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Show Weighing the Teams That Will Fight Out World's Series 1 I BY J. B. SHEBIDAff j0 ITH the pennant racos com- WW lnB to a olose' A11161,100118 " are interested In any discussion dis-cussion of tho owners, managers and members o tho teams that should win. j tho contests In tho National and I American leagues. In a week or so I the nows of tho world's championship I series will be vleing In public Interest i with the nows of the Amorican troops j in France. ' The soldier Is the big figure in the eyes of tho Amorican people just now, , but the bacsball player has not been forgotten. Strange to say, there Is no place where tho baseball player Is so j much a hero as in tho army. While tho recruits are having their hands and heads full with Intensified drill, I they do not forget baseball when they I havo time. At this writing it seems that the New York Giants will win the National Leaguo pennant The Giants are eight games ahead of Philadelphia, the second sec-ond team, and fourteen and one-half games ahead of St. Louis, the third team. Tho Giants can afford to lose half of the twenty-five games they have yet to play and can win tho flag. Not in any month of the season have 1 the Giants lost half their games. They i have been winning two-thirds of their games right along. It is true that they must finish the season with a long string of twenty-three games away from home, but their nearest rival, the j Phillies, must finish away from home, ' too. Therefore, the last month of the season sees tho Giants with an eight-game eight-game lead and twenty-three games to play. It is sure as anything human can be sure that the Giants will win. ! the National League pennant in 1917. The American Leaguo race is still j open between Chicago, which has a j two-game lead, and Boston. No ' other club has a chance. Let us discuss the characteristics of the teams that probably will figure in the great world's championship of The Giants are veterans. Every player on the club, save Schupp. Burns and Robertson, was a mado man when McGraw got him. Robert-son,- Burns and Schupp had lots of minor leaguo experience before they got to New York. McGraw is not a ' great handler of young players. He is impatient He cannot wait He finds It more profitable to pay high prices ;-for developed material that can ' go out and win a pennant, than to 1 wait for college boys to develope. few Yorkers Poor Fans. New Yorkers will pay $1,000,000 for a penant, but not a cent for a club that is not In the race. New York is fl really, a bad ball town save for a win- ncr. It would not stand up for losing hall as Boston, St Louis, Detroit, Cht-cago, Cht-cago, Cleveland and Cincinnati stand for it, year after year. The New York-crs York-crs are not real ball fans. They are mostly foreigners, the effervescent Jew leading. They care nothing for 1 a good ball game. They want to see tho Giants win. They love to gamble on tho games. They pour out in great numbers just at game time. Five minutes before play is called sees empty stands at the Polo grounds Then tho elevated and the -subways gape, and by the time umpires call "Play," 20,000 gesticulating, gibbering people are in tho seats. They talk Hj and yell and bet as long as New York is in front The moment someone tells them (they pay little attention to the Hl score) that tho Giants are two runs behind, they leave the park. "v7hon the game is finished, tho huge crowds pouf into the subways and on to the elevated and disappear as quickly as they appeared. Most of the people do not know what the score was. They don't know tho simpler and finer points of the game. All they know is ( that New York won or lost, and may-be may-be some of the more intelligent of them, that Holke mado a triple or that Kauff mado a fine catch. You must have a winner in New Hj York. They won't go out to see you if H, pou have not got a pennant contender. Hj tt won't do that you shall bo a good feecond or third. You must bo first or bghtlng for first place. So McGraw, a wise man, gives them Hj " khelr winner as often as ho can. He has succeeded pretty regularly, too. Traded Like a Jacknlfe. To that desirable $1,000,000 end, Mc-Eraw Mc-Eraw who finished away down in 1915-16, bought a lot of stars in 1917. : . He got Zimmerman from Chicago and Holke from tho International League. : In the previous year ho got Kauff, the ; Uar of the Federal League; Rarlden, l good catcher, and Anderson, a good pitcher. He grabbed Salleo and Per-ritt Per-ritt from the decaying St. Louis club, ; Hj rchich at that time had to havo monoy, j Hj , He got Horzog and Benton from Cln- ilnnatl. When McGraw lined up his : learn to win tho flag in 1917 he had Just four players of his own develop- i nent, Schupp. Fletcher, Burns and i IB I Robertson, and all of these had extended ex-tended minor league experience before McGraw ever saw them. So he did not perform the miracle, Connie Mack performed when he picked Plank, Bender, Combs, Barry, Collins and Mc-Innls Mc-Innls out of college, and, with a little help from others, won pennant after pennant with them. But McGraw has gained his end, won a pennant, which is, all told, more profitable than going go-ing out and losing money for five or six years trying to organize a team that may win a flag. McGraw got a queer lot of temperaments tempera-ments when (he organized his pennant winners. Zimmerman, Herzog, Fletcher,, Fletch-er,, Kauff and Robertson were all fa-mouB fa-mouB for their pecullarlities of conduct con-duct Zimmerman had put In some seven seasons under flvo different managers at Chicago .and could not get along with either managers or umpires. um-pires. Chance, Evers, Brosnahan, O'Day and Tinker all failed to make the ebullient Heinle behave. Herzog could not get along with McGraw, StallingB and again McGraw, and bad been traded back and forth like a jack knife. Herzog had trouble getting along with himself when he managed Cincinnati Cin-cinnati and he surely failed to agree with any of some thirty-five players he employed during his two years with the Reds. Kauff had jumped many teams because he cauld not get along with managers and fellow-players and was so swollen with his success suc-cess in tho Federal League that he had become Intolerable. Sallee was notoriously no-toriously tempermental and had "jumped" the St. Louis club several times when 'he was with it. Perritt was also a famous malcontent and a double contract jumper, from the Cardinals Car-dinals to the Federals and from the Federals to the Giants in 1915. Benton was a wild lad In his devious de-vious days 'with Cincinnati. His passion pas-sion for wildly careering about the roads on a motorcycle almost led to his death and greatly detracted from his valuo to his club. The catchers, McCarty, Gibson and Rarlden, were all sober, steady, regular fellows. So was Holko, tho young first baseman. Fletcher, the shortstop, is regarded as tempermental, too, but not to such an extent as tho others. Burns is steady as a clock and a truly great ballplayer. Robertson, the young right fielder, was a peculiar sort of chap, one who was liable to do strange things at any moment Schupp, who is as near to" being a McGraw-made 'player as any, man ever managed bj the nimble-wlttcd manager, is alsc looked upon as safo and sound. Yaluo of Odds and Ends. With this rare aggregation of prima donnas, McGraw started out to win a pennant and a world's championship. He has succeeded at last, so far as winning his pennant goes. Winning tho world' ohampionship is another thing, but wo aro inclined to think that ho will do that, too. There can bo no sort of doubt about the merits of tiho odds and ends picked pick-ed up. Sallee, Pcrrltt and Benton were famed pitchers before John J. Induced them to go to the Giants. Anderson was a star pitcher In tho Federal League. He leads the National Leaguo pitchers In point of runs earned, but the figures are deceptive, for Anderson Ander-son is not by any means as good or as effective a pitcher as Salleo, Perritt or Schupp. Nor even as Tesreau. Rarlden was a good catcher with Boston and with the Federal League, a made man before McGraw ever saw him. Gibson was a veteran of veterans. veter-ans. Then McGraw had McCarty, who was a star with Brooklyn before New York got him in trade for Merkle. McCarty was worth ten Merkles, but Brooklyn was in tho pennant race in 1916, and Daubert was seriously Injured. In-jured. Brooklyn simply had to have a first baseman and Merkle was the only available man. So McGraw stuck Brooklyn up for McCarty. It was a good trade at the time for Brooklyn, too, for Merkle played strongly and helped tho Dodgers win tho pennant When Daubert came back Brooklyn had no use for Merkle. Luck, however, broke right for Charley Char-ley Ebbetts, Vic Saler broke his leg in the spring of 1917 and Chicago had to have a first sacker. Ebbets got $13,-000 $13,-000 for Merkle, who had been superseded super-seded on two clubs. Wo have seen where McGraw organized organ-ized a team of odds and ends, sewed them together and won a championship. champion-ship. Ho kept the uncertain Zimmerman Zimmer-man in good humor by having the press boost him as the best third baseman in the world, which Zim is not, and by having the other players refer to him in all things. Zim has played a fine game for New York, but he is far from being tho best third baseman in tho business. He can hit and run pretty well, but ho is not what is known aB a "sound ballplayer." ball-player." Ho will mako the wrong play with great frequency and ho Is liable to throw tho ball away any time he r gets a fast play at any base. All tho same, he is a pretty good man. Holding V) tho Players, McGraw got great ball out of Her- zog by making him captain of tho team. Herzog Is a great ballplayer, though ho Is not hitting this year. 1 But there is grit and force and power ' in tho man and the way he takes some of those weak-kneed New York pitchers, lifts them by tho ears and holds their faces to the foe, is really wonderful. I havo seen Herzle pick up Anderson, Tesreau and Schupp, when they wore wavering, and by sheer force of character pull them through the game. Even if ho Is not hitting, Herzle Is a great ballplayer. He advances men every time he goes up with a runner on, he can run bases, he can field any Infield position and ho fights all tho time. His greatest asset is the way in which he backs up pitchers. Tho pitcher who cannot work with Horzog back of him must bo a weak ono, indeed. Fletcher always has played good ball for McGraw and Is doing well this year. He could not hit very much when ho first ramo Into tho National League, but he has grown big and heavy since that time, and ho has been hitting hard for tho past three seasons. Fletchor Is a great shortstop, big, strong, fast, a good arm. Ho comes in, bounding like a reed and he can cover ground forty way6 from Sunday- Fletcher Is not far from being the best shortstop in the game, though the minuteness of Maranvillo and the flash of Bancroft, havo got these players more notice than given the Ullnolsan. Fletcher can hit run and field. Ho is a tremendous tre-mendous shortstop. Holko at first Is the spot on the team. He is a good fielder, but not a good hitter, though he surprised the world by leading both tho International Interna-tional Leaguo and National League in 1916, Ho manages to bat .270 or so with tho Giants. That means that ho 1 would hit some .240 with a club com- : posed of weak batters. Holke bats in ' seventh place for tho Giants. Six : mighty sluggers precede him and 1 break tho hearts of tho pitchers be- 1 fore they get to tho first baseman. 1 But Holke will render a good account of hlmsolf In the field, and with that team of sluggers will not be entirely i useless at the bat Greatest National Player. t McGraw will havo a good outfield, no t matter how tho game goes. Ho mado t one of tho merry mistakes of his e PERRITT 0Afpj irSl career when he let Roush got away, but he wanted to assist Mathewson and Roush at the time did not look at all as good as Kauff or Robertson. Roush came after he joined tho Reds, and is now probably' the greatest ballplayer ball-player in tho National League, another Harry Hooper, but about 100 points a stronger hitter. In George Burns, McGraw has a wonderful ballplayer, Burns has not been featured In tho New York papers becauso he is not as showy as Robertson Robert-son nor as good a press agent aB Kauff. Burns Is, on tho other hand, just a quiet sort of fellow, who does, all sorts of good work, and who gets no credit for what ho does. Burns Is, next to Cobb, about the best man playing ball. He is a first-class lead-off lead-off man and batter, runs the bases splendidly, can field and throw. He handles ground balls like a short-Btop, short-Btop, can catch and play Infield. He plays 156 games year In and your out His conduct is perfect. Put George Burns on a team with Cobb and there is no tolling where lie would stop. Ho is truly one great aall player, one of tho very best of ill time. Kauff has improved a great deal md is a very good hitter. He is a fair ' tort of fielder but an Inaccurate ! hrowor. Kauff's arm Is strong enough i ut ho has always had trouble get- ( ing the ball to tho mark. Kauff Is a i ;ood ballplayer and will not bo out of place on a championship club. But ho is not at all so good a ballplayer as Burns or Roush. Robertson should bo as groat a player play-er as Cobb. He is faster than Cobb over was, can hit the ball harder and farther, can throw and field, but ho has a temperment. And that ends it. Robertson's wonderful flash of speed in 1916 fooled McGraw into choosing him over Roush, who is much the better bet-ter ballplayer. Robertson played some ball in 1916 that was enough to make any manager like him. He looked like a better man than Cobb. He got married during the winter of 1917 and that is supposed to have lowered his effectiveness. They always say that marriage hurts a ballplayer et Cobb got married in midseason and it did not effect his batting average. aver-age. Many of- tho stars have been 7T Zhlle, at the,r best- mcky elch, the famous pitcher of the world's champion Giants of 1889 had some ten children. So ,t ,8 down tfae . Baa Breaks Buin nim. ! Tho fact is that Robertson is mere- i y temperrnental. If he gets away well , he will play a great game. If things c break bad for him he will not go so well. Things broke bad for Robertson Robert-son in 1917, and he has been the dls- t appointment of tho Giants. Every t me else came through. Robertson did t But McGraws infield and outfield is s nUlinlllUlMlmu.... good enough to win from any club the . j 9 Giants meet. , 9 Tho loss of McCarty has been a sore j fl blow to tho Giants and will be a sorer ' fij ono still in tho world's series. This , 'M fellow is one of the best (hitters, catchers or anything else, in either jfl league. Ho is game and a pretty good M receiver and thrower. When he broke S his leg in May, McCarty became a Ffl dead loss to the club. Had he been Ml in the gamo tho Giants would be Si- eighteen not eight games ahead of fjfc' their nearest- competitor. Kj Gibson, a 42-year-old boy, broke a ul finger and will hardly be in the series nB either. So the catching will be up to fiS Rarlden. wlio Is a good receiver and a :H pretty good hitter, but who is not ex- (Hi actly world's series sort. If the Chi- Iv9 cago White Sox should win the Ameri- H can Leaguor pennant, and oppose the IHR Giants In the world's series, Rarlden wl will have his work cut out opposing jE9 a great catcher like Schalk. Mjpf Should Boston win the American (E9 Leaguo pennant, Rarlden will hold his El own with any catcher that may be 18 produced by the present champions. It 1b most unlikely that the New York pitching staff will do anything Mpl but acquit Itself in most creditable rS fashion in the world's series. While there is not one great pitcher among IF jB tho nino men that draw pay from ft' II tho New York team, there are several f first-class men, some of them very t reliable, and all of them likely to f pitch at least one great game at any 1 S time. i , I m . fccbupp, who Is regarded as the star It M of tho staff, Is a nico young pitcher, : m but far from a great one. Ho has ono 'jg great asset, fine control of a good i 3 curve ball. He can curve that ball f iSfi on tho corners of the plate, an inch m or an inch out, at his pleasure. This . M makes him a very troublesome pitch- , 'H er. For he is liable to bend a strike Jb3 over at any time and then he is liablo : 'ffi to keep .tho ball Just far enough away ; W from the batter, to make It hard to meet It fairly. Then if tho batter lets 2 tho ball alone it Ib liable to curve " & over for a strike. j gj Schupp has no great speed, his pTj curve is not a wonder, but he can tin- make that curve sit up and do tricks. 3 He keeps the batter worrying lest it 1 JfiJ be over or a hair's breath outside- SS The batters, of course, are beginning Jl to let Schupp's fast one alone and to T J& lay for his curve ball. Ho has got ..JS enough speed to hold his own, but ! "lig' Schupp is not, by any means, the 1 t remarkable pitcher that his early ! "Jo record of eight straight wins and no JS lefeats, and something like ,ten of ; f2S welvo games won In the first two ! f nonths of the season would lead one f T o Imagine. Ho is just a nice young f aft itcher, with a well-controlled curvo I tc? a", a pitcher something like Carl I ' eilman was, only with a little more I a Peed and "stuff." I Ajj M r Shf 5 W V-I i fk tfS rough persoir comes lonsWnock k"-. S W T If VsV W Ifl fil |
