The Minneapolis journal., 1902-07-12
.MILLERS PICK UP
Addition of Kato1l and Cribbins
Has Worked Wonders.
INFIELD IS STILL CRIPPLED
Good Bnckstop Who Can Hit the Ball
- Is Now the Chief
Necessity.

Wilmot's band of miller men somewhat
redeemed themselves by breaking even on
the double series Of eight games with,
Kelly's saints. Although the latter team
is badly demoralized just now, with Geier
out of the game, and Lumley practically
incapacitated, it still would have had
little trouble in trouncing the millers Of
month ago. -.-f f
That the millers have been strength
ened cannot be questioned. The addition
of Katoll and Cribbins to the. pitching
staff has worked wonders. These two men
are pretty nearly on par with the best
in the league, and Lefty Sporer, while he
gets his bumps at times, has the most
important requisite of a twirler-he can
win games. Call it luck or anything else,
the man who can deliver the goods and
take down the money, whether it be on
a four flush or an ace full, is the kind of
man wanted. With these three twirlers
Wilmot has a trio, each one Of whom
ought to win the majority of his games,
even with such a light hitting bunch be-
hind him as the present miller band. New
t lin and Figgemeier are not as good as
| the three mentioned, but they are good
reserve men, and certainly there is a
wonderful difference between this quin-
tet and the staff of a few weeks ago
sporer, Chaplesh, Luther. e. -:
,. Not In Championship Form.
Still the millers cannot be said to be
playing the game in anything like cham
pionship form even now. The outheld is
in fair shape so far as fielding is con-
cerned, but although all ; three Of the
gardeners are supposed to be sluggers,
none Of them are hitting the ball as an
Outf1elder should. The infield is still in
rather demoralized condition.. The re-
turn of Quillin to- the game has helped
out immensely, it is true. The little short
stop Is certainly faster than chain light
ming and covers a lot of territory. Curley
| is not shortstop, and when he played
in that position he had the added rdisad-
vantage of bad finger, which seriously
affected his throwing. If the little second
baseman can get into the game again at
his rightful position, it may be possible
to. polish off the work of the infield into
the proper form. 49,, = = -. J. r.
The team is still weak behind the bat.
Neither, Zalusky nor Byers has been doing
good backstop work, Zalusky especially
having fallen down from: the form he dis
| played when he first Joined the team.
| Byers- has; the recommendation of occa-
| siopally swatting the ball, but it must be
| recognized that neither of the two men
| has been :playing up to the league stand
| ard A good backstop who is also, a hit
ter would make great difference in the
work Of the team; and with this depart
ment strengthened and the ..infield once
| more in shape, it might be possible to win
I games, even with poor stick work ..~-
May Pass the Brewers. r--1.*
!: Insits present. partly; rejuvenated con-
/ dition, the team has a fair. chance Of
passing the brewers. but it is doubtful
whether tt can overhaul Kansas City.
| lof{ tao, 0Ho "1,.ra h, S,ft nn6
slab artists and in addition has a col
lection Of swatters calculated to put any
weak hearted twirler out of the business.
Columbus shows. no signs of recovering
from it's recent slump, and may drop into
/ the second division before long. AS to
the millers overhauHng any Of the first
three clubs, however, it is out of the
t question. Louisville and Indianapolis,
while getting over the ground at merry
/ clip, have the appearance of going well
! within tf1ems selves, and show no signs Of
letting down. ~..-...>.- u. - e. 7-.5 c.s
The two big leagues continue to jog
along in the same :unfnteresting process
sion. Pittsburg has not been able to
| get back to- the 800 mark. but Is so
monotonously winning that little excite
ment can attach to athe national games.
THE pirates record Wednesday night,
aIter defeating Philadelphia, was forty
eight won and thirteen lost-a record
that has never been equaled. In. 1897
the Boston team, at the end, Of June, had
a record of forty victories and fourteen
| defeats, giving them a percentage Of
| TAI. s~,.., g. y, 49,. - s-.e -
/ Boston managed to pass Brooklyn dur
ing the week, Chicago having dropped to
| fourth place. = Still Hanlon's men seem to
have the best chance OF finishing in
second place. The men are mostly sea-
soned players, and their present form
appears to lbe pretty nearly their true
| one. Boston, on the other hand, has not
the advantage of leader like Hanlon,
and the men on paper do not look so
strong as the New Workers..
Selects Cubs DemoraIized
Selee's cubs are still in, the dumps.
Evidently the club started off at too swift
q pace for the youngsters to maintain.
I During the last month the men have been
switched from pillar to post in a vain
effort to get winning mbination.
Clark, the new first baseman secured from
| Ogden, Utah, appears to have caught on
fairly we'll but Schaefer, while hitting
the ball occasionally, has not been play
/ ing the third sack as it should be
played, and although the infeld Is kept
in poor condition by the weekly changes.
Selee has released Congalton, who after
| leading the league in batting for three
weeks, fell down until he was hitting
4 somewhere near the 100 mark. 1t Is hard
to explain the reason for this, as the ex-
miller had all the earmarks of a
| 6rst-class natural hitter. He may be
picked UP by New York.
Just what McGraw will be able to do in
New York remains to be seen. 'Muggsy
/ made a great. record in Baltimore in 1899,
/ but has fallen down badly this season and
1 last in the American League. Between
! being out Of the game with injuries, and
i out on suspension McGraw did not play
more than half the time this season, and
his club occupies a position in the per-
1 centage column considerably below what
i the paper strength of the men calls for.
i In New York, however, If McGraws has
] been given carte blanche, as he says he
has, he should be able to strengthen the
giants a little without much effort.
The American League race shows little
change, save that st. Louis managed to
| pull up tor a minute to second place,
where she rightfully belongs Boston
and rhiladelphia and st. Louis are so
closely punched, however. that 1t IS pret-
| ty hard to pick a winner. With the
Whitesox handicapped by the possibly
permanent loss OF Griffith, the American
League contest may become more inter
esting, although Oomiskey has plenty of
high-class twir1ers left, and can stand
Grif6th's loss .betetr than almost any
other club could endure the disabling OF
It's star pitcher:
Notes of the Players.
| Jesse Tannehi1I, Of the champion Pittsburgs,
is one OF the league pitchers who will go with
the two teams that will visit Honolulu at the
close Of the present season. Tannehill will
pitch with the all+national team OF which
Jake Beckley and Sam Crawford will also be
SnI,o hall nlavors gre E, =, 5,,r oe yura