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Show Butte Team's Owner Whose Thunder Bresnahan Steals "HONEST JOHN " M'CLOSKEY. BRESNAHAN GETS I CREDIT DUE fVlAC I Present Manager of Butte Team Did Much to Build Up H Cardinals. OWNERS INTERFERED TO I DETRIMENT OF THE CLUB H McCloskey Hopes to See St. Louis Near Top of the Per- H centage Column. , H With the 'fans of the entire country rooting enthusiastically for the St. Loula Cardinals In the National league race. Manngcr Roger Bresnahan is the most prominent man In baseball today He Is hnlled everywhere as one of the greatest of managers and Is given credit for hav-Ing hav-Ing built up a pennant contender from a tall end team. In all the chorus of general acclaim. for "Duke Roger" not even a minor note of praise Is beard for the man who paved the way for Bresnahan's success. This man is none other than John McCloskey, manager and owner of the Butte team. which Is now playing a series of games in Salt Lake. ' McCloskey for two years prior to Brcs-nahan's Brcs-nahan's arrival was manager of the car-d car-d trials. The team had the last placo habit and when McCloskey assumed cliargc the players composing the team wopld have had difficulty Is making good In class A leagues. "Honest John.' as McCloskey is known wherever baseball Is played, had to resort to heroic meas- ures. He weeded out the players with a ; ruthless l)o.n. signed youngsters and. taught them the rudiments of the game, iiH and when after two years of effort ho . had a lot of promising material, Bresna- IH ban was given control. Well Informed critics of today say that jH Konev, the Card's first baseman. Is tho fH backbone of the team. This man was de- J velopcd by McCloskey, as were other Na- XH tlonnl league stars, Including Bobby llH Byrne, whom St. Louis traded to Pitts- KH burg, and "Red" Murray, now in a New York uniform. Bresnahan disposed of KH many of the men who served under bis IH predecessor, but fair minded observers UH cannot fall to give the present Butto leader at least a portion of tho credit o. Brnsnahan's success. But "the king 13 ' B dead long live the king." lil Frank DeHans Robinson and his UH brother. Stanley Robinson, owned tho UM club when McCloskey wns Its manager. Both of these men aro dead and the club ilH Is owned by their heirs, who have given liB Bresnahan full power. .... , m In Salt Lake McCloskay has told friends 11 whajL.la fact -was welLknow-n before, that jB the Robinsons bad interfered with tho ' management to a great extent.- !!H "Bresnahan had tho club two yeare ' H without making a showing," said Mc- 'lM Closkey. "but this season, with full au- M thorlty. he has made the former tall etid- m ers. a pennant contender." Ml Had McCloskey had the opportunity that Bresnahan has this season, It is likelv that the aggressive leader of tho Mouhtmen would still be a big league H leader nnd the Union league would still be In the future . 11 But at that, Manager McCloskey of jll Butte Is the hardest rooter for the St. Louis Cardinals In all the length and breadth of this land of tho free and the Ifil home of the ball and bat. 11 Fullerton Praises McCloskey. il 7 high Fullerton. one of the foremost baseball writers of the present day, Is one who inves McCloskey" full credit for iH his ability as a baseball manaser. Fill- SH lerton. who Is the author of "The Inside Game." "Close Decisions" and other clas- ;tH slcs of modern baseball, has an article In iH tho current Issue of the American mnga- IH zlne treating on the "Science of Coach- WM inc." , iH In this article Fullerton ranks McClos- IH kev with Huchlc Jennlncs of Dotroit, UH Connie Mack of tho Athletics. McGraw jH of the Giants and other baseball gen- tm erals who occupy the very front rank In VM baseball strategy. Fullerton rightly lM place? the blame for McCloskcy's failure fM to land the Cardinals well up in the per- 3jH ccntagc- table of the National league. not ontho manager, but on tho failure VM of bis players to follow Instructions. Ful- lerton savs of the present Butte man- IBl aser. whose team is loading the Union ffiB association: x , ill "John McCloskey. one of the createst (B tacticians In baseball, has worked out fiH the theory of coaching, both from the jkB bench and from the lines, to an exact j BB science. Yot McCloskey has not boen ; successful because the players lack the i nuiekness and the brains to follow bis orders. If be could find men who could j jH think nnd act quickly enouch to obey his slcnnls I believe beyond doubt that ho would be the greatest manairer of all "One Kreat troublo in the McCloskey svstcm is that players are not yet edu- oH catcd to tho point where they censo In- SH dependent thinking and obey orders. The jH worst fcaturo of the coachlnK system Is 31 thai the 'theirs not to reason why. theirs SM but to do and die' spirit Is sadly lack- 11 ing. After each blunder of a ball player the reason assinncd Is I thought.' Be- jH sides that, the fewer brains a player baa SH and the less ho knows of the sclenco of flH the game, the more liable he Is to scoff JjH nt tho theorist and. ridicule or Ignore the im 'wIkwuk' system. "In Louisville one day last summer, a Milwaukee batter drovo a ball down the Mm left-fleld .corner or the grounds. Tho JH ball was In the shortstop's hands when 11 the runner reached third base, but In- WM stead of holdlnc him there tho excited coaeher urged him onward and he was iB thrown out 30 foot from tho plate. Mc- fH Clnskey. who had beon watching, had fM slid down until the back of his head -was gH rcstlnc on tho bench and his feet were six feet away on the ground. His body 3HI rigid. A cruel substitute gazing at Ma fB manager asked; 'What Is that, Mac7 H A" signal to slide feet first?' " gB |
