Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-20
WIN MERCER AN EASY MARK
National sluggers straighten Out His
Curves with Much Freedom.
A~LL-AStMCANs oUTPlAYED EVERYWHERE
Second Game of the Two Proves q
Snap for Representative Of
the Older of the Big
Leagues.

The All-Star Nationals won yesterdays
game at Vinton street park because they
outplayed their American league opponents
at every turn OF the road. Mi. Donovan,
the tall. shspely twirler for the Nationals,
was largely responsible for the way things
went. He was very much Of an enigma
to the All-Americans, and yet was by no
means stingy, for he gave out seven free
passes to first. Counteracting this erratic
work, however, Donovan struck out twelve
men and held his rivals down to a scanty
iive hits. II must not be forgotten that
Donovan went a long ways toward winning
the game with the stick. He got his base
every time he went to the bat, which was
FIVE, drove out two safe hits and scored
three times.
Big Sam Crawford from Wahoo was again
one Of the pillars Of the game. Indeed, a
heavy load rested on Sans broad shout
ders. but he supported It In veteran style.
When Sam stepped up to the plate in
the hrst inning a din Of hurrahs went up
started by hundreds Of wahooans who were
there for Sans special beneht. Then came
the bouquet. II was a large horseshoe Of
lowers with "wahoo' tattooed on the
upper round. Sam took II, bowed and
grinned. He didn't do anything this time
at the bat, but showed his love for flowers
by rapping out two doubles and one single
later in the day. II was whoop for Sam
from start to finish, and Sam paid for
every whoop. too.
TOpsy HartzeTs star Catch.
II it hadn't been for Little Sawed-off
Hartzel out in center field Sam could have
swelled his credit account with a nice long
three-bagger. In the fourth inning, with
ayn an hazAn H-A-No.I liza -
which looked as II 1t was going to leap
the center field fence. Just as the ball
arose to the sight Of the big crowd a wee
mite OF a white-headed fellow was seen to
start in the direction Of the fence. Then
the sphere began to descend. Finally 1t
reached the ground, but it failed to make
a touchdown. Hartzel snatched 1t on a
dead run and with the ball in his hands
rolled head over heels. In the meantime
Big Sam was down about second base. The
crowd yelled itself hoarse. 1t was a phe-
nomenal catch. II was a fine thing for
Hartzel, however, that he tore out Of the
game with this brilliant play to his credit,
for he made two grievous errors after
that. Taking the catch of Sans long fly
and the little center felder's three-bagger
into consideration. however, the credit side
Of his ledger how up we'll as compared
to his debit side.
Mercer Was Easy.
II became evident early In the game that
the Nationals had an easy thing with Mer-
GERS curves. They seemed to jump onto
them whenever 1t was necessary, but on
the contrary, Donovan was too much for
the Americans all the way through. Only
once did things really look close, and that
was in the eighth inning, the beginning
OF which for the Americans found the score
Z to 2 in favor Of the Nationals. In this
inning the Americans pounded out two hits
and drew three bases on balls. which netted
them three runs. In the ninth little Hart
eel did his best to open things again. It
was then he drove in his three-base hit.
but there were two outs at that time, and
while Donovan allowed Jones to walk, Davis
was unable to untwist the benders that
went toward him.
teams, which have been travelling together,
have been looking forward to the time
when they would reach the Gate City.
1--WE will a some money when we get
to Omaha" was a common expression
among the men. For Omaha's reputation
as the best ball town west of the Missouri
has become thoroughly known In other
parts Of the country.
There was certainly no cause for dis
appointment among any Of the visiting
players yesterday, for the crowd easily
numbered 5000. and it was an enthusiastic
crowd, too. Score: