soon be forgotten. * * ♦ OW that the Birmingham team has got the pennant ami gone with it. it is recalled with some amusement that at the first of the season Baton tans and some Baron sport writers couldn't see the Bir mingham team at all. While At lantans- were picking the Batons to win the pennant, the Baron base ball experts were poking fun at the team and panning the life out of Moleswort h. Its an odd tiling, but somehow Birmingham has not been able to appreciate Molesworth. He lias had his team "right up there" ever since he really got it straightened out and going some. And he is going to take this pennant in a canter. Johnson a Wise Champion in Retiring From Ring Flynn Fight Made Him Realize He’s Going Back j By W. W. Naughton. rAt’K JOHNSON says he has re- I tired, and it remains to be seen J whether he mean- it Just at ■ present his resolve is of an ada- I inantine character. He swears that > the world will never hear him say. i as John L. Sullivan said. "I tried i once too often." and that never . hereafter will the lure of gold bring him back to the ring as it brought i Jeffries back, when he was far past • I his athletic prime. The writer believes that Johnson Os course, he has had enthusiastic financial backing—but so did Hemphill. So that doesn't prove anything.' * • ♦ 17 ROM a man who claims to have 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 ha.s failed. The Kid knows baseball and he has the pepper. Rut Elberfeld never has been able to control him self and will never be able to con trol others. |news from ringside Packer 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 promised him a scrap with Young Shugroe or some other leading feather w eight. 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 savs* he will win in a walk. The big battler said the crowd got his “goat” last time, but that now he has got used to the mob and yvill 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 t • • Eastern sport scribes belieye .lack Johnson's retirement from the ring is simply a bluff to get larger ourses for his fights. Johnson could stay 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 air "Lil" Arthur would have to do would be hammer him around awhile, collect the' money and then retire again. ... Harry Rafael, who is managing Charlev Miller, the latest entrant to the "white hope” ranks, was in New York a few days ago blowing about wtiat Miller could do. He says what Charley will do to Pal zer and the rest of the big pugs 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 ami less Willard are scheduled to mingle at the Garden A. C. ■in New York August Ik. • • • Jim Stewart lias, challenged Al Paizer for a ten-round battle to he staged in Gotham Stewart has won eight of his recent tights by the K. O. route and savs he has earned a crack at the big fighter » • • The Terre Haute boxing club is trying to match George K. O Brown with Kid Skelly for a match there Labor l>a\. ... Packey McFarland will signalize his return to the ring and the start of his fall campaign of 1912 In a six-round en gagement with Joe Hirst tn Philadelphia August 30. I Johnnie Dundee and Matt Brock will 1 r— .. , 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 the Paris cases and the pleasure haunts of London had told in Johnson's case just as sjmilar 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 acquired 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. Jn getting out at this time, John son is catering to an ambition he lias 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 car ■' nival to be staged in Cleveland August 13. Joe Rivers and Charley White have - been practically matched for a bout to be ; staged some time next month. No club lias 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 oflt in the sixth round , by Leach t 't oss in New York the other > night was that he held on to Leach so I tight that the dentist could not hit him. EAST VS. WEST ON BOXING I CARD IN N. Y. THIS WEEK NEW YORK, Aug. 12.—The East and the West will he pitted against each other in the only two important boxing bouts that will he staged here this week. At Madison Square Garden to : night Jack Britton, a Chicago light weight, will tackle Eddie Smith of Ha rlem. On Wednesday night at the St. Nidi. , olas rink. Gunboat Smith, a Califor nia heavyweight, will box ten rounds 1 with Porky Flynn, of Boston. There ■ at.' .y-veral other bouts on the program, but all are of minor importance. McFarland and wolgast TO MEET IN GOTHAM OCT. 3 NEW YORK. Aug. 1 2.—Ad. Wolgast and Packej McFarland will meet in a ten-round bout under tile auspices of the Garden Athletic dub in this, city October 3, according to word received today from a representative of that club now in Cadillac, Mich. Both men tre to weigh 133 pounds at 3 o'clock on tile day of the tight. RITCHIE STARTS WORK FOR BOUT WITH HOGAN SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12.—Willie Ritchie, who is to meet "One-Round" Hogan in a font-round t>out at Dream land Friday, has begun training. Willie plans only light work. Hogan also went to work today. He fought fifteen rounds with Tommy McFarland a lit tle more than a week ago and is in ex i veilent condition. 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. 1 If the last has really been seen of Johnson as a pugilist, he will be remembered as a fighter who was seldom if ever ftfily extended. Some say that his fight with Tommy Burns in Australia was his hardest. I his 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 Uppercut 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 his prime there were really 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. Who will be Johnson's successor? Some people do not see much hope for the hopes because Langfqrd, 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. NASHVILLE. TENN.. Aug. 12.—1 t uas announced this morning that waivers had been secured on Harry Storch, utility man of tlie Nashville team, and he did not accompany the team to Montgomery last night Storch lias been with the Nashville team since 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. I’Hlt’AGtt. Aug. 1-’.—Hirsch Miller knocked out Billy Young in the third round of a fight held over the state line yesterday afternoon. They boxed for a Side bet and B.mm changed hands on the battle. A big crowd saw the bout. •