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Show M'EfinW CrllES BIG , PUB OF RESERVES Connie Mack Approves of Being Well Fortified in Secondary Defense. By Tribune Special Sport Service. NEW YORK. July 18. John McGraw of this town seems to have said something some-thing when he remarked that a baseball team is -only as strong: as its secondary defense and that no team need have any pennant hopes unless it Is equipped with a second team that can take iip the first team's burden Immediately and efficiently. effi-ciently. , One of the big reasons for the success of the Giants is the fact that McGraw always has aimed to have a set of substitutes substi-tutes who could Jump into the shoes of the regulars and perform in stvle. Many lans and managers often have thought that McGraw was wasting money when he spent huge sums simply to acquire substitutes, but the wisdom of his actions lias been shown. Fletcher, the Giant regular shortstop, sustained Injuries that put him out of the game for a lengthy period this season sea-son Just at a time when the Giants were nghtlng to hold their first-place position Fletcher, was a bulwark of strength to the Giants' infield. The Giants' rivals figured that with Fletcher on the shelf the infield would become wobbly and the Giants would hit the chutes But they didn't because McGraw had Eddie Grant in reserve. Grant Jumped into the gamo and played ln a way that made tho loss of Fletcher almost unnoticed. un-noticed. He fielded ln brilliant style and batted up around the .300 mark Merkle, the Giants' first sacker, was forced out of the game on account of a Charley horse." But his absence was hardly felt. McGraw hauled Snodgrass In from the outfield and placed him on first, whore he is almost as good as in (he garden Job, and then McGraw filled Snod s place in the field with Robertson. |