The Minneapolis journal., 1902-06-28
RAY OF HOPE SEEN
Miller Management Busy in Search
for New Players.
THE FIRST TANGIBLE RESULTS

Acquisition of KatolI and Dan Lally
ought to Materially Strength
en- the Team.
light ray of hope shot athwart the
gloom oyerhanging local baseball fans
during the past week, when the Mime
apolis management announced the acqu1-
sition Of Jack Katoll and Dan Lally,
the first step in the fulflment of their
promise to beg, buy or steal players.
These two men will not help the team
add material strength to the aggregation,
Katoll is a steady, reliable pitcher, fields
his position well, and bats fairly well
for a twirler. On his past record he
shows up stronger than any pitcher who
has worked for Wilmot this season.
For the past two years Katoll has been
with the Chicago whitesox. Last season
he pitched twenty-three games, winning
twelve. His fielding average was .912.
and his batting average .125.
Dan Lally Is a clean, steady outfielder,
and a reliable ,sticker. He ought to be
great improvement over McFarlan, whose
batting has been largely minus quantity
ever since the beginning Of the season.
Other Men in Sight.
Wilmot is said to have his lines out also
for three new men. One of them is said
to be from the Chicago National League
club, and quite possibly it is Herman
Schaefer, who has been playing the bench
pretty regularly for the recruits. Un-
questionably Schaefer would be an ac-
QUESTION. He seems able to play almost
any position in the infeld, and he puts
a considerable amount OF ginger into his
work. In hitting he is much stronger than
either Curley or Quillin.
While it Is most disheartening for the
fans to watch their team plugging along
in the same old seventh place, and losing
games with regularity that threatens
to send it to the very bottom of the lad,
der 1t must be confessed that the man
agement seems to be doing everything In
it's power to strengthen the team. Will
mots bill for railroad fare and telegraph
| tolls spent in the search for new men
must alone amount to considerable sum.
Up to date the big league clubs have
been very slow in letting go of players,
and 1t has been very difficult to get hold
OF good ones. 1t seems as If the elastic
! quality of players legs nowadays had
led all the managers to keep as many ex-
ira men as possible on hand in case OF
sudden desertions. When team like
Pittsburg-the only one that has so far
escaped the raids of Johnson ct al.-keeps
bench, it is not to be expected that the
weaker clubs will begin to cut down.
The millers managed to drop the full
! two series with Louisville and Indianapo-
lis. Even -Katoll couldn't stem the tide,
although he made desperate effort to
win Wednesdays game with the colonels.
! The colts have been unable of late to
hit the ball at opportune times. They not
only make their safe ones at the wrong
stage of the game, but they pick out the
wrong games for their heavy hittings.
When the pitchers have done fair work,
the men behind them have refused to
smash the leather, and when they do
find a twirler they can hit, it generally
! happens that the Minneapolis performer
is hit just triae harder. The only thing
for the fans to, do is to pray for the
speedy advent of the promised new men.
st. Paul Also in Hard Luck.
| Strange to say, st. Paul has had no
better luck than Minneapolis during its
playing in hard luck, and have dropped
the first five games since leaving home.
| This is surprising reversal of form, for
the saints ought at least to have taken
one game In each series. But they have
run up against some sensational pitching,
| and their own twirlers have been un-
mercifully bumped by Tebeau's and Wat
kins' men. The latter, thanks to the gen.
erosity of the twins, have cinched more
firmly their hold on the first and sec
ond positions.
| Little change has been recorded in the
positions of the National League and
! American clubs. Chicago and Pittsburg
selves and with wpide patch of daylight
| between them and the bunch. The white
sox have margin of something over 100
points, and the pirates nearly twice as
much. Brooklyn's fierce. squirt toward the
| top has been checked, and Hanlon's s
men are now Just holding their ewn in
| second place. Similarly the recruits have
recovered from their attack Of the willies.
and are now playing good ball again. al
| though with q patched up team.
The Detroit team; which started out
| the season like whirlwind, now appears
to be thoroughly disorganized, and has
sunk to seventh place, with an excellent
prospect of reaching the bottom, as Cleye-
land Is wtnlng games pretty regularly
since La Joie Joined the team. The tigers
are reported to be split way up the back
| by internal dissensions, and the story
| sounds probable, for nothing else can ex-
plain the listless game which Is being
| put up by team comprising such scrappy
players as Elberfeld, Casey, Gleason.
the tigers ought to be way up in the first
division.
Fight for Second Place.
Boston, Philadelphia and ST. Louis ara
putting up pretty fight for second place
| In the American League, and it Is pretty
hard to pick the winner, although Nc
\ AAeer's men ought to stand higher than
they do. Possibly a case of too many
stars.
| Chicago and Pittsburg broke the sea-
sons record for extra inning games this
week, playing nineteen innings and the
cubs finally winning by score of to q
| Jack Taylor, the mainstay Of the Selee
i pitching staff, did the work for Chicago
| while Deacon Philippe, the star Of the
1 pirates star collection of slab artists
performed for the Dreyfus aggregation.
! Curiously enough, each man was hit thir-
teen times.
/ Rov Brasheer is still among the ten
premier batsmen OF the National League
/ Congalton has dropped way below the
900 mark, something that will be a-great
| surprise to his friends.
4 Mankato Semi-Centennia1 and EII<s
\ Jubilee June so to July 8, 1902.
For this celebration the Chicago Grea'
Western railway will, on June 80 and july
4 1 and 2, sell excursion tickets to Mankato