The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-08-05
VETERAN PITCHERS
AND THE YOUNGSTERS
Balance Is Nearly Always 10 Favor Of
the Old Men.
YOUNG BLOOD IS DISAPPOINTING
Old Heads Rather Than Young Arms
Tell the StOry..Cincinnati the Best
Equipped with Box Material.
Brooklyn Ranks Next..BaltimOre
Has Only a Pair of Stars..The
Other Clubs.


league this season." is a question that
is agitating the cranks as much as ever.
The campaign is now far enough ad-
vanced to Judge Of the merits of clubs
and individuals: every twirler has now
been tried out most thoroughly and
there seems to be little reserve talent
left unused.
1t looks as If the young blood of the
season was not in it to any great extent,
50 far as pitching is concerned. Hill
and Fraser of Louisville. have shown
some signs of ability and some of the
men picked up at the finish Of last fall
are doing well enough. Yet the veter-
ans rule and their old. willy heads are
the ones that are doing the winning.
RED" Ehret. in Cincinnati, Is doing
as good pitching as anybody. 1t is ar
gued that Red" always could pitch
and that he never before tried to do his
best. But he had no such excuse for
incidence when he was with Pittsburg
as he had with st. Louis, and the best
he ever did before was very feeble be-
side his deeds of 1896. Dwyer. Rhlnes,
Fisher and Foreman. the rest of the
Reds pitchers, are all winning their
games and yet not one of the five Gin
cinnati Slabmen was considered really
great before this summer II Is case
where the hearty confidence and hon
est eXertion of the team behind them
makes the men victorious and so uni
form is the caliber of these five pitchers
that any one of them could be dis
abled, as Rhines has been, and the team
would not be weakened in the least.
Any three of the five could carry the
team.
BALTIMORE. STARS.
Hoffer and Mcmahon, Baltimore's
star pair. have been erratic this year,
and neither has done the work he did
last season. Yet they win-anybody
could win with the Baltimore team to
back him-and neither would amount to
much on any other nine. Pond, Han
Ions young discovery. has done great
deal to keep Baltimore up in front. and
there have been few good games
pitched by Esper, Hemming and Clark
son. Nevertheless. the work of the Bal
timore six has not been equal to that of
the Cincinnati five.
Cleveland is powerfully armed in the
box. Last year. had either Young or
Cuppy been injured. all bets would
have been off with the Tebeau gang.
This year Wilson. the failure of last
summer, has turned winner and could
take the place of either of the stars as
a game capturer. Wallace is a good
fourth and the Cleveland .quartette
must be regarded as dangerous clear
through the campaign. .,.,
Chicago just at present seems well
fixed for pitchers. but there is an ele-
ment of uncertainty about the work of
Anson's twirlers. Griffith can always
be relied upon: the heady little fellow
has no superior as a general and, with
a shade more speed. would be far away
the best pitcher in the league. Terry,
Friend and Briggs are all given to fall
ing down when games are needed, al
though they do some great pitching ever
and anon.
Frank Killen. the left fielder. is doing
Pittsburg's winning. Hawley is still
headstrong and erratic, Hughey Is no
wonder. and Hastings is apt to prove
too light for the league. Pittsburg. on
pitchers alone has not even chance to
pass Chicago.
Nichols of Boston stands alone as the
teams one great pitcher. He does his
pV't W 'diiS thV Sitp' out ''tNVttS,
Lewis. sullivan and Doan are all un-
certain quantities ana the cluD should
rank about with Pittsburg on the sea-
son.
Philadelphia is down in the mud and
will hardly get out of seventh position.
Orth. last years wonder. Is not winning
games; Carsey never was marvel and
has nothing but his nerve: Taylor Is
hard to govern and Gumbert is in the
evening of baseball life. The young
sters. keener and Garvin will do
some day. Meanwhile. they are losing
games.
BROOKLYN'S ARE ALL GOOD.
Brooklyn's pitchers are really good.
and the weak hitting of the team seems
to be all that keeps Il down. Stein.
Kennedy. Daub and PAYNE are all good
men. they are almost If NOT ouite as
valuable as any four of the Cincinnati
nitchers and vet the club can't win
There is no talk of internal rebellion
or trouble and the poor showing of the
RrookIvns must. therefore remain one
or the mysteries of the year.
, ',' o ,' aus, "s '". ~