The morning times., 1895-09-07

The following communication, sent to
the sporting editor of The Morning Times
by tried and true "rootcr'' for the
Washington baseball club, unCoubtcdly in
dcNes the thoughts Of a great many regu-
lar attendants At the National Park II
shows, at least, a careful study OF the
individual players, an accurate memory
Of the seasons history and q clear under
standing OF the greatest OF all games
IL is reproduced without further intro
duction Tor what it is worth:
Editor Times To say that the present
team mas been a disappointment To owners
ana managers Is but an echo OF their own
expressions. There are players upon the
team who are recognized the country over
as competent aud skilled, who have not
been playing the game OF their life To any
alarming extent.
It Is not charged against these that
they wiIfully shirked OF neglected their
duties. Many unfortunate circumstances
have combined TO impair tlcir usefulness.
The first serious misfortune that ar
fiGed the team was the injury TO Mauls
pitching arm, which has Kept him out OF
The game Tor about two months. The loss
Of his services was seriously felt, as he
was in perfect form. aud the clubs most
reliable pitcher
Boyd, the left handed pitcher who was
fast developing into star. was the next
victim, and was forced to retire from
the game, in consequence Of lame arm.
StoCksdale was chronically out of con
dition, and was finally released This
left the club With but TWO pitchers, Mer-
Ger ana Anderson, upon whom they could
rely, As Malareky had not established him
self as a first-class artist, though he is
promising youngster and VIII yet be
favorably heard from. He, too, is a pres
ent a victim to the "hoodoo," aud has
been sick with malaria.
PITCHERS WERE WANTED.
With the pitching department thus de-
moralized, it is not a matter of aston
ishment that the team failed to play win
ming ban. Two games cay for several
days in success was too much for
Mercer and Anderson, and their usually
effective work was seriously impaired
New and untried men were often substi-
I tuted, bXt no satisfactory results fol
lowed.
The injury TO Cartwright, who was
wantonly and wickedly thrown at the plate
by Clark, one Of the Baltimore team, neces-
stating his removal from the game for iva
4 weeks, was another serious dra wback to the
/ success Of the club.
The next unfortunate visitation was the
| collision between Scheibeck, the shortstOp,
! a nd Sclbach, the left fielder, two Of the most
/ valuable men on the team. This seemed
the Crowning sheaf OF our fatalities, two
! Of the most important positions vacant and
no one in sight competent TO fill the posi-
! tions, which finally had to be played by two
/ Of the crippled pitchers, who could not throw
! a ban fifty feet after they caught it.
But the woes were not yet over. Jack
/ Crooks, our reliable second baseman, had
1 the misfortune TO break one Of his fingers
during game and wasrelegatedt to theranks
/ Of the disabled.
About this time a promising young player
named Lush, whose release Mr.. Wagner had
/ purchased at a big price from one of the
/ Eastern leagues, reported for duty, but in
a crippled condition, having injured one of
his fingers an a recent game. Seeing the
crippled con6itfon of the club he insisted on
taking Selbach's place in left field, where
/ il vase evident 10 every body that he was play
ing under great difficulty in consequence Of
the pain he was suffering from his injured
finger, but he pluckily stood up TO his
work and played three games, when a
surgeon told the young man that he would
not be able to play again this season-and
| there are Others.
AS TO MR.. SCHMELZ.
The most prudent and careful manager in
the business cannot fortify himself against
such a combination of unfortunate circum-
1 stances as here detailed. Gus Schmelz is
fayorably known throughout the country as
hard working, prudent and successful
manager and has developed and brought
out many star players. He may and doubt
less has made mistakes in his eaTnAt en-
deavor to get together a winning team, but
there can be no one more disappointed than
Gus that his efforts have not been more
successful.
Earl Wagner undoubtedly feels a keen
disappointment. He is in the market To
pay extravagant prices for good bal'play-
ers and has offered fancy prices time and
| again for star players.
Aside from a financial consideration
(which is usually ''sine qua non'' in all
bhese mattersb, Mr.. Wagner's personal pride