OCR Text |
Show How Do They Do It? A Close-up Sketch of Managers Pat Moran and Kid Gleason. By BILLY EVANS, American League Umpire lvn for first base to succeed Chase. A lot of people said Daubert wrs through, but Moran had faith in him. Ho secured, also from Brooklyn, Shortstop Kopf, who had been the property of the Cincinnati club, but hftd been disposer! of. Likewise he dug up Maurice Rath, who had spent a year or so in the navy. To a great many people that infield didn't look at all pennantish. On first was once a great player in the eyes of the critic, but one who had seen his best days. At second was Rath, who had been with hoth Chicago and Philadelphia in the American league, but had been sent back to The minors. At short was Kopf. whom Connie Mack had carried for three or four years, but who was sent to the minors, labeled Just a bit shy of the American league standard. All Moran did was to take this doubtful infleid, with a pretty fair outfloid, a good catching start and a promising pitching staff, and mold it into a pennant contender. I claim that is going some for one year. Seven Straight Wins. To my way of thinking, the brilliant start the Cincinnati club made in the National league race Just about made the aggregation. The club got away to seven straight wins, but even then didn't get much serious consideration. The lowing was regarded as more in the light of a Joke, and each victory usually got a big laugh, with a wonder when the crash would come, and the club would settle down to Its regular line of play. That start was just the thing to Inoculate Inocu-late into the players the germs of the Moran system. It made the players believe be-lieve they were as good a team as Pat insisted on telling them they were. At the end of that run of seven victories the club was satisfied it was a pood team. That spirit has pervaded the ranks of the Rods throughout the season. The play of the club is characterized by dash and the confidence of a great club. It is the same with Gleason. He has made the Sox believe in themselves. Gleason was satisfied when he took over the club that he had a strong aggregation. aggrega-tion. The thing that confronted him was to make the players entertain the same opinion. He early accomplished that feat, and the success of the Sox, like the Reds, in a great measure must be attributed to that fact. When the two clubs meet, it will be two teams with a sublime confidence confi-dence in iheir own ability. It remains to be seen which club will be able to retain its poi? in the crucial test. Gleason and Moran are bright baseball men. They are managers of good teams. They get the very best out of their materia!. ma-teria!. They know basehail and know how to impart the knowledge. But. after all, it is their personality that makes such a big part of their deserved success. HOW does he do it? The name of Pat Moran always suggests such a thought. He gave Philadelphia a pennant winner in his first year as a National Na-tional league manager. In other years his club niways was a contender. In his first year at Cincinnati he seems destined to repeat his Philadelphia success. What goes for Pr.t Moran applies to Kid Gleason of Chicago. In his first year as an American league leader, Oieaeon has upset the talent and the dope of all the critics. He looks like a sure winner at this stage of the race. Perhaps no one word can better describe the cases of Moran and Gleason than "personality." Both Gleason and Moran have oodles of it. The two leaders of the White Sox and Reds are a bit different Individuals. They have the happy faculty of smiling when things are breaking toughest, and that is some asset for a baseball leader. They are aggressive, and havo the way of imparting a like spirit to their athletes. Don't misunderstand tho word aggressive. It does not mean fighting the umpires. Moran and Gleason are a unit on that point. Both relieve fr.r better results are attained by fighting; the opposition and letting the umpires alone. You seldom read of a Chicago or Cincinnati player being ejected from the game, which means that each club Is always putting forth its strongest line-up. Harmony on the Reds and White Sox has been developed de-veloped to the highest degree, and, after all, "Old Man Harmony" is one of the biggest factors in any club. No team that was spilt into factions ever got sny-where sny-where in a pennant race. No Ironclad Rules. There are some major league managers who have ironclad rules about discipline and deportment that must bo adhered to under penalty of a heavy fine. There are no such rules on the Cincinnati and Chicago Chi-cago clubs. Moran and Gleason are on the square with their men. and they work along the theory that any player worth while will give them simllnr treatment in return. The honor system prevails at Cincinnati Cincin-nati and Chicago, and it is a big success. In another way Gleason and Moran differ dif-fer most emphatically from a great many other league managers. I know of some major league managers who associate with their players, in a close way, only during the progress of the game. At other times they hold the athietes aloof, believing that there must be a certain line drawn in order tlmt the player shall have the proper respect for the manager. man-ager. Moran and Gleason do not' work along these lines at all. A close relationship rela-tionship exists between both of these managers and their players. In the evening eve-ning it is rot an uncommon thing to see Moran and Gleason in the center of a group of players, discussing various phases of the fcarr.e. Most of the Chicago players regard Gason more in the light of a father than a manager. Ail have a wholesome respect for his physical strength, and r,.ny a laughable story is told by the Chicago players of Gleason and his razor strop. It is said that on several occasions, occa-sions, largely in a spirit of jest, he has soundly spanked sorr.o of the players, greatly to the enjoyment of a number of the others who looked on. On the Chicago club it is said that a threat to bring the raror strop Into play is a far more beneficial remedy than the suggestion sug-gestion of a fine. Managers Popular. One can get a pretty good idea of how a manager Jtands with his players by the remarks they make when someone speaks of their leader. Ask a Cincinnati or Chicago player what he thinks of Moran or Gleason. and it Is a thousand to one that most of the answers will be along this line: "He is the greatest follow In the world to work for." "Wl:v. I would play my head off fnr that fellow. The only way they can keep mo out of the game Is to cut off an arm or a l"g." "He Is the best fellow I ever worked for." "If a man can't play bail for him. he can't do it for anvone." "They don't make them anv better than him." "Give him a flftv-flftv effort and he will Just about give vou seventy-five and twenty-f.ve in return. If there is any of the best of it to be given, the player always gets the credit." . , , That is the wav the Cincinnati and Chicago plavers talk about their leaders. Moran and Gleason. When you get an expression of that sort, from the c.uo-house c.uo-house bov to tl'.a star, it is easy to see why the two clubs were a contender from the vorv start. There Is no knocking on the Rous and White Sox. There Is no undercurrent of displeasure between plnver and manager that very often exists ex-ists on major league clubs. Both aggregations aggre-gations are. Just one big, hnppy family. Gioason and Moran treat them all alike, they plnv no favorites. The mediocre piaver gels Just as much consideration from Pat and tho Kid as the star. It has proved to be the only system. It has done t ig things for both clubs. Moran Starts Working. When life harrier was sprung on the li10 pennant race no one gave much consideration con-sideration to Cincinnati and Chicago. True, Cincinnati had led tho league In batting the year previous, but that didn'tj get mtifh attention from the critics. It was regarded as a team that lacked balance, bal-ance, co-ordination. When Pat Moran was selected ns leader to succeed Christy Mathewson, he had what seemed Just a fair ball club. I say fair ball club, because it was very doubtful who would play the very vital positions of shortstop and first and second bat;os. In Heine Groh ho had one of the very best little thi'1 Hackers In tho business, busi-ness, but the other positions were In doubt. That Isn't a very pleasant prospect pros-pect for a manager Just taking charge of a new team. . On pap"r It didn't look much like a pennant contender. Then Moran started to work. ilo scciuh-1 Jake Daubert from Brook- |