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"KARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN BASEBALL AND OTHER SiPoRTS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3. 1013. * D US ATHLETES Ralph Craig, Dual Winner of the Sprint at Stockholm, Is the First to Quit Sport. R ETIRING from track and Held athletics when wearing cham pionship crowns has become a custom in this country since the Olympic championships were decided at Stockholm last summer. First, it was Ralph C. Craig, the hero of the two sprinting events at the Swedish capital, who vowed that he was through with the spike shoes. His example, was followed by many of the other men who gained victories in their respective contests, including Charlie Reidpath and Harry Babcock, the 400-meter and pole vault cham pions. Both of these athletes, as Craig, had several years more of high-class competition within their frames. Reidpath and Craig felt it necessary to retire because of business engage ments, while Babcock preferred tak ing up rowing, at which he has proven himself to be an expert, being a mem ber of the New York Athletic Club eight-oared crew which won two races en the Harlem River Memorial Day, and won the senior eight-oared shell event on the Charles River on July 4. Sheridan Too Heavy. There are only a few of the cham pions who quit in the heyday of their glory, Martin J. Sheridan a few years ago being one of the first of this country’s- star athletes to retire. His retirement was due to taking on much weight, which made him slow 1 at his specialty of tossing the discus. It; was thought with Sheridan aban doning athletics that this country Would be' without a discus thrower However, the advancement which had been made in all departments of ath letics also marked Sheridan's special contests. After Shpridan, Thorpe loomed up. His confession of having been a pro fessional \4hen making records not only c&used his wonderful figures in all-around competition to be erased from the record book, but put a blur on amateur, athletics of this country. The incident, however, was taken with good grace all over the world. Thomson to the Fore. The coming to the front of Fred C. Thomson, the Californian, who while at Princeton a month ago and at Los Angeles recently, accomplished rec ords in all-around competition that were better than those of Sheridan and Thorpe, has shown to the world that within the amateur ranks there is an athlete superior to the Indian. The giving up of competitions by John Paul .Tones, the Cornell world’s record-holder for a mile, caused re gret, for it is the belief of those close ly identified with track athletics that Jones was capable of bettering his mark of 4 minutes 14 2-5 seconds. Jones made a wonderful record as a college athlete. His experience was confined to his college activity rath er than to any athletic club. The Cornell man was a wonder,- able to run a half-mile in 1 minute 53 4-5, and step five miles in record-breaking form. Taber Going Abroad. (iorman S. Taber, the Brown Uni versity man, who won every mile race he competed in outdoors this year, with the exception of the intercolle giate mile, which included the A. A. U. mile championship, has decided that he will not do any running until he reaches England, when he will be eligible to compete for Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. Taber's improvement has been gradual, and not until the last two years did he show 7 his best form. It is believed that he is possessed of greater speed, and that he will show the Englishmen a better burst of speed than that which nearly brought him home a victor in the Swedish Olympic 1,500-meter event, which found Jackson first at the finish. With the going out of so many champions. A. L. Gutterson. the Bos ton Athletic Association man, whose performance at the Stockholm games last summer in the running broad jump was wonderful, also has thrown aside his shoes. Silk Stockings May Be Worn in Baseball Newspaper Editor Wears ’Silkies’ While Twirling for New Bedford Nine. Oh, Yes; Oyster Bay Is on the Old Shell Road • • • • • • • • • • • • By “Bud” Fisher WhatTeam Had Greatest Infield? +•+ Ball Players Discuss Question By W. J. McBeth. N SW YORK, Aug. 2.—One of the great baseball wonders of the present generation is the infield of the Athletics. For the past season or two it has come to be known as “Connie Mack’s $100,000 quartet.” This redoubtable inner line has drawn its mead of praise. Some enthusiasts have gone so far as to declare it the greatest collection ever developed by the game. There is no denyinr the fact that the in,ner defense of Connie Mack’s pennant trust is of sufficient class to suit the fancy of the most discerning public. Undoubtedly the great Ath letic four overtop anything in the game at present for all round effi ciency. To say, however, that they are the greatest the game has ever known is making a very strong state ment, and one that, though hard to refute, is open to widespread argu ment. The entire Athletic infield is young and vigorous, and not likely to pass out for some years. But pass it must with time, and then whatever infield that future period when Mclnnis, Col lins, Barry and Baker are no more happens to possess the most class of will undoubtedly be awarded the ped estal above the sacred memory of the fallen kings. Sport is, after all, a law unto itself. Sentiment figures not the least. The great following lives in the present, leaving the dead past to the memories of Its declining vet erans. • • • T O begin with, there is absolutely no manner in which just comparisons between past and present may be made. Baseball has progressed. Its evolution has entailed many changes in every phase of the game. The rules are not what they were. The ball itself is not constructed exactly the same. Present day players have an equipment of artificial aids un dreamed 1n the days of a number of the old-timers still with us. It is as idle to make comparisons between the past and present of baseball as it would in any line of sport or life or work. It is easy enough to say that John L. Sulliva,n in his prime would have knocked the everlasting daylights out of Jack Johnson as he stood the day he conquered Jeffries. Whether he could or not furnishes a fine subject for debate. But how' prove anything? Unfortunately Sullivan and Johnson were of different periods. The only possible manner in which the Athletic quartet might gain such distinction as some admirers would thrust upon it would be for it to main tain its dignity on the field of action against the classy aggregations of the past. That, of course, is somewhat impracticable. But for a little argu ment, we do not have to turn back history’s page very far to get an in field that would compare quite favor ably with that of Philadelphia. How about that old Cub machine—Chance, Evers, Tinker and Steinfeldt? Eight years ago it was heralded as the greatest defensive machine of all his tory, just as some other collection will Hey, boys, what’s the very latest thing in silk stockings? Nope, vou’re wrong—it’s baseball. Yep, baseball players are wearing silk sox, at least in New Bedford. Frpm the Whaling City comes an entertaining yarn of a newspaper ed itor (New Bedford editor), who formed^ a baseball team and elected himself pitcher. He came into the box wearing a pair of silk stockings which his wife had bought for her self and you can bet that Friend Wife never knew' that Hubby had bor rowed the “silkies.” The editor-pitcher hurled airtight ball, won the game and was the ad miration of all for his appearance in both the box and the sox. The sox were white—when they were bought. What color they were when the editor arrived home and what Mrs. Editor said to him are not contained in the dispatches. PAPKE RULES FAVOrTtE IN SCRAP WITH CLABBY be hailed eight years hence, maybe. Personally, I do not think the Cub infield was greater than that of the Athletics, but some very wise baseball men and players disagree with me. If I cared to argue, 1 should concede Connie Mack’s the palm on hitting pow’er. Collectively, the Athletics have more speed than the renowned Cubs, are less flashy, perhaps, in the field, but every bit as strong defensively. TOHN J. M'GRAW *ls a great ad- J mirer of the Athletics. He is broad minded enough to realize that true comparison is out of the question, save perhaps with the Cubs. I do not think Mac’s opinion has changed a gTeat deal since the world’s series of 1911. I saw him shortly after the final game, and he was loud in his praises of his conquerors. “I do not know whether the Athletic infield played above its true form in this series.” said McGraw. “but if not, it is one of the most wonderful collec tions I have ever seen. I will go so far as to say that, in my opinion, Col lins and Barry form the greatest de fensive pair I have ever seen around second. They are so fast you can not cross them on the hit-and-run play. Neither starts to cover until the ball Is hit.” * ♦ • A DISCUSSION of infields came up recently at the Polo Grounds dur ing an idle afternoon. It befuddled rather than cleared the atmosphere. But during the fanning bee a number of bright infields were uncovered that w’ould do pretty w’ell against the Ath letics or any other company. “We had a pretty good infield over in Detroit back in the late eighties,” ventured Dan Brouthers. “I do not think there was ever a greater bunch of sluggers than myself on first, Rich ardson at second. Rowe at short, and White at third. I do not believe that anyone w r ho saw us will attempt \o deny that w r e could outbat the pres ent Athletic infield by about 50 points without trying very hard. We may not have been as fancy in the field, but we got away with that end of the game as well as anyone of the time.” “And I guess.” cut in Wilbert Rob inson, “that that Baltimore bunch didn't have to take a back seat from anything past or present, did it, Mac? I would stack up Doyle at first. Reitz at second, Jennings at short, and Mc Graw at third against anything that ever w’ore spikes in every depart ment of the game.” “Pittsburg wasn’t so slow,” piped George Moreland, the famous statisti cian. who always has to put in a good word for Smoketown. "Some dandy little infield I should say—Bransfleld at first, Ritchey at second. Wagner at short, and Leach at third.” “As for that,” said Tom Lynch, who was hailed for an opinion, “you are all entitled to your opinions. And I hope I am not walking on anybody’s corns when I mention the old Boston ar ray—Fred Tenney at first. Bobby Lowe at second, Herman Long at short, and Jimmy Collins at third. Think of someone to beat that bunch if you can.” There was no attempt at rebuttal Indian Lad Proves Marvel at Pitching Crow Skin, Only Seventeen, Unbeat en, Fans Twenty-five Men in One Game. DENVER, Aug’. 2.—Jimmy dabby, the Milwaukee middleweight, and Billy Papke, of Kewanee, Ill., have been matched for a 10-round go at the Denver Athletic Club on August 11. Experts consider this as even a match as could possibly be pulled off. Papke, however, is a favorite by a shade. GUNBOAT SMITH MAY BOX PELKY ON TURKEY DAY SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 2.—Indi cations are that Arthur Pellty, Tom my Burns’ heavyweight battler, and Gunboat Smith will do battle in this city on Thanksgiving Day. Burns to- ray announced that he would have his man ready on Turkey Day and that Smith would b“ the foe. the match going to the highest bidder. MILES CITY, MONT., Aug. 2.— There Is a young Crow Indian in the Standing Rock reservation by the name of "Crow Skin,” and the far Western tans are watching him every day. , Crow Skin is onlv 17 years old and has never been away from the reserve to profit by watching other hurlers shoot them over, and all that he has Is everything but a weak heart. In a recent game against a South Dakota town he struck out 25 men. and while they were not big league players, most of them have been playing on pretty fast bush teams. Crow Skin has never been beaten thus far, and unless he lets up on his smoke the' chances are he never will be, until he gets into company that sees em coming over. 111=1 catcher is the reservation phi - frician, a big man and an ex-college player, who declares that the >oung brave has the fastest ball that he has ever seen, and that means Johnson, Smoky Joe Wood and all the rest. Crow Skin will not be allowed hy Uncle Sum to leave the reservation until he is 21. REGATTA ON HUDSON AUG. 9. NEW YORK. Aug. 2.—The Hudson River Yacht Club will hold its an nual regatta on Saturday, August 9. The craft will assemble at the club house at North River and Ninety-sec ond street at 2 p. m. Prominent Nen Yorkers who are members of the club will be on hand to watch their fa vorite yachts. Untrained Catchers Ruin Young Hurlers Inefficient Work of Backstops Has Cut Short Promising Careers of Many Pitchers. Brown Is Latest Foreign Invader +•*!• +•+ •{••r +•+ »i*t+ Pal Plans Match With Mehegan Youngster Was Once Sold to Hartford for One Dollar—Is Product of Chicago Lots. Several promising young spitball pitchers are believed to have had their careers in the majors ruined by the inefficient work of catchers. There have been cases where back stops have discouraged recruit twirl- ers of s*pitball ability because they either were afraid of the fast break ing, puzzling shoots or were too lazy to exert themselves overly much. There are several means whereby such catchers can injure the budding pitchers. The favorite method is to keep on signaling for curve balls. By continually throwing hooks a young ster’s arm is hurt and. before long, he is liable to lose control of his spitter entirely. Another method used is for the catcher to make a complaint to the manager, saying the pitcher can’t control his spitter, and he is com pelled to keep on calling for curves or fast ones. Then he can signal for spitters at the wrong time and make the kid look bad. There i.« too much of this going on at present, and it is unfair to some of the new men Just breaking in. In competent catchers can do a lot of harm, and it’s difficult to detect them The recruit twirlers seldom have i the nerve to tell their troubles to the manager for they fear the catcher’s I word will be taken before their own. S T. LOUIS, MO., Aug. 2.—His name is reminiscent of the French; he looks like an Irish man and his father and mother, na tives of Germany, emigrated to America and settled in Chicago when that place was almost a village. He’s Walter Leverenz, the south* paw, and one of the classy bunch of young twirlers who will make of the St. Louis Americans a great team in a few years. Leverenz joined- the Browns at Waco last spring, coming from Los Angeles, of the Pacific. Coast Leag le. It was up in Chicago that he learned to play ball—on the lots— and he’s strong for the lots as a training place for ball players. “You’ve got to get out and hustle; you pick up what you can; you mix with every kind of players, good, bad and worse, and that’s where you get the experience, also,” declares Wal ter. “Of course, there are good play ers who come from the colleges, but they are not self-taught like % the lot boys. The college boy has some one to teach him to play ball, some one to look after him, some one to show him how. and when to play. And then he plays against the same sort of men, taught by others. It’s differ ent on thfe lots. There it’s a ques tion of the survival of the fittest, and that’s a rule that goes and goes hard. The lot player doesn’t get any cod dling. Those that survive usually know how to play ball. * * * ’YE been playing ball as far back A as I can remember. When I was a kid at school I helped my father in his blacksmith shop in Chi cago, and you can bet I put in some hard licks of work there. It gave me lots of strength, too, and I don’t regret my work there. I learned the. blacksmith trade, but I found time to play ball. Who doesn’t if he real ly wants to play?” W T alter organized the first regular lot team he played on and he was the manager, captain, pitcher and lead- off batter, which was some job. Leverenz broke into organized baseball up in Hartford, Conn., and in 1909 helped the Hartford team win the only pennant the town had ever landed. Hartford for 30 years had had teams in the big leagues, and every other class of league, but be- forer 1909 it had never broken Into the flag-winnfhg rank. * • • <<TN 1908 Worcester loaned me to 1 Hartford,” said Walter. “There was some sort of deal arranged be tween the two clubs and a dollar was •passed to make the trade binding. Some of the fellows told me I was entitled to one-third of the money 1 brought, and I, not knowing the price, put up an indignant kick to Jesse i Burkett, who was running the Worces ter team, for my share of the coin. “ ‘Say, you sorter forgot me, didn’t you?’ I demanded of him. “‘Forgot you, how?” he came back. “ ‘I think I get some of the money In that Hartford deal,’ I said, in a businesslike way. ‘Just come across- with 33 1-3 per cent of the money I brought.’ “He eyed me a while without a smile and then, reaching in his pocket, drew out three times and** nickel. “ ‘Here you are, kid,’ he said. ‘If you insist on it you can have it. That’s a third of what you brought. Now, go out and give ypur frjepds a champagne supper, buy yourself a house and lot and settle down.’” • • • T OLD that he looked like an Irish man in spite of his German an cestry, Leverenz laughed. “My father and mother speak Ger man at home and they write to me in German. They live among the IrL c h in Chicago, and my father has so many Irish pals he speaks English with an Irish accent,” he said. Leverenz i* fond of the Pacific Coast, and he’s going out there to spend the winter. “The crowds out there, especially at Los Angelo 8 , are composed mostly of tourists. Of course, there is always a delegation on hand of the dyed-in- the-wool rooters.” he said. “But the major portion of the crowd at Los Angeles is composed of tourists, and they arc just as likely to root for the visiting team as tjie home team.” By Ed W. Smith. C HICAGO, Aug. 2.—Pal Brown is going to Australia to see If he can not attain an international reputation and incidentally add much to the Brown exchequer. There is little doubt that he will get plenty of reputation over there, for they will like him. But whether he will do very much in a money sense is quite an other matter. Returning fighters in the last year or so haven’t spoken highly of the game in Australia, though there is little doubt that real big matches draw exceptionally well. But the affairs of moderate strength do not draw any better than such matches would right here, and many of them not nearly as well. * * a 'T'HEY will like Pal in the Antipo- * des, because they have still many ideas of the virtue of the English style of milling. Pal is a clever chap. There isn’t a man in the country that can box more stylishly or go at a greater speed than this selfsame lad from Minnesota. Whether he can be classified as anything of a hitter or not is something else again, but w r e opine that Pal can get along well enough over there to get bj r what ever they have. Their greatest star just now is Hughey Mehegan, who holds the title of Australia. The class limit there for lightweights is 140 * pounds, and they usually expect a man of that poundage to dig right up into the middleweights. • * * pAL is going to take Jack Dotigh- 1 erty, the old Milwaukee welter weight, with him as companion and adviser. We don’t know who advised Pal to do this, but we’ll say right now' that Pal couldn’t have a wiser old skull along with him than this same cockney. I hark back to the days when Frank Mulkern had Jack under his wing, and Jack certainly looked every inch a champion. Golly, how that fellow could fight in those daya! But he went wrong in some way and dropped out of the game. But Just the same Jack absorbed a whole sack ful,of knowledge about the game while he was bruiting around, and, further, he can Impart this knowledge to oth ers. So Pal’s friends need not worry about hi.s handling while abroad, Of course. Jack Isn’t going to do any of the fighting—the fighter himself must stand all alone after the bell rings— but a cunning, crafty, quick-thinking second is about as invaluable a thing as a man can tote around with him. More power to the pair of them dur ing their coming trip! • • • r>ROW r N should worry, however, about one thing. He is liable to come back to this country a big wel terweight or a small middleweight Naturally this wouldn’t matter much, but it may In the case of Brown. There's money among the light weights, but there is nothing at all doing with the welters, and only a trifle now and then ia thrown to the middleweights. It is difficult to say w'hat makes the change, but the av erage American fighter who makes the round trip to Australia usually returns with from ten to twenty-five additional pounds that he can not ahakeo ff. That has been the rule with a great majority. The most star- tllng case was that of Johnny Thomp son, the Sycamore fighter, who left a lightweight and returned a light- heavy weight. GEORGE STOVALL OUT FOR BALANCE OF BALL SEASON ST. LOUIS, Aug. 2.—George Stovall may have to serve as bench manager, head coacher and director from the Mde lines for the remainder of the 1913 season. With both hands badly injured, the boss of the Browns may not play another game this year. For several weeks Stovall has been on first base occasionally, because he has been forced to get into the game to strengthen weaknesses in other de partments. Now he lias to bMd flu- advice of physicians and remain out of the game. Stovall’s paws are maimed. The palm of the right mitt is swollen, sev eral bone bruises making it almost impossible for him to close the hand. In the center of the palm I«» a bruise that resembles a pebble sticking on the inside of the skin, w'hile the ten dons are badly swollen DETROIT SECOND-SACKER OUT. DETROIT, MICH., Aug. 2.—Oscar Vitt, second baseman of th® Detroit American League baseball club, ia seriously ill with lagrippe here. His physician said his condition has not reached the critical stage and recov ery expected, but Vitt probably w ill be out of the game until fall. CATARRH or THE BLADDER' Ralland la 24 Hours K»ch On> /" \ ■tfe bewrsth* namo JfcT* V J Bmtxvr* of counterfeits KLEM ON WORLD BALL TOUR. It is reported that Bill Klein will be the National League umpire with the New York Nationals and Chicago Americans in their tour of the world 1 next winter. COMSTOCK IS ANOTHER ED WALSH, SAYS CANTILL0N MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 2.—Thxt Ralph Comstock, Toledo boy, w'ho is the star pitcher of the Minneapolis American Association baseball team. Is as good a spitball pitcher as Ed Walsh ever was is the belief of Man ager Joe Cantlllon of the Minneapolis club. Cantlllon made this statement last night. Comstock's s’irk showed so poorly at the opening of the sea son that he was released to the Minneapolis team of the Northern T.eague. He then resolved to pitch himself back into the bigger league, and he did. GRIFFITH TO RECALL AYER8. Washington, Aug. 2.—Griffith is thinking of yanking the string he has on ’Doc” Ayers, the big right-handed twirler. who has so far won 17 out of 20 games for Richmond, in the Vir ginia State League. One more win ning twirler and Griffith figures he can cop the pennant. OUR best play on the “19th.’ Tee off with a bite to eat, and follow through fj| with that incomparable after-golf refreshment- Budweiser From an Immaculate Plant The main plant of Anheuser-Busch re quires 110 separate buildings. It covers 142 acres, equal to70city blocks. 6,000 people are employed here and 1,500 others in branches. Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis M’ALEER REAL MANAGER. President Jim McAleer is said to attend more of his team’s games on the road than any other club owner Another thing that is said is that he is the real manager of tiie team, and not Carrigan. DROPSY SPECIALISTS (tvs qtiick relief usually from the first dess DU treselnc Symptoms rapid ly disappear. Swelling and short breath soon removed, often gives en tire relief In 15 to If days, A trie I treatmetA FREE hy mall. M. H. Qrern’s Son laa a. Atlanta. Oa. The Largest Plant of Its Kind in the World ‘THE OLD RELIABLE” Planters £ : BuA c* C ' c CAPSULES REMEDYforMEN AT DRUGGISTQ.OR TRIAL BOX BV MAIL 50. FROM PLANTER 93.HENRYST. BROOKLYN.NY. -BEWARE OF IMITATIONS