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Show OY YOUNG WAS GREATEST. Chicago. July 15. A thin man, sunburned, sun-burned, with Inscrutable blue eyes that look you over calmly and carefully, care-fully, sat In the grandstand yesterday yester-day afternoon and lookctl them over. The man was dressed carefully and wore a jaunty sailor hat. He smoked several cigars during the course of the game and made occasional remarks re-marks to a man at his side. Few, if any. looked twice at him and yet we had with us yesterday the man who is classed In baseball history with Buck Ewing, King Kelly, Charley Bennett. Ben-nett. Chief Zimmer. Billy Sullivan. Johnny Kling and Roger Brcsnahan as one of the greatest catchers who ever lived gentlemen, permit us, Lew Criger. You wouldn't think that Lew Criger was one of the greatest players that ever stood behind the baL He Is thin, and he looks infinitely more like a man holding down a desk job. Hi3 face is tanned and his neck Is sinewy, with the kind of contour that suggests sug-gests the wiry strength of the trained athlete but outside of that Criger passes. With Cy Young, the man who has just passed, Criger made up perhaps .tho greatest battery that has ever been announced by the umps, and there havcbeen tho Clarksons and Kellys, the Browns and Kllngs, not to mention Young and Zimmer. "Cy Young was the greatest pitcher of them all." said Criger yesterday between the Innings. "Taking him day In and day out, for every game and for the years he played, there has never been a pitcher in the game who compared with the old boy. I know that Cy missed my going for he told mo so. Ho said that he did not know that there were some catchers so bad In the fast company. You see wo had worked together ror years and I guess we wero pretty well acquainted and then I knew his strength and his weakness "It isn't exactly bocause I am all In that I am out of the game. I caught tho other day at SL Louis and nipped the only fellow who tried to test this old whip of mine I got him so nice that he never even tried to slide. I jlj can throw some yet. , & "Classing catchers today you might j & put Gibson, Bresnahan, Meyers, Ar- . 9 cher, Stanage and Johnny KHng with 5 the great ones. Billy Sullivan is still -9 a great man, but not as good as ho M was. In the old days they used to 9 group Kllng, Sullivan and yours truly. m "This boy Bluhm is a Alee fielder. j H When he improves some in his bat- j jfl ting he is going to make a grand ball ) players. He Is ono of tho best play- ) ers in this league." j Criger Is at the present time a scout for the St Louis Americans. He will J be in the city for a few days looking j over some of the players In the league. I . 1 |