OCR Text |
Show ! OSCAR STANAGE OF DETROIT TOPS ALL LEAGUE CATCHERS IN POINT OF SERVICE ) " ccj'e Astjfntt-h 2 In Oscar Stanage the Tigers have the oldest catcher in point of service in the majors. He is entering his eleventh complete season with Detroit and has a part of another to his credit, having joined the team late in 1908. Detroit also has in Eddie Ainsmith the catcher who has been in the American league ihe second longest. Eddie began the 1!)10 season with Washington- and was with the Nationals Na-tionals continuously until the trade last winter which made him a Tiger. Stanage's closest rival for length of duty in the majors was Jimmy Archer, the former Cub star. Stanage and Archer. Oscar and Jimmy became big leaguers at the same time, as the 1909 campaign was nearing its end. Both came fjom the same league, the Eastern, Stanage from the Newark club and Archer from Buffalo. Oscar has seen a lot of catching stars bob up in the major league firmament, firma-ment, sparkle a while and then fade out of sight. In fact, he was a veteran when most of the present major league catching greats reached the top. For Ten Long Years. The most remarkable feature of Stanage's long career is the fact that he has been Detroit's first catcher for ten seasons. During that time he has taken all the bumps that a catcher is expected to take, and, except for layoffs lay-offs due to injuries, has been in the lineup almost constantly. He was particularly par-ticularly unfortunate with injuries last season. And yet Jennings and Tigers to a man insist that the veteran recaiver is as good as ever. They believe he is due for a great year, his best for some time. Unless his foot trouble which developed de-veloped recently becomes serious, he will probably catch most of the games again this season. |