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Show A FEW decades ago I asked " Christy Mathewson to name the best pitcher he ever faced. "That's easy," Matty answered. "His name Is Charles Kid Nichols of Boston. Nichols isn't a good pitcher. He is a great one." I recalled this talk when the maii brought a letter from Ty Cobb at Menlo Park, Calif. "I think everyone has overlooked one of the greatest pitchers of all time," Cobb writes. "His name is Kid Nichols. Here are just a few of his records from 1S90 to 1906: "1. Won three consecutive games on three consecutive days, all pitched in different cities. "2. Won 20 or more games for 10 consecutive years. He won 360 and lost 202. "3. Won 28 or more games for eight consecutive seasons. "4. Best three consecutive years of pitching percentage. "5. Only pitcher of note to average 24 wins per year at present pres-ent distances." Cobb also extends his admiration to Eddie Plank and Ed Walsh. "I'd take Ed Walsh as my first choice of all pitchers for a five-year period," pe-riod," he told me once. "He literally literal-ly pitched his arm off in 1908 when he worked in 66 games, winning 40 and saving 12 others. Imagine being responsible for 52 victories?" "It's hard to outrank Eddie Plank," Cobb said in his recent letter. "Plank worked in 620 games, won 324 and lost 190. He was a fine pitcher smart and always packed with control. He wasn't as fast as Grove, but he was a tough man to beat." One can be reminded again of the great pitchers Connie Mack brought along from Waddell, Bender and Plank to Coombs, Grove, Earn-shaw, Earn-shaw, Rommel and others not overlooking Pennock and Bullet Joe Bush. What manager ever dug up such left-handers as Eddie Plank, Lefty Grove, Herb Pennock and Rube Waddell, four of the greatest pitchers pitch-ers the venerated pastime has ever seen on display? And today, the eminent Mr. Mc-Gillicuddy, Mc-Gillicuddy, aged 85, believes he has another staff just about as good as he had in those far off years. Mack's Vps and Downs No one in baseball has ever known as many Ups and downs, as many booms and dips, as many ascents and descents", as Connie Mack has known since he came to the American league in 1901. Connie finished fourth his first year and then promptly won his first pennant in 1902, his second start. He won again in 1905, and two years later began breaking up or dismantling his winning squad for the first time. He kept Bender and Plank, but got rid of Harry Davis, Lave and Monte Cross, plus a few others. In place of these he picked up Eddie Collins from Columbia, Stuffy Mc-Innis Mc-Innis from New England, Jack Barry Bar-ry from Holy Cross and "Home Run" Baker from a Maryland hamlet. ham-let. Connie finished second in 1909, missing the flag by a brief eyelash. eye-lash. By 1910 he had his greatest team a team good enough to win the pennant four times from 1910 through 1914. The Red Sox with Smokey Joe Wood burning up the league won In 1912. The debacle of 1914, when the Braves won in four straight, sent Connie back to work dispersing another an-other flock of star athletes. String of Losses Connie had broken up another club. It took him a long time to get back. He finished last in 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919. 1920 and 1921. At that time he appeared to have an endless lease on the cellar. Connie began to surge back in 1925, when he finished second. He was then 63 years old. But it was not until 1929 that he overhauled the Yankees and ruled the uplands up-lands for three years through 1932. It was around 1933 that Mack began be-gan dismantling another club. He unloaded a freight car full of athletes ath-letes on Tom Yawkey, the list Including In-cluding Robert Moses Grove and most of his stars. This didn't help the Red Sox any, but it wrecked the Athletics. They finished last again eight more years through 1945 when their case looked to be hopeless. Connie has finished last 15 or 16 times and next to last on many more occasions. He also finished first nine times. He came up with a pretty fair ball club last season in his 84th year. At least they finished fifth. Then came the big surprise this season as the Mackmen, carried along by superior pitching and some timely hitting, moved out tn front. Where will the Athletics finish? October is a long hike off. But .so far the Athletics have looked better than either the Yankees or Red Sox who were picked earlier to handle 11 the pace setting. |