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Show I JCHMIDT BIG HELP TO PRATES IN PENNANT RACE . I T m WAM 1 K 1 EOfll) 1 Bj BI1 A I N S A high-class veteran backstop is generally regarded a- absolutely I osiential for a major league club ttiit aspiroa to Win B pennant Last year Walter Schmidt of the Pittsburg club, ranked first in the Nn-j tionai league averages covering the catchers. Sometimes lhe averages do not tell the truth, but In Schmidt's case his ranking wa rerarth-d .iv wi ll d served. At the bat ho hit close to .3'i0. This stor;. is to be the tale Of a I major league club that seems to he doing Very nicely without the aid of tli. star hat kstop List winter, Sc hmidt and the Pitts-I j burg club could not agree on salary. A stai batcher is always much In de-,' mand and perhaps Schmidt figured that If he failed to agree on terms he would be traded U hen Stars differ with lhir clubs and hoid out. things o:ten hapjien that way. The player is traded to 1 some club Willing i satisf) the star. owner Dreyfus of the Pittsburg club and Manager Jllson took a dcflnlt" stand In the Schmidt matter, theyi stood pat. As a result. Schmidt Is still out v the cold, while the Pittsburg club is moving along very nicely. NOTHING l PH TSB1 RG I rather though! llie absence ofi Schmidt would sertously injure the chances of ihe Plrfites; However, such; doesn't seem t be the case Pittsburg goes merrily along, winning a majority ma-jority of games and always slaying within striking distance of the leaduiR Giants. The case of Schmidt and the Pittsburg Pitts-burg club Is 'one of the few cases n record where the absence of a star catcher has not played havoc with the learn s cha nces. Kuring the past month I havo discussed dis-cussed th- case of Schmidt with a number of star National league play-1 evs, as well as several managers from, that organisation. All of them seem tci hold tht same opinion tn the matter. The consensus of those 1 talked with runs about as follows. "Schmidt Is a gtjSat catcher. Anyl major league club could use him to advantage Ordinarily his absence wnuld be severely felt . the personnel Ol the Pittsburg pitching staff, how-ever; how-ever; Is such, that the club Is getting by very nicely without Schmidt "If the l'lttsburg pitchers were a lot of young fellows with a tendency to be wild and always In need of experienced ex-perienced coaching, Schmidt would be greatly missed. TH.K1 HAVE THE PITH H I Ks "Such, however. Is not the case, rake such pitchers as Babe Adams. Cooper. Hamilton and Carlson and! iim-M any good mechanical catching 1 would satisfy them "Those four veterans know how to' pitch, have the control, and possess an inside knowledge of all the batters. In addition the recruits of last vear, Morrison and Glasner, have almost graduated Into the veteran class. 'Gooch, who has necn doing most of the catching, Is a fine receiver and thrower He larks experience, but an thinking necessary Is supplied by the I oran pitchers. ' All Of which struck me as a pretty good explanation- of why l'lttsburg' wasn't missing Schmidt. |