The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-19
VERY TAME FINISH
Little Interest Is Taken in Closing
Games in the American
Association.

01S ACdS uC 4SclCCS A1SU U6VOlQ OF
Excitement-That Post
. Season Series.
Truly the American association baseball
race is proving tame affair at the finish.
First place Is settled; second Is cinched.
There is still a chance for Indianapolis to
beat out Milwaukee for third, but couple
Of wins by the brewers will cut that out.
Kansas City has a mortgage on fifth and
Columbus has nailed down sixth. The
only places in doubt are third and sew.
enth.
This is a decidedly colorless ending
compared to the cyclonic last lap a year
ago, when Indianapolis and louisville each
played two or three games a day IN the
effort to beat each other out for the rag.
it has been a dismal season
so far as Minneapolis is concerned.
The local management, it is true, has
spared neither money nor trouble in the
effort to strengthen the team. It did not
succeed, largely because the right man
was not secured to handle the team after
release. It's admitted that
Yeager is not a success as a manager,
aItho he is conceded to be No. l player.
With another manager the club might
have finished fourth or fifth, tho it had
little chance to be one, two, three.
The management states that several
new men have already been signed for
next year, altho it refuses to give out
any names except that of Ream,- the Rich
mond, Ind, pitcher. We are told, how
ever, that we will surely have winner
next year.
The Minneapolis public does not ask
pennant winner. A team that can run
one two, three will draw big crowds. A
tao ho fniS
good money. AL that the majority of the
fans want is an even chance to see the
home team win when they give up their
money to witness the game. A conpe-
tent manager, the expenditure of as much
money as was used this year, and ordinary
luck should bring the 1904 millers under
the wire in the first division.
The finishes in the two big leagues are
just as tame as those in the association.
In the American, however, there is room
for speculation about the other places.
Cleveland has no cinch on second, nor
Philadelphia on third. New York may
lose fourth to either Detroit or st. Louis,
and Chicago has a chance, tho a slim
chance, to overtake the last two named.
Washington and Boston are the only
teams that have cinched their places.
In the National New York and Chicago
are running close for second place, and
The other teams will finish about as they
stand now.
4 Eastern writer's declare that Pittsburg
is the only team in the National which has
played consistently strong baseball right
thru. That the pirates could win out so
handily in the face of the i'll luck expert
enced by the team demonstrates that they
are in a class by themselves SO far as
the other National league clubs are con-
5cerned. AT one time nearly every man in
the infield was candidate for tn hospital
Nevertheless the team has led by a good
margin for more than half the summer,
and has the pennant cinched altho the
men, according to Pittsburg scribes have
played horse considerably during the last
month.
A post-season game between the cham
pions OF the two leagues is practically a
certainty. The owners Of both clubs ia
Yor championship series, and undoubt-
edly the games will draw the biggest
crowds which ever witnessed a series Of
equal length, assuming favorable weather.
Opinion is about equally divided In re-
gard to the result. Boston is conceded
a slight advantage in pitching strength,
and behind the bat. Pittsburg has just
as slight an advantage in the infleld, and
there is not much to choose between the
two outfelds. It Will be largely q matter
of the form of the twirIers, for Fred
Clarke can afford to depend entirely upon
his veteran trio, Philippe, Lever, and
Doheny, and these three will show up as
well in the long run as Young, Hughes,
Winter and Gibson.
It is almost impossible to overestimate
the value of good baserunner to a
ball team. So many close games are de-
cided by timely clever work ON the lines
that base running is one of the most i'm
n IF no ahon Nc foo
lures that go with daring and successful
work on the bases please, the spectators,
and add interest to the game.
Let a good base runner get to first base
at critical juncture, and if the pre-
vious proceedings have been dull and
lifeless, action IS at once instilled into
the game. The pitcher becomes anxious
A good base runner will bother him and
handicap him in his work. The pitcher
will often work harder for the man on
the base than he will for the batter, CIV
ing the latter big advantage The catch
er knows the slightest slips he may make
will be taken advantage of, and the in
fielders know they will have to work fast
and sure to foil the runner, and at the
same time be prepared to handle infield
hits.
All this keys up the spectators to a high
pitch, and causes them to watch every
play with strict attention. The spectacular
features Of base running have always
been recognized. The start, a flelder's
cry Of There he goesi" the throw, the
slide. the cloud of dust and the close de-
cision combine to make the play one
Of the most fascinating of the game
John ]. McGraw, in the Illustrated Sport
ing News.
Jack Menefee denies that he offered to
bet $1,000 on the pirates winning from the
Boston American league team, but he
says that he is willing to bet little
money at that.
ST. Joseph has contributed three crack
catchers to the National league in Johnny
Killing, Charlie Doom and Frank Roth.
Scribe Tim Murnane estimates that the
Boston Americans will clear $50. 900 on the
season. He might have also said that the
| Boston Nationals will lose nearly that
much.
Dave" Fultz has played in four full
games this season, which gives him about
$500 a game. That is something like
Jack Townsend's record He has won
one game and received about 300 for 1t.
! Omaha, next to Denver, is the best
baseball town in the Western league, and
| it does seem strange that the two best
| towns should have tail-end teams. Yet
such are the ups and downs of baseball
and there does not seem to be a preven-