Show IS taff THE HOODOO OF THE CHICAGO CUBS when the president sees brothers team play it loses chat of the players f RESIDENT tart la Is a great baseball fan and the chicago cubi probably wish he gasn wasn t the prest dent dents s brother charles P taft of cin cinnoti owns the cubs and he may also wish his distinguished brother t attend the games in which the former do champions take part the president visited chicago last fall and went out to gee see the cuba cubs fight the new york giants mathew son and brown were the opposing pitchers the cubs lost the cubs needed that game for it was j it at the time they were trying to overcome the pittsburg lead they were in striking distance at the time and the defeat put them back a whole lot A few days ago president tatt taft vis via cited pittsburg the cubs and pirates were to play and the chief of the fans wanted to see the fight lie did the cubs lost what a the answer Is president tatt taft a cub hoodoo 7 before the game the president said he wanted to sit on the third base side where he could watch hans wag ner the great pittsburg shortstop and johnny alvers the cubs star second baseman consequently he had a special bo box and he saw the players in action to his hearts content the president also wrote his name on some base baseballs halls chance and alvers of the cubs and clarke and wagner of the pirates each got one evers and chance got theirs before the game clarke and wagner received their trophies after the game in washington on opening day the president wrote his name dame and best wishes on a ball for walter johnson the star pitcher johnson lost the next game he pitched fred merkle of the giants who made himself famous by his failure to touch second in a crucial game a few years ago taught a whole lot of ball players a lesson in the ninth inning of a recent athletics washington game when killifer was walked forcing home the winning run not only did killifer have to be told to go to first but doc doe gessler admitted that be came near running for the club house without touching home plate when killifer was walked when I 1 heard evans declare four balls I 1 started tor for the clubhouse and then suddenly the merkle incident flashed across my mind and I 1 ran for the plate said gessler for an instant it did not strike me that it would be necessary for me to touch the plate for it seemed that the game was over when killifer was sent to first you know under such conditions even a player allows his enthusiasm to run away with him and I 1 must confess that I 1 came very near making a seri BUS DUS mistake philadelphia times old eagle eye jake beckley has parsed out of baseball after a con ti nuance ot of service for more than twenty three years the veteran first baseman has been given hia his lional release by danny shay manager ot of the kansas city american association team beckley took his release philosophically he ile says ho he will re main in kansas city and possibly play with a semi professional team beck deck ley Is forty eight years old for 20 years until 1906 he played in the major leagues his ills last year was with the st louis cardinals in 1907 he joined the american association team in kansas city and that year led the league in batting with the true story of tommy leach s advent into professional baseball has neier nener been published said sam gott lob the other day lie ile played his first professional game nine for the han ilan over pa team of the cumberland valley league in 1896 1 I was catching tor for the team then and the manager told me to go out and get him a third baseman I 1 came home to cleveland signed tommy to a 50 a month contract and took him to hanover leach was timid and was totally lacking in self possession but he was almost as great a player then as he Is today when the hanover team disbanded tommy went to the roanoke va team and it was there that dreyfuss found him and took him to louisville I 1 would like to have as an income the difference between the 50 a month he be drew then and his monthly stipend today T J manager smith of the saginaw naw mich club faund found a recruit in detroit named hamed otto pfeiffer he ile took him to saginaw and the youngster looked so good that the manager benched himself and sent the recruit to center field that s one case in baseball history at least where the manager was benched to my notion the hardest play in the life of the third sacker la Is always made on a bunt with a fast man kiy ing to advance from first to second says harry in nine cases out of ten its bound to be a one hand ed play and if the fingers tall fill to clutch the ball or the throw goes wide frequently there is the dickens to pay to guard against the loss of a play er through accident while on the road president william R armour of the toledo club of the american assoria tion has taken out insurance covering every member of the team policies Poll clee will be made payable to mr armour amour |