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1912JDNAHYEAR
FOR CHAMPION
FIGHTERS
By Ed. W. Smith.
rpHE rear 1912 will go down
I Into sporting history as one
of the most disastrous ever
known a.t far as the upste of pugil
istic Idols, champions and near
eharnpinnr is concerned. Two
world’s champions had their titles
taken away from them anti eight
mope champions of restricted ter
ritory were upset and beaten, al
though some of them did not lose
their titles through the defeats.
When the word “disastrous” is
used it is merely from the view
point of the defeated men. Os
course the year will he found en
rirely enjoyable by the fortunnte
men who upset the champions. But
the defeat of a champion usually is
disastrous to the general betting
public, which invariably makes it a
point of backing the man on top.
Wolgast Leads Disaster.
The biggest u|>set of the year, of
course, was the trimming handed
out to Ad Wolgast bj Willie
Ritchie, the San Francisco star.
Little less surprising was the de
feat of Abe Attell at the hands of
Johnny Kilbane for the feather
weight title.
Then there was the defeat of
Georges Carpentier, the FYanch
middleweight star, who claimed the
championship of Europe, at the
hands of Billj' Papke.
Tills followed the defeat by Car
pentier of Jim Sullivan, the Eng
lish middleweight champion.
Matt Wells, champion of Eng
land’s lightweights, was compelled
to hand over his title to Freddie
Welsh, from whom he won it a year
ago.
Jim Sullivan, . hampion of Eng
and, succumbed to .lack Harrison
in a battle for the English middle
weight title.
McGoorty Whips Two,
Harrison came to America seek
ing fresh honors, but wae knocked
out In a punch by Eddie McGoorty.
Arthur Evorndon lost his title as
weftarwaight champion of England.
Dave Smith, Australian middle
ond light-heavyweight champion,
was knocked out in leas than two
minutes by Eddie McGoorty.
Digger Stanley was beaten for
the bantamweight championship of
England.
Billy AV ells. English heavyweight
hampion, was knocked out by Al
Palser in New York. Wells, how -
ever. Is still champion of England,
as if Jack Harrison. I’nder the
rules pi*ei ailing in England no
i>ody but an Englishman can ti'ln
and hold one of the Lord Ixmsdale
belts, emblematic of the titles in
the different classes in that eoun
irx
Year Is at an End.
Smee there a . no more big tights
,<-)iodu’ed between now and the
(1-st of January. It is .-ofc to call
lho fist :■• year at an end.
In ills •u-sirir the change ~r own
■ship of titles, one can not fee 1
anything but elation, no matter
how one i • i «sack up in t c mat
I.’ of sentiui.-'iit or riendlin. -s for
this man o that one. T:« one
point that stands out more sharply
i han «n\ other Is tuat a constant
change of tit', is an xeellent thing
for the game of boxing.
I: serves as a matter <>f • i cour
agi nent to the young boxer coming
up and shows him tha there al
ways is a chan • if he will attend
carefully to his knitting and not
stray from lb. beaten path of so
brie'j ami endfator.
Public Likes Changes.
I: stimulates the publi. . wl.ivh
■ i ris th. encourage, ent <>f ,< fir.an
naturr to a.i pug.ii tic . iicoun-
I he-..- - ij. soniethinc
r. ( w to look forwa to It iy :i |,
Ia 11 a g>r< «a i ■ • w.v l*
i Crackers, Pelicans, Lookouts
And Barons Will Be in Pennant
Huntin’ 13; They Spent Money
By Percy H. Whiting.
r|x HE teams that will make the
j race for the Southern league
pennant in 1913 are Atlanta
(don't smile), Birmingham. New
Orleans, and probably Chattanooga.
These are likewise the ones which
will probably be in the hunt the
year after and the year after that.
Os course, not all of them will be
in the hunt. But one or two of
them will be. And most of the pen
nants will be divided among these
teams.
The reason is just this: Those
are the teams which spend money
for players. And in the long chase
they will take a majority of the
pennants
Time was when anybody, with a
team of kids, could win the pennant
in this league. Newt Fisher did it
twice running, with nothing at all
to heli> him but his big catching
mitt and Ed Abbatticchlo.
Times have changed now. Every
thing costs more. Newt Fisher used
io have a little old ball park in
Nanhvillo that be mostly patched
together himself at odd times. It
was the one dl*y goods box stand
of the league. Every winter Newt
would buy another consignment of
goods boxes, haul them down to the
park himself, get out his trusty
saw and hammer, and tinker away
all winter. Usually he built a lit
tle addition to the bleachers. It
didn't cost money, except for the
nails, and now and then there was
neeei for it.
A park like that wouldn't attract
a crowd of boys for a grammar
school game now. Parks of to’dby
must be handsome 1 , big structures
The modern ones are steel and con
crete. They cost n keg of money.
Ball players could be had for a
song ten years ago. Now the) cost
thousands. Railroad fares haven't
veiried much, but players today ex
pect to travel ns luxuriously as rail
road president And ds so ho
tels —they an more expensive now.
and the ball players demand that
they stop at the best.
So it costa money to run a ball
team, more than fans dream.
Os course, it stands to reason
that the teams that spend the most
money will, year in and year out.
get the best teams. Os course, it
doesn't always follow. The last
two Atlanta teams cost a mint, and
both finlsh<wl—well, you all know
where. But in a long string of years
the expenditure of Hist amount of
money will bring a team that will,
ts not win pennants, at least stick
up around the top.
M »’•
'J' HE teams that air spending the
money foi players your after
year, are Atlanta. Biriningham. New
Orleans and. at present. Chatta
nooga
The ttlnn'c i lul> has .ihvai
spont money. And ns .< result the
grand consolidated standing for the
life of the league gives it •> coin!
place.
The New Orleans elnh I n- been
another willing spender. It ba fin
is'ned first three tinu hi twohe
years, and ha- been consistently ill
the running.
The Birmingham chib was not al
ways run on its present lavish
scale. But after it got going h
finished first, fifth, last, sex.utli.
second, third and first
Last year it was the willingness
o shoot a eouf it of thousand at
one clip which can the llarons
their pennant. Tie Cincinnati club
put Almeld.: on the imnket. Tie
ptlci 'ias «te p. hut tliai didn't
hot:: . Iti.-k \\ oo a ar.
"Buy ll'vi'i l„ ' ' ■ -I y.t .
Mo'.yy b.mgo
11 >. I I I ... 1 ... r
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1912
addition to the Baron team that
made a pennant possible. Without
Almeida's batting the Barons would
hardly have finished better than
third.
Since O. B. Androvs lias had the
Chattanooga club, he has shown
himself a good spender. And thus
far it hasn’t netted him anything.
The average standing of the club
since he has had It has been a shade
worso than fifth. But if he sticks
at it long enough and if he will be
content to sign the checks and to let
the managers manage, he will begin
to make a showing.
* ♦ »
lurOW, consider the case of Mem
' phis. Back in the old days a
game lot of spenders owned the
club. And after two failures it won
the pennants of 1908 and 1904. The
following year the backers, under
the direction of Lew Whistler, went
the limit. They spent a keg of
money, going further over the sal
ary limit than any Southern league
club ever went, before or since. The
money was injudiciously spent,
and tije Whistlers did
not even get in the first division.
Then the old hackers, sore at fhls
, fact and wearied of a tight with the
papers, sold out Since President
Coleman has been in charge the
money does not appear to have
been lavished on the team. Every
body speaks of Mr. Coleman as a
good spender and all that. But the
team doesn't show it. He has a
good manager. He lihs the same
chances at a lot of players that
other managers do. But he doesn't
get them. In consequence, the Tur
, ties haven’t been In the race since
1908, and never will he again until
some money is turned loose.
The Mobile team, under the wise
direction of Mike Finn, pulled one
of those occasional miracles last
year and made a good race with a '
cheap team. It Is done now and
then. Finn's uftiltations with the
Giants helped him. In the long run,
however, the Mobil< team will not
be heard from often. The city is
small, the baseball owners are not
good spenders, and you can't make
bricks without straw (or at least
they say you can't. I never tried.)
Il takes money to buy winners,
however, and Mobile isn't given to
-pending money for baseball.
The Montgomery club has been
an in-and-outer. Some year money
lias been spent for it. More often
it has not. The backers of tile club
have found, io their not Inconsid
erable sorrow, that the Montgom
eryites will not support a winning
team. And now the franchise is
on the market. If the team goes to
t-ittle Rock, it will be a steady
loser, for they don't believe in
spending money for ball clubs over
in that burg.
Nashville is another town which
isn't destined to have a club until
something is done to ease a little
money out of the pocketbooks of
the baseball folks. Back In 1908,
a .vet) of miracles which found
Mem).fils third. Montgomery fourth.
Mobile fifth, Atlanta sixth ami
l.«■•. Xa -h\ 111® aon
. pennant. Bill Bernard did It
with a cheap team. How he did
It nobody pretends to say. The
! next year iht Nashville team made
i good race with a cheap team.
I'h« ast fKo years it lias not been
dangerous and owed what little life
it showed to the superlatively good
managing of Bill Schwartz. Some
day they will wake up to them
selves in that town and spend
some money. When they do. they
will discover that it's a good ball
town and d« sc \e- .very cent they
-pent on it
INTERXATIOXAL OPENS APRIL o
I Nl-.W Y'.ltK 1 if. 2‘ The Ititerr.ation
I '• -.-,.5. . v j|| Xvi-tl
l.i i." s. !i>. itle -will Is ad.vne-1 at a
LW ME TH
OUITBASEBALL
IF W IS CUT
CLEVELAND. Dec. 24.—Larry
Lajoie, one of the greatest
ball players that ever graced
the diamond, may quit the game
for which he has done so mfleh.
The mighty second baseman had a
contract with the Cleveland Naps
which expired at the close of last
season, and It is stated here that
t he management of the club Intends
to cut Larry’s salary.
Prominent basebajl “fans” in this
city who ar® close friends of Lajoie
say that he would not stand for a
reduction in salary. Larry would
retire from the game rather than
play ball for less money than he re
ceived last season.
Lajoie is well off financially, and
he does not have to worry a great
deal about the high cost of living.
Larry has been classed with the
leading men in the game for many
years and has always received a
fat salary. He has saved his money
and has invested it in safe business
enterprises. The result is that he
is now able to laugh at the powers
that be In the Cleveland club.
It is rumored here that Ole Ole
son. who covered shortstop last
year, will take Lajoie's place at
second base if the big- Frenchman
refuses to report.
$15,000 BID: $20,000
ASKED FOR BILL TEAM
LITTLE ROCK. ARK., Dec. 24.--Little
Rock business men and baseball enthu
siasts, at a mass meeting vesterday, au
thorized President W. M Kavanaugh, of
the Southern league, to offer 515,000 for
the league franchise, held by Richard Til
lis. of Montgomery.
President Kavanaugh secured an option
on the Montgomery membership, but it
was unanimously decided at the meeting
that the price asked —$20,000 -was ex
cessive because of the few players re
tained by Montgomery
Assurances have been given bv the
other clubs in the league that the trans
for of the Montgomery franchise to Lit
tle Rock wrnuld be agreeable.
SEWANEE ELEVEN WILL
PLAY TECH AND GEORGIA
SEWANEE. TENN . Dec 34 The Se
wanee fotoball schedule for 1913 follows:
October 4—Morgan prep school at Se
wanee.
October 11—University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga.
October 18- Georgia Tech at Atlanta.
October 25—University of Texas at Dal
las, Tex. (probable).
November I—University of Chattanooga
at Sewanee.
November B—University of Georgia at
Sewanee.
November 15- University of Alabama at
Birmingham.
November 27—Vanderbilt at Nashville.
RICHIE RECEIVES SI,OOO
BONUS FROM CUBS OWNER
CHICAGO, Dec. 24. —Pitcher Louis
•Richie, of the Chicago National league
wlub. will receive a Christmas check for
s 1.000 from the club for winning more
than 60 per cent of his games last sea
son. President Murphy promised Richie
8500 if he would exceed that average in
1911. hut Richie missed the mark bv a
few points The offer was repeated a
the beginning of last season, in addition
to ttie SSOO that Iznils failed to obtain in
1911.
Richie is visiting his teammate. James
Lavender, at Montezuma. Ga.
HIGHLANDERS PICK UP
THREE N. Y. SEMI-PROS.
NEW YORK. Dec. 24.-Secretary Davis,
of ttie New York American league club,
has announced that three young senil
professlonals. J. Finley. I’. Martin and
.1. t'rtiin. ha<i Signed contracts for next
season. Finley, of this city, and Orton,
from Jersey City, are infielders, and Mar
tin. of Brooklyn, is a pitcher. The trio
will get a trial on tn» spring training
trip and will probabl) be fanned mtr for
proper seasoning,
BRITTON GETS ONLY DRAW
IN BATTLE WITH AHEARN
XEM YORK. Dec 21 A draw was
the he-- , that Jack Krittoi . .f Chicago
Could get in his tou-rom,.' bout with
Young Ahearn. Bim.khii p a
fa-ft. da .Tine tight
“Man Can Be Taught Football
InTwoSeasons;Baseball Takes
. Vastly Longer,” Says Heisman
By J. W. Heisman.
THE varsity football season is
over for another year, but
this does not mean that the
colleges have shut up show and
are peddling no more -football
wares. On the contrary, there Is
hardly a college in the South that
Is not busy with its training of
class teams, and every Saturday
witnesses the completion of a
couple more rounds in the inter
class series of each college.
As there are about five class
teams each year to one varsity
team it follows that while interest
in class ball is not so intense or
high strung as in varsity ball, yet
It is more widely diffused. Also, it
may be taken for granted that dur
ing this class season a far larger
number of students are making a
personal study and trying to mas
ter the science of football than is
the case during the regular varsity
season.
For this reason I will write,
briefly of the elements which enter
into the development of a success
ful football player. Later I shall
treat the subject from the stand
point of the team. These articles
may not be of much interest to lay
men, but they- should be of some
slight value to participants in class
football games.
They Have to Begin Some Time.
I find that many well built fel
lows are diffident about coming out
for football, on the ground that
they never played before. .They
forget that everybody had to make
a start once upon a time, and that
with a very large number of our
best players that start was never
made until after the man entered
• college, playing first, perhaps, upon
his class team.
Now. it takes a deal longer time
to become an expert baseball play
er than to become a good football
player. Many young men know
how long it takes to develop base
ball skill, but they don't know that
they can nearly all become fair
players with one season of football
“scrubbing. ' and good ones with
two seasons. That is why they
haven't the heart to come out for
the game. Any well built man is
justified in going in for class foot
ball, even if he has never tackled
the game before.
I will now set down a table show
ing the natural elements which en
ter into the composition of foot
ball players. Counting a finished
player (a lara avis, indeed) as be
ing possessed of a total of 100
points of playing excellence, we
may assign to each element a rela
tive value about as follows:
Expedience 30
Natural athletic ability 15
Grit ! . 15
Weight 15
Speed 15 15
.Ruggedness 10
Tetal 100
The question of general intelli
gence and mental adaptability en
ters in. to be sure, but 1 have con
sidered it to be included in expe
rience and natural athletic ability.
Weight Is Not All.
It is generally supposed that any
heavyweight can become a good
football p ayer. How fallacious this
supposition is may be seen by re
ferring for a moment to the above
table. A perfect mark from the
standpoint of weight would count
for but 15 points out of a total of
109. If a man has had no expe
rience whatever we must ’op off a
lull 30 per cent of his chances for
becoming a varsity player in hts
first yei. \nd then again, there
e plenty of men who have played
lootbal. 'Vine time who weigh
a-plonu who have umlmibi ■ ' 2 it
and ruggedness, and who may even
have a fair amount of speed. And
yet they never make the varsity.
Why? Because they were born with
no talent whatever for athletics;
they have no natural athletic abil
ity. Io the eye they may look jyst
as well as a Jim Thoipe or a
Brickley; but the fact remains that
they are not men of athletic mold,
and so we have to pass them up.
Natural ability includes a man's
mental and physical aptitude for
the game. There are different kinds
of athletes. Some excel at tennis,
some at baseball, others at track
work. Each game has its peculiari
ties, and in football some of these
are not easily mastered.
Ordinarily, a man who has a fair
amount of speed and has mastered
The elements of baseball to a rea
sonable degree quickly learns how
to straighten out his football kinks.
But he improves more rapidly still
if he knows anything of boxing
and, particularly, of wrestling.
What “Ruggedness” Means.
By ruggedness is meant a man’s
ability tq stand punishment and
come back for more. It also means
a more or less natural immunity
from injuries. No man can be
come a great player who is always
getting hurt, no matter whether
these regrettable accidents can be
said to be his own fault or not. To
be laid up most of the time on the
hospital list means not only that
a man's fire and "pep” are bound
to be sapped in the end, but that he
is of no real use to his team be
cause so seldom available. Football
"ruggedness” calls for a hardy con
stitution, much power of endurance
and great vitality. It also takes
the mental poise that disregards
trifling- injuries and which can sup
port even great pain with fortitude.
Football takes a “husky.” and a
husky is something more than a
mere “big fellow;" I have seen
some grand “LITTLE huskies."
Grit counts for quite as much as
anything else except experience:
and 1 don't know but I have given
it too low a valuation. With no
grit at all, one could get no further
in football than he could if as
sessed of no weight at all. Most
players that'we see on varsities do
have grit (else they would never
have been ab|e to make their var
sity), and so we don’t have so many
opportunities to compare and con
trast players with one another in
this regard as we have when
matching up their speed, weight
and experience. But let a fellow
get out on the field with “cold feet”
and the most inexperienced girl in
the grandstand can tell what's
lacking in him almost as well and
as quickly as can the coaches—
that's a sufficient indication how
necessary ft is that this ingredient
•hould not bo lacking in the player's
composition.
Weight and Speed Help.
The value of speed, indeed the
utter necessity for it In football. 1
presume every one can comprehend
for themselves. And weight, it
must not be overlooked, is a most
valuable asset. Other things being
equal, the heavier man must always
get the place in football.
Much more might be said on
every one of these subjects, but the
above is sufficient to indicate to a
novice what lie needs to make good
in the game. If he has only grit,
natural athletic ability and some
ruggedness in his makeup, he ean
safely undertake tiie sport, for
speed, weight and experience may
all he artificially and subsequently
acquired Indeed, they generally
are acquired by steady participation
In. the game. And persistency In
the game is bound also so increase
and improve the other ■ r.-. nat.
nr,,: . ’.merits .s v
PITCHERS FAVOR
NEW RATINE
SYSTEM
By Harry Glaser.
NEW YORK, Dec. 24.—Ban
Johnson’s announcement that
the American league will
adopt a new method of compiling
pitchers’ records Is being highly in
dorsed by the twirlers, many O s
whom have long protested against
the system in vogue. Just what
system will be employed to rat<-
the boxmen is not known, or at
least has not been divulged bj the
American league chieftain, who in
tends to seek the advice of expert
statisticians in finding a suitable
method.
That the present system fell*
short of giving a. true rating ha’
long been admitted and deplored by
baseball men throughout the land.
There have been numerous scheme?
devised to displace it, but the best
by far seems to be the one recently
tried by Secretary John Heydler, o
the National league, as a supple
ment to the old method, In which
the percentage is based on games
won and lost.
This new plari gives the pitcher a
rating on the average number of
runs earned off him. There is still
another figured on the percentage
of bits allowed per inning, but of
the two the first named seems to
be the better and this will prob
ably be adopted.
Secretary Heydar’s double rat
ing was for the purpose of com
parison between systems, and It
showed clearly that the good pitch
ers with weak teams suffered In
prestige according to the old method
A comparative record of the
American league pitchers would
have shown that the Yankee pitch
ers suffered in this respect mor
than those of any other team the
past season. This was particularly
true concerning Ford. McConnel
and Warhop, although nearly all of
the staff had days when the team
kicked the game from under then
and for which they were charged
with a demerit in the records.
No set of twirlers were rated
worse than the Yankees in 1912, a
though it is admitted generally by
baseball men that they are boxmen
of no mean ability. Not one of
them had a percentage of .500. and
the three leading members. Ford
McConnell and Warhop. were cred
ited with winning about one-ihh'd
of their games.
Figured on the basis of earned
runs allowed by them, they wou !n
have been classed with the stars of
the winning teams, as the poor
playing of their teammates, whl
really marred their records. wou!<'
m»t affect their standing.
New System Welcomed.
Big George McConnell will glad
ly welcome the new system and
Ford and Warhop, too. prefer to '
rated that way., McConnell took
part in twenty games. Os these li’
was credited with winning only
eight. To say that six of
twelve losses were in no way <iu f
to his work is a conservative es'->
mate, nor did he gain many. r
any. of the eight victories for
which he Is credited that were un
deserved or due entirely to t' l ’’
good playing of his teammates.
Tots Warhop finished the season
with a percentage of .345. being
charged with nineteen losses in
twenty-nine games. Rated by an)
other system. Tots could not su -
fee much worse, and it is appa'
ent to any one who has folio"’’
his work of the past year clos 1 '
that he deserves to be listed mu
further up, ip he doubtless wor
be by the new method. The sai
applies to Ford and others of
Yankee team, as well a.- to
pitchers of the other weak auu c
• iganizc-'.l teams that engi'S ,( ‘
112'. twunuut race.