Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-14
Causes Of the Recent Defeats of the
Local Baseball Club Fully
Discussed.
is MANAGER HANLON TO BLAME?
The Very Bad Features of the Columbus
ElkS Expelling Infelder Reilly
From the Order.
ABOUT THE ANTI-BETTING LAWS.
English Opinion About the Late Battle Between Jem
Carney and Dick Burge

So bad has been the recent showing of the
local ball team that it requires nerve in
strong quantities to say word in favor of
the players When that which we call the
public issues its decree of condemnation
against anything or anybody, one has to as
sumo little boldness to speak well of that
which is under the public ban. am quite
aware that the Pittsburg public, that is, that
portion of it interested in baseball, has, to
say the least, become very discontented
about the local ball team. The baseball
public, it must be remembered, is very SEN
sitive to victory and defeat. If victory is
the order Of the dav, all is we'll; indeed, all
is enthusiasm to very high degree; but if
defeat is the leading feature, censure, COLI
tempt and condemnation come to the front
Just week or two ago we, in Pitts
burg, were all smiles, and were
piping off fine words of praise to
everybody connected with the team; now
we are quite the opposite. A series of de-
feats has caused Il wonderful change A
few davS ago we were one and all declaring:
'Didn't l tell you that Hanlon and O'Neil
were just the men to get winning team"
Presto! Change! now we are one and all
saving: "Didn't l tell you that Hanlon
wasn't cut out to be a manager and that
O'Neil talks too much to do good work q"
Well, now, changes of opinion and SYM
pathies are natural, but in changing our
opinions so suddenly We should be careful
to not attach anv unnecessary blame to any
person. While my estimation of the team
Is not as high as it was am still firmly con-
WINGED that neither Manager Hanlon nor any
other official in the club IS responsible for
the many defeats suffered lately. 1t NAV
be true that there have been occasions on
which the Judgment of Mr.. Eanlon has
been at fault, but tell me any
manager in the entire baseball business who
steers clear OF mistakes and particularly
when his team is having a streak of de-
feats. We all know that we have class of
people who are always ready to applaud
successful experiment, and when it is made
declare in the loudeSt voice that it should
have been made sooner. Mark, they never
ventured an opinion about it before it was
tried. But if that experiment proved to be
failure TIE class of people 1 refer to ex-
claim: "Why, that was the stupidest thing
in creation to try and do" So that base
ball manager having in charge a team that
is being defeated has very much the worst
of ii no matter how we look at the matter
What Causes the Poor Work:
To find out definitely what are the causes
VI AlLG hClGdb vi Il BdSCbdll lcsllu Is O1IGn i
very complicated question. Since the local
team have struck their downward course 1
dare say that almost all kinds of causes
have been urged, but sum the entire mat
ter up in two words: Bad playing That
the team have played very badly none of
us can DENY, and if we examine things
closely 1 think We'll find that the pitchers
have not been to blame, nor has the man.
agement. The pitchers have done. their
vz-nrl- co wall thor e4o
their case. The two chief causes then have
been bad fielding and weak hitting Now |
] think we have the causes of defeat clearly |
before us. Then comes the question for |
those who are decrying Manager Hanlon to |
decide: How far is a manager responsible |
for Dad fielding and weak hitting? 1 would |
Ike some OF those complainers to answer |
the question for ME. L have my own |
notion about it and 1 fear that |
it will not meet the views of those |
who are ever trying TO make a scapegoat of |
baseball manager In my estimation a |
manager is only responsible to the extent of |
getting the best work out of man or a |
number Of men. He cannot possibly be ex-
pected to make man do something that |
the man cannot do; in other words, if he is
not firSt-class player and cannot be one,
his manager must not be blamed because |
the player does not do first-class work
That is plain enough, certainly. We'll, |
then, what about the fielding of our team? |
Can any Of us with any fairness make Han
Ion responsible for the bad work OF Miller |
and Reilly? Bear in mind, that these two |
have themselves lost a sufficient number of |
games TO have placed the team in first place |
had these defeats been victories Hanlon |
or any other man could not make Miller |
play anything like frst-class at short and the |
same may be said in relation to Reilly But |
I will be asked by some why Manager Han
Ion has not secured an infelder to take |
Miller's place. That is just the difficulty. |
How and where can he secure such aplaver? |
! asked the question last Sunday and an
Arkansas correspondent reminds ME of
Walsh, Shugart and Schock, of the Western
League. But he stops where 1 stop. Can
we get them? is his question and so it is
mine. 1t is just as sure as we live
that if either Manager Hanlon or
President ONeil knew of anv infielder
who was superior to Miller he would be Sc
cured if possible. But if an infelder of
better qualities than Miller could not be
secured surely we cannot blame Manager
Hanlon. To further prove the correct
ness of my line of argument l will ask
Is 1t any more reasonable to make Hanlon
responsible for the imperfect work of Miller
and Reilly than to argue he is the
cause of the good work of Beckley and
Bierbauer? Manager Hanlon is not the
cause ofthe brilliant work of the two last
named. They are frst-class ball PLAYERS,
and as such they do their work Miller and
Reilly are not, and because they are not is
no fault of Mr.. Hanlon.
About the Poor Fitting.
Then comes the matter of Door hitting,
One of the most disappointing features of
the local team has been their poor hitting:
u, T la l. l.
the most disappointing feature. The team
were gotten together to be hitting team;
in hitting almost its entire strength was to
lie. But as a result we so far have almost
the worst lot of players in the country as
far as hitting the ball is concerned. This
lack of hitting has been one of the chief
sources of defeat. But ask: Is Manager
Hanlon responsible for man who goes to
the plate and fails to hit the ball? Is Man
sger Hanlon to be blamed because Pete
Browning faces the pitcher day after day
and strikes out? fancy hear somebody
saying: "Why Hanlon should instruct
them how to bat" Good gracious! Have
we gotten lot of school BOYS who don't
know how to bat. Has Manager Hanlon
10 give men like Beckley, Brown
Ing and Carroll lessons in batting? Ger
tainly there are times when a manager is re-
quired to instruct as to a sacrifice hit, but in
this respect Manager Hanlon's Judgment,
no matter whether it has been good or bad,
has cut very little figure. The great fault
has been that our big hitters have time after
time gone to bat and failed to make q hit
hold that Manager Hanlon is not respon-
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