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Show CATCHING STAFF BIG PART OF GAME Backstops Do Much to Nurse Pitchers Along. It has been often said by wise baseball base-ball men that pitching is 00 per cent of a ball club and that a team without with-out a good pitching stuff is never going go-ing to win a pennant In the big leagues. If that Is so, or even if a pitching staff is only 75 per cent of a ball club, what about the catching staff? While pitching is essential, nearly every team that has ever won a big league pennant had one or two great catchers. Mickey Cochrane of the Athletics was a "one-man" show last season and It was due to his great work behind the plate that the Athletics Ath-letics won the pennant in the American Ameri-can league and then beat the Cubs in the world series. No catcher ever nursed a pitcher along with greater skill than Cochrane did with Howard Ehnike in the opening game in Chicago. Chi-cago. John J. MeGraw, te "master mind" of the Giants, won his first National league pennant in 1904 with two great catchers Roger Bresnnhan and Frank Bowerman. Today MeGraw has two more great catchers in Frank "Shanty" Hogan and Bob O'Farrell and the "master mind" believes his two star backstops will get enough good pitching pitch-ing out of Walker, Hubbell, Genewich, Fitzsimmons and Donohue to win the National league pennant. George Slosson of Boston, world's balkline champion of 30 years ago, and one of tlie few players fo hold his own with the late Jake Schaefer over a period of 20 years in special matches, may celebrate his comeback to billiards through the medium of the cushion carom tourney which will be played in New York in the fall. Slosson, at the age of seventy-six, feels that his chances at cushion caroms are as good as any player In the game. During his 12 years as a Jockey, Earl Sande has piloted nearly a thousand thou-sand winners, for nearly $3,000,000 worth of purses. Sam Breadon, owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, believes that it is only a matter of time before night baseball will be a popular big-league caper. Baron Sam Is prepared to move the earth in order to Institute a. lighting plant at Sportsman parknext year or this year, if possible. Breadon Is stroug for the idea, because the Cards have not been a drawing card of late. The City college of New York basketball bas-ketball team has listed Pittsburgh for a game February 16, 1031, at the Twenty-second Engineers' armory In New York. It will be the first athletic contest between the Institutions. When the Brooklyn Robins played their first game in Chicago this spring, Outfielder Hazen (Kikl) Cuyler of the Cubs was told to go and take a look at himself. When Cuyler asked for an explanation, he was reminded that he had a double on the Brooklyn team In Neal Finn. That was enough for Cuyler. He wanted proof. "I'm going out there and take a look at that guy," said Cuyler. He trotted out to where Finn was standing stand-ing and looked him over. When he returned re-turned to the Chicago dugout he was asked If he saw any resemblance. "I'll say I did," grinned Hazen, "I thought I was looking into a mirror. We both had to laugh." Night baseball In the new San Francisco Fran-cisco park looms as a strong possibility. possi-bility. It Is believed practical to schedule eight games a week. George Putnam, secretary of the Seals, favors fa-vors startuig the series as usual on Tuesday, have a double header on Saturday afternoon, eliminate the Sunday morning game and play in tlie evening Instead. The Detroit Tigers probably will train In Sncnimento in the spring of 1U31, Jack Zoellers, Bengal scout, announces. |