The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-20
LOSE BATTING EYES

Weak Hitting the Main Cause Of
Millers' Defeats During
Past Week.
Slump Should Be Only Temporary
Pretty Fight in the Ameri-
can League.
! Three shutouts in four games for the
club which leads the league in batting.
| Did any one ever hear OF a like record!
| That is what happened to the millers be-
| tween Saturday Of last week and Wednes-
day of this week.
The slump Of the millers in hitting has
been the surprise Of the week In the
American association. 1t was not a sud-
! dem drop for during the last few games
of the home series the team began to fall
of in this department of the game. AT
Toledo and Columbus the batting OF
Yeager's men was not heavy, tho they
were usually lucky in punching their
hits. It was believed, however, that this
would last but short while, and that
ere long the team would again begin to
run its base hit totals into double figures.
Instead ofE;that the singles have ranged
| from one to five or six game In the last
week. Just what caused this slump is
one of the mysteries of baseball. 1t Is
more serious feature with the m1llers,
however, than it would be with some OF
the other clubs. The millers outside of
their batting are poor run getting team.
| They have few good hunters, and are
VIGOROUSLY slow and lacking in team work
! on the bases. Their runs must be driven
out by clean hitting, and when the hit
ting drops, runs are slow in coming.
The pitchers have been doing good work
on the WHOLE but the best pitching in the
world won't win games unless the club is
| making runs itself. The teams fielding,
moreover, has been extremely ragged.
| three and four errors a game being qulte
! common. >
i The pitching staff of the millers cannot
] be considered better than that Of several
! of the other teams, altho it is as good
!; as most of them. It was believed when
!. Jack Katoll rejoined the team that his
arm was in first-class shape: again, but
Mondays game, when the big German
| was taken out of the box, aroused q
i doubt, and this was intensified when
Thomas was used to pitch Thursday aft
ernoon, altho it was Katolls turn.
Yeager is quicker to take out a. slat
man than most managers, and it is posi-
isble that he removed Katoll sooner thar
4 was necessary Monday. His sending II
Thomas Thursday, however, indicate:
that he did not think the Teuton ready
to toe the scratch If this supposition !:
4 correct,s and only three of the twirlers arr
in shape to take their regular turns 1t Ii
unfortunate, for once in three days |:
too often for most twirlers to work ane
deliver the goods.
With Katoll in shape the team woult
be possibly better off for pitchers thai
any other. team. If he is not the miller
must strike their gait in batting soon
for in fielding several clubs are as strong
and in base running three; or four ar
stronger. There is every reason to be
lieve that the slump is only temporary
and if the men begin to line them GU
4 again a string Of victories such as char
acterized the last four series at home
may be expected. Assuming that this
squirt comes. the men should break ever
with Louisville, and get three out of thu
Six games with Milwaukee and Kansas
City, which will bring them home will
practically an even break for the trip.
The only western team that has i'm.
! proved it's standing on the eastern jaun
} Is St. Paul, which has been holding it:
) own against Indianapolis and pulling W
steadily on Milwaukee. This shoult
5 cause no surprise, for the saints are easil!
one of the strongest teams in the league
They have good pitchers, good -batters
and, taken as class, the best base run
ners in the bunch. Their fielding, also
:, will class we'll with any of the others
tho possibly Indianapolis and Columbu
have a slight edge on Kelly's men.
nraSent a round form IS Indian
apolis and ST. Paul seem to be TIL
strongest teams in the league. Thei
! game has been consistent from the start
and both of them appear certain to b.
one, two, three at a finish.
In the National League, altho New Yorl
shows no signs of a slump, Pittsburg ha
:. been playing much faster ball than an.
:. other club. These two teams appear to b
in class by themselves, and unless som
! Of the others show unexpected form, vii
S fight it out for the pennant. Chicag
has too many youngsters in all depart
4 ments to stand grueling contest, an
Cincinnati, tho strong on paper, has no
been playing IN major league form. Kel
+ ly has yet to win his spurs as a manager
: and up to date he has not been able t
develop team work in his men.
: Between Pittsburg and the giants tn
e finish should be close, but the odd
n slightly favor Pittsburg. The pirates ar
much stronger in the tnfield and outfiel
s than the giants, and the former have tn
n advantage Of several years work to
gether, Sebring being the only new mar
: outside of the battery points.
r s New Yorks only advantage is in pitch
v ers and catchers, and here the differenc
: is not strongly marked. MattheWso1
McGinnity and Taylor are a strong tri
and Cronin and Miller are up to the aver
\ age of National Leaguers, but Phillip
7 DOheny and Lever, when in form, 81
nearly as good as the giant combination
while Merritt and Wilhelm also have bee
doing consistent work. Bowerman an
;. Warner are Sterling catchers and ha,
the edge on Phelps and Smith, but tt
exceptionally strong, Is by no means
point of weakness.
None Of the American League teams
yet out Of the race, aItho only five al
= likely to be factors after the middle
- the season. Philadelphia and Clevelar
just now are playing the strongest gam
:. The two teams represent two dtstin
:. types. Philadelphia has few star ind
- vidual players, but has developed tea
work to high degree. Cleveland, on tt
le other hand, represents the team of sta
le as opposed to the all-star team. II
o. babes, like the athletics, however prese
y practically the same lineup as ye
N ago, and their hitting mikes the
70 formidable. r
= The New York invaders are shown
Is some Improvement in their game. T.
70 material certainly is there, and the ia