OCR Text |
Show SECOND BASE PLAYERS Keystone Sack Has Some Mighty Graceful Men. Stamping Ground of More Stars Than Any Other Position on Diamond Eddie Collins Is Praised by Manager McGraw. "Collins, the Sox second sacker, played a brilliant game and appears to be in bis midseason form." Thus was chroalled the fact that the Tarrytovn T-orror is himself Hgain, which t icyr.s that he has effec-"Jvely effec-"Jvely silenced those who wruld place strong second sackers before him, among them being his former boss. Oonuie Mack, who is quote-l as saying that he would not trade Tarry Lajoia for Collins. McGraw Lauds Collins. In form Collins is undoubtedly the kitig of second basemen. He can hit the ball consistently and timely, is a t,rand defensive player and a terror on the sacks. And in addition lie caD think. It was his ability to outguess the opposition that won more than ono world's championship for the Phila. delphia Athletics. For this assertion our authority is John J. McGraw, manager man-ager of the New York Giants, who contends that Eddie Collins is the greatest baseball player in the game today. And McGraw oug'.it to come near knowing if anybody does. All due respect to Connie Mack and his judgment of ball players, Larry Lajoie of today is not in a class with Collins. The Lajoie of 1902, '03, 'CA '05 and '06 was perhaps a greater br.SJ player than Collins, but not the Lajoie La-joie of today. The former premlf ball player of the world is not so spry as he once was. He does not teal' !ose those hairbreadth plays which hi was wont to pull off with such con-Siimmate con-Siimmate ease. He does not line them out in the same old way, and appears to have lost a stride or two in getting 'iown to first. Larry is getting old, He has had his day, and not even Connie Mack can talk Collins out of the title of king of the keystone guardians. Lajoie has passed the title to him. Place for Graceful PUyers. There are few positions on the diamond dia-mond that have been graced by such brilliant players as second base. Apparently Ap-parently it is a place for graceful players, such as Biddy McPhee, formerly for-merly of the Reds. In the early days of baseball, when the National league was starting out and the American league and Federal league and the baseball wars things unheard of and of the distant future, the baseball fans throughout the land idealized Ross Barnes of Chicago, Reach of Philadelphia, Dave Force, Joe Quest, J. J. Burdock, Tom Force and Freddie Dunlop of the St. Louis Maroons. After Dunlop and Link Lowe, Cu' pid Childs, while his only rival was Freddie I'heffer of Chicago, a grand fielder and a hard and timely hitter. He was the brains of Pop Anson's famous fa-mous White Sox infield, many claimed |