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6 GKQGMN srcw COWl® EDITED W. S FARNSWORTH Now, Really, Harry, Jeff Doesn’t Mind It a Bit :: :: :: :: ;; By “Bud” Fisher ' l“> sas ’ F , You see, <Zmt ' c Jjl j «• JU??- »* * / CI^TLU///ff/, — '—y Kee! T Cmu ua 6vct J '** a ' =" j '• tKi ujtvm- yaw J bL'-W • ■ i //U'v**a I <ra c^^r HotTl H'*v ! /u-|» o« znvuxA.. ~ =g- pi ’&U'' <’ p__. ___ J**V \ | ’4//|i i ifl ujl l ON Uy I Zru Kizvw. vJ • W’ "SIB WfWL A I -/uvtX lxr£uX J XXaXvK _-• =LpJv If-- ~~ ■ I £& fc J ~ ■'— —<- CHvre' _ £-\&S& A 2 ] I m+t f< “"■ " *|MPg Wsl/ \ J 4" — 1 /-• <#annn£ Sru^***, ( . it ' ~ ~ ,^ g: ' :^== — * , B i r - - - _ ~_ _ - r . '-■ ' capvjwexr/Sri«»,'S'zwca Giants Have Edge in Battery Men; But It’s Not a Big One ([T TOW yuh bettln’ on the t| seerez?” This bromldiom calls the debating club to order on the street corner, in the office of any place where men can pause for a moment. The affirmative grabs off a generous allotment of time for the opening argument and leads off with, for instance, this harangue: ' They’re all taking Sox. just like they all talked Jeffries. And the Giants are going to surprise them, just like Johnson did. And I’ll tell you why. Joe Wood is Boston's one best bet. If he’s off color it's good-night. Sox! Now, listen. You know what winning nineteen straight did to Marquard. And Joe Wood has Just finished the American league's record • run. Well, the nervous strain has got him so wabbly that— "So wabbly that the Yankees hammered him for a total of two hits in the first game he pitched after his run was broken. He’s so wabbly that his jump ball wabbles out of the way when a batter wings at it. Yes, he's gone so far back that they would begin making hits off him if they could only see the ball when he shoots it over." "That's all right. The Yankees are a bunch of dubs. I tell you that record of Wood’s has put him on the blink for the series. As I was going to say, in a short series it’s all in the pitching, and you’ve got to have men you can depend upon. The Giants can depend on Mathewson and Tesreau. Tesreau is the sensation of this season. He has got better every day since spring, and the way he's going now they can never stop him. And Mathewson is the greatest pitcher in the world." “Maybe he is, considering what he has done in the past. But what a man used to be able to do won't count in deciding the baseball championship of the world." "All right. You say Matty used to be the greatest Well, he's as good today as he used to be and the figures show it. What do you think of that? Last year he won 24 games and lost 12. This year he has won 26 and lost 13- just the same percentage—and this year he has had the greatest control in the world, averaging less than one base on balls to a game, and, moreover, he has had more games kicked away by bad support this year than ever before." It's Up to the Pitchers. The debaters are certainly right about the importance of pitching in a short series like the great classic. The death-dealing war club of John Franklin Baker relegated box work to the shadows last year, but most world's series are like those which were featured by the twirling of Bill Deneen, Mor decal Brown. Jack Coombs, Ed Walsh, Christy Mathewson and Babe Adams. Mathewson is the greatest of all w. s. heroes. He set a mark for them all to shoot at when he won three straight shutout triumphs over the Athlet ics in 1905. He had the White El ephants eating out of his great right paw. He beat Eddie Plank 3-0 in the first game, trimmed Andy Coakley 9-0 in the third game and blanked the great redskin. Chief Bender, -2-0 in the fifth and decid ing game of the series. Bedient, who will likely be Stahl’s third choice in the box. with Joe Wood and Ray Collins, makes a mighty strong looking triple alli ance. but "mighty strong" describes New York's slab squad, too There is no gainsaying the fact that Mathewson is still the steady, reliable boxman he was of old, and that he is pretty certain to pitch at least one brilliant game against the Sox. The best ]4tcher in the world would havi his hands full opposing Jeff Tesreau, and then there is Rube Marquard. It is far from impossibh that the holder of the world's record for consecutive victories will prove the hero of the series. Pitchers Are Even. Everything considered, it is non sense to say that either one of these pitching staffs outclasses the other. They are just about equal. This would be by no means true if Joe Wood were to suffer a reac tion on account of his record run, but. judging from the way he pitched against the Highlanders, his slump lasted about as long as the flight of a shooting star across the sky. Ray Collins, the second best pitcher In the Stahl crew’, while not generally figured as formidable as either Mathewson or Tesreau, is a consistent winner and his portside delivery may prove even more effective against the Giants than Wood's right-handed smoke balls; for the Giants do not hit up to form against fork-hand fing ers. In the post-season series played by the Giants and Red Sox in 1909 Mathewson defeated Wood, but was conquered by Collins. The sturdy Vermont youth won undying fame in Boston in that victory over Matty. He held the Gotham ites to five scattered hits, two of which were decidedly lucky ones. While Collins has not had world’s series experience, this previous ap pearance against the Gothamites will tend to make him feel at home, and, anyway, his record shows him in the light of a fine riser to big occasions. He has done his best work in crucial games. Bedient's excellent record for the season places him on a par as a rescue man with old Doctor Otis Crandall, New York's most illus trious savior of losing games. HESS WINS EIGHTH IN ROW FOR PILGRIM CLUB You can talk about your Marquards, your Johnsons and your Woods, but the most marvelous Os all the pitching performances of the year has been pull ed by two-headed Otto Hess, former Pelican pitcher, who arose from the grave this year and who has just fin ished eight straight wins for the Bos ton Nationals team. If Hess had been a man of reasonable age. It might have been different. But he’s old He did grand work for New < irleans last year, but not one man in a million supposed that he could get back in fast company and win any games. He did, however, ami he won them for the worst team in modern baseball, the Pilgrims of Boston. Verily, this Otto Hess is a wonder. YALE PLAYS SYRACUSE. NEW HAVEN, CONN.. Oct. 5.—A hard struggle was in store for Yale this afternoon in the game with Syracusi football eleven. Captain Spalding be lieves that the Blue is able to win. THE BASEBALL CARD. natiSnal league. Games Today. Philadelphia in Boston New York in Brooklyn. Pittsburg In Cincinnati. St. Louis in Chicago. Standing of the Clubs. W L p c W 1.. P C N York 102 4S TSO Phila . 73 78 .483 P'burg 02 58 .613 St 1. .S 388 .417 Chicago :>0 59 604 Br’kl’n 58 ?4 .382 C’nati 74 77 190 Boston 51 101 .336 Yesterday's Results. Boston 14. Philadelphia 2 Brooklyn 8. New York 3. Other* not scheduled AMERICAN LEAGUE. Games Today. Chicago in Detroit. Cleveland in St. Louis. Washington in New York. Boston in Philadelphia, Standing of the Clubs. W L P C W L PC Boston 1"4 4, 689 I p’land. 74 77 .490 Wash. 91 fill 603 1 Detroit. 69 82 457 Phila . .90 61 596 I St. L. .52 100 .342 Chicago 76 76 500 1 N York 40 102 .325 Yesterday's Results. W ashington 4. N> w York 2 Philadelphia 4. Boston 3. Chicago 7. Detroit 2. Cleveland-St. Louis, not scheduled THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 5, 1912. World’s Best Teams Almost Ready for Final Test—the World’s Series FIRST CUN IN BIG BOMBARDMENT FIRED TUESDAY By Monty. NEW YORK, Oct. 5. —Only three more days before the Red Sox come whirling down from the Hub, sweep out upon the Polo grounds and close into dead ly grapple with the Giants for the highest honors in the baseball world. While 40,000 fans emit a mighty roar, there will begin what promises to be the best old world's series in the history of the annual classic. Are the Bostonians a stronger team that were the Athletics of a year ago? How much stronger are the Giants than t • :3 months back? A man who could answer these questions would be able to pick the winner, just like that. But it re mains for Fate alone to decide what shall be the truthful reply, the reply that fits the conditions, that tells correctly the relative strength of the rivals under high pressure in a battit of prime im portance squeezed into the space of a few short days. From the standpoint of person nel alone, leaving out of consider ation such things as temperament and tactics, the problem divides It self into four factors —pitchers, catchers, infield and outfield. Fig uring from any angle, the pitch ing staffs compare practically even if neither cracks and ascends as the gas out of a broken balloon. That much is conceded by all hands. Tesreau, Mathewson and Marquard loom up almost on the same rung with Wood. Collins, Bedient and O'Brien, so they can be passed over and the trail of the dope be followed through the other de pa rtments. Giants Have the Catchers. The edge so far as catchers and infielders are concerned belongs to the Giants. The Red Sox have the better of the outfield argument. Rut there is no outclassing seen in any of the wings, except where it is balanced by the superiority of the rival in other departments. Tris Speaker, George Hooper and Duffy Lewis frame up into the greatest trio of gardeners in the game today. As a corps of fly chasers, abridgers of base hits and throwers, they are without supe riors. At attack they are fiends from the fiery furnace, this apply ing to Speaker tn particular. Murray, w ith his proneness to be spectacular upon occasions, may be a big factor In the series if he finds himself not in such a slump as he suffered in the last world s series, when he failed to hit any of the Athletics’ pitchers with effect. He may offset some of the advan tage of the Red Sox in the garden end of the affair. Snodgrass is a good plugger, consistent but not sensational, while Devore and Becker, who will alternate in the Experts Cover Series for The Georgian The Georgian will have the greatest array of baseball talent representing it at the world's series that has ever covered such an affair for any Southern paper. William A. Smith, manager of the Atlanta baseball club, has been exclusively engaged and will report the games, play by play, for The Georgian extras. His reports will appear in no other papers. This is the first time that a man of real basebail prominence has ever covered a series and reported it. play by play, for any paper. Watch for this big exclusive feature in The Georgian's baseball extras. Three big league players will look out for The Georgian at the games-Marquard, Mey ers and Carrigan. So well are these men known remaining job, depending upon whether the opposing pitcher is a right-hander or a southpaw, are just barely above the average. Giant Infield Strong. In the Infield the all-around mer its of the rival components bear about the same relation to each other in inverse ratio. The Giant quartet is more efficient both in run building and run killing. Odd ly enough, this fact seems to hold true throughout the entire array. Where one man is superior to the player of corresponding position on the opposition in defense he also bears the advantage in offense. There is one spot in the* inner bulwarks that is better taken care of for the Red Sox than for the McGraw clan. This is shortstop, where Heinie Wagner, Stahl's field lieutenant, holds forth. Wagner is a cat in speed. He gets going in the direction of a ball batted to ward his territory, which is no small area, like a lightning flash. Wagner can cover more ground even than the brilliant Arthur Fletcher, his rival, and Is quicker to get rid of the ball and make it whiz accurately toward the intend ed target. He also is a more valu able man when his team has the “ins," his noisy and peppery man nerisms counting heavily in his fa vor. At the other three stations New York looks to be all to the merry, although Larry Gardner can give Charley Buck flerzog a hot scram ble for third base supremacy. Both these fellows are good, game men, with plenty of real baseball brains as well as mechanical ability. Her zog. if anything, is a trifle faster and, therefore, gets the greater es teem by a hair line. Larry Doyle is Yerkes' superior in every task that confronts a sec ond baseman. Ginger, hard hit ting, rapidity of movement, alert ness, throwing and anything else you can name—in all these Lar ruping Larry is a better man than "I Gotcha" Steve. Merkle Has It on Stahl. Jake Stahl, at first, though the gallant leader of the victorious FODDER FOR FANS Terre Haute wants Mordecai Brown as manager. It was with this team that Brown had his first professional engage ment. • ♦ • Rudy Hulswitt has had enough of base ball. and if he can find a regular job will quit for good. ♦ * ♦ Ona Dodd, sent by Waco to Pittsburg, lias been turned over to Columbus. • ♦ » Three men are left on the Giant team who took part in the world’s series of 1905 and all three are pitchers, Mathew son, Ames and Wiltse. » ♦ * Duffv Lew is, of the Red Sox, has stolen only seven bases this year a marvelous record. * • • When brothers have played ball, the oldest has usually been the best. It worked out that way with the Delehantys. Clarksons. Clarkes, Walshs, Cobbs, Ew ings and Evers. ♦ * • t'p around Cincinnati a gent canvassed s that it would be a waste of space to dwell on : their baseball reputations. Marquard will see 5 a majority of the games from the bench and < can tell of the contest from that angle. Mey ers and Carrigan will be in almost all games ; and will tell how the battles are waged, from < the viewpoint of the warriors. ; Also, as there are a few’ million old-fashioned s folks left who believe that the best stories of ; any game come from men who have made it ; their profession to write them. The Georgian ’ has sent its sporting editor. W. S. Farnsworth. ; to the series. He will furnish daily stories in s his breezy, inimitable style. No writer in the } country today is better calculated to handle ; the games in authoritative and entertaining s fashion than Mr. Farnsworth. Boston clan, has to bow to Fred Merkle when it comes to a matter of individual play. Jake is a great, old, grizzled veteran, but Merkle can take his measure at first bas ing. Both tan the hide off the ball, but Stahl will get thrown out many times on drives that for the fester Merkle would be safe hits. Stahl also is somewhat of an impediment on the bases and likewise fails to cover the ground around his posi tion quite as well as the Giant. He may be somewhat surer on thrown balls, but if so, that Is about the only thing mentionable in his favor aside possibly from experience and headwork, and Merkle is not built of solid Ivory in the dome by any means, despite the frequent knocks hurled in his direction because of the one most historic wooden-top play ever turned. , The Giants' catching department is much more dependable as well as more brilliant than that of the Hub horde. In our own humble opinion, Arthur Wilson is at least the equal of Chief Meyers, if not more, and the New Yorkers will not suffer if the Indian is incapacitated and "Olaf" has to get behind the swinging bludgeon. Both are eter nally hard hitters and average base runners, despite their bulk, and they also can execute the rough and fine points of the catching art In top o' th’ mornin' style. Bill Carrigan receives much credit from Stahl for the Red Sox success, but many find it hard to figure that Carrigan is anything approaching a star catcher. The same goes for Forrest Cady. However, who knows but what they may upset the dope just as did Ira Thomas two years ago, when he was figured the one weak spot of the Athletics against the Cubs and then came to the fore with eclat? The utility men are certain to figure largely in the series, and in case of injuries or other troubles, both sides are well supplied with capable reinforcements. Marty Krug and Henricksen in the out field and Neal Ball and Clyde En gel for the infield are the Red Sox substitutes, while Arthur Shafer and Hank Groh for the first line of defense and Burns Tor the garden, together with Grover Hartley be hind the bat. form the Giant corps. They compare about even. a train, so Bill Pbelon says, for "an ex pression of your opinions on the great bat tle before the nation.” When he counted up the slips, he found them just like this: Taft 3. Wilson 1, Roosevelt 1, Giants 97 Red Sox 115. « • • Which pitcher will McGraw start in the world’s series? Well, if you were Mc- Graw, who would YOU start? There isn’t but one answer. • • » Jeff Tesreau receives but S.IBOO in reg ular salary for his season’s work with the Giants. However, he gets a bonus of $1,200. which pulls it up a bit, but not enough to make a respectable salary for the man who made the pennant a possi bility for the Giants. • • « A riot is looked for at New York when the "Sold Out” sign is hoisted at the Polo grounds. It is estirqated that there will be 100,000 unsatisfied fans on the out side. looking at the fences, when it hap pens. After that—? Sox Must Win First With Wood Or Giants Will Cop—Doc White Bv G. Harris (Doc) White. White Sox Pitcher. JOE WOOD and the first game of the series are the two big “ifs” that stand in the way of pro claiming the Red Sox the world's champions in advance of the game. The advance wagering makes the Red Sox the favorites. Not being in the wagering business and hav ing no desire to make a wager, I am not impressed by that. Wager ing means nothing, except that the majority of the people who want to wager favor a certain ball club. Since the majority of the people are not going to play in the world’s championship games I refuse to be awed or refuse to believe that the Red Sox are overwhelming favor ites in the big series. If Joe Wood wins the first game I think the Red Sox should be the favorites. If Wood pitches and Red Sox are defeated in that first game, then I would not want to have much of my money strung on them. The first game of a world's series is always a big factor in determin ing the winner. It did not hold good last yoar, but it has been the general rule that the team that took the first grabbed the bunting em blematic of the highest honors that can be won on the diamond. The first game this year is going to be of more importance than ever be fore, in my opinion. Opener in Big Battle Means Much. If Wood can get the first game the Red Sox will have the edge. Wood is a strong fellow, a man who can come back and t if he can start with a win he should be able to duplicate and probably make it three during the series. In my opinion he is the twirler that will have to bear the brunt of the work. If he gets away with a lose the Red Sox will suffer a tremendous handicap. In fact, it is difficult to over estimate the damage that would be done the chances of the Red Sox should Wood be beaten in the ini tial contest. Not only would the Indian Summer Concert The following program will be ren dered by Prof. Fred Wedemeyer’s band of twenty-five pieces at the second of the series of Indian Summer concerts at Piedmont Park, Sunday afternoon, Oc tober 6th. 3:30 to 5:30. 1. March. “Caesar’s Triumphal,” Mitchell. 2. Overture, “William Tell,” Rossini. 3. Paraphrase, “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” Langey. 4. Selection from “Carmen,” Bizet. 5. American Sketch, “Down South,” Myd dleton. INTERMISSION. 6. Waltzes, “Beautiful Blue Danube,” Strauss. 7. Selections from “Pink Lady,” Caryll. 8. “Oh. You Little Bear,” (new), Billy Van. 9. Selection, “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Doni zetti. 10. Rag Sketch, (a) “Gaby Glide,” Hirsch; (b) “Oh. You Beautiful Doll.” Moret. IL Finale, “Star Spangled Banner.” Red Sox be put under a heavy handicap so far as the remainder of the games are concerned, but their playing would be affected. It is all right to alk of “game” ball clubs. I think that the Red Sox are one all rigit. I'm quite certain that every -nan on that team is a courageous ball player, otherwise the Boston 'ellows would not have won so eisily in our league. Here is what I am getting at. The Red Sox have unbounded faith in Wood. He has been almost un beatable this season. They are convinced that he will hive all the better of the Giants. N>w, if the New Yorkers succeed in orerthrow ing Wood, then the contdence of the Red Sox will be shattered and they will find it difficult to play with the same dash that thiy would have shown had their idol won his game. Will Be No Runaway Face. On the other hand, if Wood should get away to a gooc start and win not only will the Rtd Sox have the advantage so far as ictual games are concerned, but the tonfi dence which the fellows hat in Wood at the start will be increged and heightened until they will be unable to see how they can be licked. They will play with greaer dash and confidence than ever be fore, and a team possessing t.e playing strength of the Red So, reinforced by confidence, forms . mighty tough combination to beat That is my reason for saying that it all depends upon Wood. If he can win, fine for the Red Sox. If he loses the opening battle, then it’s fine for the Giants, because, in my opinion, the New Yorkers will be well on their way toward the world’s championship. From which it may be gathered that I am not among those who think that the Red Sox are going to run away with that world’s championship flag. I wouldn't want to predict the number of games that it will go, but I don’t mind saying that I think the Boston lads will have their hands full, with their big chance coming right at the first day.