The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-05
THEY LET THE REMNANT GO.
GETHER FOR THE SEASON OF
1896.
BATTING
SCIENCE.
Why Burkett, Hamilton, Keller and
Chtids Land So Many Balls
Safely.

A>CW AOAh, July I.-bdSe pail In Plll-
adelphia is as unsettled as the mind OF
summer girl or as the weather in
March. In the early spring all eyes
were centered upon the Quaker team
and but for the experience of other
years they would, by their initatory
work, have become favorites in the
pennant race. Every one, however, re-
membered the In and out playing of
the team during former seasons and
the wise observer said, Wait. The wait
was not so long this year as formerly
for the break came little earlier than
usual. From the work of a fornlida Bile
candidate for pennant honors the
Phillies fell off to form which IL main
tanned would nearly land them at the
bottom Of the column before the sea-
son ends
1t Is no surprise, therefore, that the
owners and managers Of the club have
finally made up their minds to reor-
ganize the team;to weed out and trans
plant. Individually the PHILADELPHIA
team Is very strong; collectively 1t is
weak. When body Of players passes
through several successive seasons
without doing much good for the club
the most sensible policy Is to reor9a-
n1ze, weed out and inject new blood. In
many cases star players represent the
fault and should be disposed of. Ros-
ton found it's team growing useless last
year on account Of internal dissen sions
which would not heal. The club. there
fore, got rid of Nash and Mccarthy
Inc indications are that the pruning
process was not close enough
Boston attended to its REORGANIZATION
between seasons. Philadelphia is drfv-
en- to 1t in midseason. President Lin
coin sounded a warning against swap
ping horses while crossing a stream
but every case has its exception. and
presume the Philadelphia club people
are justified in the radical course thew
have recently taken I'D.
AFTER a series of disappointments
running through several years. where
oy their team has raised their patrons
TO the pinnacle Of hope only to plunge
tnem into the mire Of disappointment
the club officials have given up their
1a1tn In the collection of PLAYERS and
nave decided to reorganize in medias
res They frankly Acknowledges that
they surrender all expectation of win
nlng this years pennant and realize
that py maintaining their present team
they nave little to hope for In the fu-
ture. They accordingly begin to trim
Tor future championships Old PLAYERS
VINO slump annually just when their
services are most needed will be ex-
changed for, new material, and g. re-
organized team OF Phillies will be in
the field before August. ~ ,a,'.s-
Bitter as may, be the thought OF aha I.
doning the 1896 fight before II ia half
over, the clubs patrons must acknow1-
cage the wisdom Of the course adonted
by the management. It is heroic no1icv
ana proves the stability of professional
oase pail and Of the National league
When club looks ahead several wears
ana by so doing makes immediate sac
rlnces, 1t announces to the world that
It's business has permaEency.
some or the players who will be ex-
changed by the' Philade1phians may do
much better with other clubs and in
other cities. 1t Is the experience Of
baseball managers that players often
lose their usefulness by too much serv-
Ice FOR one club. Change Of place fire.
quently renews a players declining
abilities. III any case the reorganiza-
ton policy Of the Philadelphia club
will be watched with much interest
The plan was successfully worked by
the Washington club, which since 1891
has gradually replaced it's old players
until only two of them, Maui and Ma
guire, remain. The result has been a
success.
The remarkably playing of Second
Baseman Childs Of the Cleveland club
calls to mind that very few men who
were inclined to fattiness ever made
good ball players. Childs is probably
the best example Of the exceptions,
though Cartwright, Clements, Griffin
and Lyons may be classed with him in
lesser degree. Briody, Lew Brown and
a few other old timers made reputa-
tions Oh the diamond in spite of their
fat
Those players who are inclined to
acquire overweight of soft tissue dur
ing the winter never last long. The
annual training off Is bound to tell in
few years, and they thereby lose their
usefulness. The other extreme is in
nearly the same predicament Your
lanky, long, skinny player can stand
the strain Of training less thar. the fat
fellow. He is too apt to overtrain,
which Is not an infrequent result
among league players. Sullivan of the
Philadelphia overturned last year and
had to be sent. to the seashore to re-
cuperate before ne was able to do his
natural work on the team
1t Is the brawny, large boned, coarse
muscled man, like Jennings, Arson, Te-
beau, Thompson, Delehanty, LANCE.
Herman, Davis, Lachance, Long, Mil
Ter, Conner, Beckley ard Joyce, who
oil
last longest. With them may be cIassed
the short, wiry man Of the Keeler,
Dahlen, Burke, Shoch, Mercer, HOY.
Hamilton, McGraw build. Overtrain-
ing Is particularly common among the
skinny players, and probably to that
cause can be traced the reason for so
many men like Whitney and Sullivan
dying from consumption.
It Is reported that Arson wants to
bet $500 to 500 that he will play ball
until his club wins the league pennant.
Rumor also has 1t that no Spectator
in chance has been found with courage
to cover the bet. If this be true, IL
shows how firm Is the popular belief
that possibly a third generation may
enjoy Uncle Adrian's antics upon the
ball field. Between Anson's perennial
youth and his success in developing
star ball players he seems to have some
grounds for his proffered wager. but
scarcely at that margin possibly there
Is a general reluctance to tempt the
old man by desire to save him $500
to remain on the diamond another
quarter OF a century.
Arson Is not losing any Of his sDtr
itua1 fire IL he is getting a bit stiff In