The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-10-06
Only Better Pitching Was Needed to Enable
Them to Quit in Position Very Near the
Winners of the Pennant.
Washington's Ball-Tossers TrOunced in
Their Last Game with GlasscOck's Men.
New York Outstrips Boston in the Race for the
Championship-Chicago Takes Third Place,
Philadelphia Fourth, Pittsburg Fifth.
THE HOME PLAYERS.
Weak i'm Only One Feature and Yet May Make
a Fine showing.

OF DaSe-Dail flayerS IL mas pecn Teuaih-
able alike in the quality of the sport pre-
sented for the amusement of the myriad of
cranks. the financial success of the clubs
composing the association and the closeness
of the race for the championship pennant
and the creditable places at the finish. The
changes in the playing rules have operated
80 as TO increase the batting, and heavy
batting and brilliant fielding have been the
rule in a very large majority of the games.
With the abolition of the foul tip. and the
reduction of the number of balls allowable.
the pitcher has not had the batsman so
completely at his mercy, and the hitting.
which is, after all, the most enjoyable feat
ure of the game, has been by far the best
seen in any season since the curve ball
came into use. There is not a feature of the
sport, whether generalsbip, batting field
ing. base-runnmg, coaching. or what not,
that has not been noticeably improved upon.
and it can be fairly said that the playing
season of 1889 has seen the American ma
tiOnal game-the greatest of all outdoor
athletic sports-at its best. Never before
has the fight for pennant honOrs been so
hotly contested, nor SO interestingly close
as it has been this year. 1t was foregone
of floating the flag would belong either to
New York or Boston. but until the last
month of the seasons play at least three
of the other clubs were in sight, and have
proved as formidable opponents for the
leaders as they have been to each other
The attendance in all the League cities has
been nprecedentedly large, and every club
in the list has finished the season with a
cash balance in it's treasury. To be sure,
all have not Jared alike; none of the other
clubs can hope for the measure of financial
of Boston and New York, but all have done
comparatively well, and none have good
reason for complaint.
Abandoning generalities, and considering
the local situation: Despite the fact that
the team representing Indianapolis finishes
seventh in the order of club standing.
the friends of the Hoosier club
have abundant reason for cOmplimenting
the players and the management at the
really good showing made. The team has
been greatly strengthened. and in spite of its
position near the foot of the pyramid has
played as good balP' as any in the League
| The first year of It's existence as a member
of the leading baseball organization it
won but thirty seven games, and stood
last. The second year it craweled up one
round, and won fifty games. This year.
| while it has not improved its standing any,
| it has commanded the respect of every one
| of its competitors, and has been the victor
| in fifty nine contests. In batting fielding
| and base-running it has surprised its most
enthusiastic admirers, and the common
| query In every League city has been:
| "How is it that with such players Indian
| apOlis stands no higher in the racei" This
| is a question for which an answer is to be
| found in the table showing the relative
standing of the Leagues pitchers. The
| weak point of the HoOsier club has been in
| the box. When the call OF play" was
shrieked in Umpire, Barnum's high treble
| no of mr. In ST ha
club c with with Which '''g the 'Tto HoOsiers
| were to compete was better pro-
vided with pitching talent than the
| proves that the very contrary was the case.
| The general average of the home clubs
| pitchers places them at the very bottom of
| the lst-not even a good last. Boyle, the
old-time favorite: Getzein, who pitched
| Detroit into the championship two seasons
| previous, and Whitney, for years regarded
| as one of the star twirlers of the profession.
had been secured at high salaries. while
served to fall back upon in case of emerg-
| ency. Whitney. however. had seen bis best
days and it was the luck of the Indianap-
| oils Club to have him prove Ito use the ex-
pressive slang of the diamond) "a dead
| horse" on it's hands Both Boyle and Get
zein were out of condition until the season
was well under way, and Burdick was
| worse than useless 1t may be all very well
to criticise the management for its release
| of Shreve, but when the fact is considered
that his success in a minor organization
was shOrt-lived. and that he proved CON-
| plete failure on his subsequent return to
this city. the criticism loses its force. Ru-
sic was taken off the vacant lots as last
resort. and if ever club was, in
luck annapolis was when it picked
him up. But Rusie was at times
wild and amateurish, and needed profess
sional experience to develop his abilities.
He stands at the very foot of the list of
League pitchers with respect to runs
ing this, gentlemen of the genus ball crank.
keep your eyes on the boy. With the ''wire
edge" taken off, and the coming of conf
dence. and ability to at all times control
the ball, he will be one of the great pitch,
ers of the country. Later. Getzein suffered
an injury to his pitching arm that rendered
him useless for weeks, and Boyle. for some
reason. perhaps best known to himself.
largely lost his effectiveness. Had il not
been for the loss of Getzein Indianapolis
would have beaten out both Pittsburg and
Cleveland and stood fifth instead of sew
enth in the race. But for its unfortunate
weakness in the box. who knows where it
might not thaye beenf Nine more games won
would have placed il ahead of Chicago and
Philadelphia and third in the race. That
il is not there is not the fault of any play
er in the nine outside of the box. For two
months in the middle of the season one
third OF the games played might as well
have been forfeited TO the opposing nine,
as the HOOSleIs nau no pltcner Win WnOm
they stood a chance to win.
There was another point. too. that con-
tributed largely to Indianapolis's early de-
feats. and that was the failure of the man
agement. With due respect for Mr.. Ban
croft. who is a conscientious gentleman
and hard worker, the club never would
have prospered under his direction. Some
of the best and most earnest players in it
were afraid to take chance in which an
error was at all probable, on account of the
comments with which they would be met
on their return to the bench. He made
himself exceedingly unpopular with the
players and none of them cared to make
any extraordinary effort to contribute to
the success of the man who persistently
and relentlessly abused them.
With the resignation of Bancroft and
the substitution of Glasscock as mana ger
an entirely different spirit manifested itself
among the players and not a man of them
has hesitated to take the most desperate
chance to win. Another year, with Cap
tain Jack the manager from the start, even
better results than have marked his admin
istration may be confidently expected.
Outside of the points. no club in the
League 10 conspicuously stronger than
Indianapolis. Some of them may be
stronger III certain positions, but con-