The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-28

baseball team given out yesterday is identical with the list published by The Advertiser few days ago with few additions.
 The team as a whole looks to be the strongest aggregation in the Southern League, and with the possible exception of the powerful team that Dick German had here in 1896 will be perhaps the fast est combination that ever represented Montgomery.
 Of the 9 men Manager Stickney has. the contracts of eleven of them safely locked up. while three of them have ac- cepted terms. seven are on the reserve list and one is drafted. Such an array of
 300 hitters has seldom been seen on any one team in the Southern League, and the indications are that the local fans will see some of the best baseball this summer that they have ever seen. From the battery down. everything looks strong.
 To begin at the backstop. there is Will kie Clark and Harry Manners, two of the best all round catchers in the league This is no smoke from any pipe, but is drawn by the card of actual experience, the work of both catchers being demon strated to the full satisfaction of every man, woman and child that attended a bah game in Montgomery last season. They are both very popular in Montgom- cry, and the loss of either of them would be a blow to the team. C1ark's great forte is throwing to bases and outside of the big leagues no cato,ldr in the business can get anywhere near his class. His throwing to second is as accurate and true as a rife shot, and one of the most delightful features of the game last summer to the local fans was to see Ciark's arm draw back when a runner started to steal second. Invariably the ball was safe in the hands of Kid Busch or Clarence Childs, whichever one was covering the bag at the time, and the runner was dead by the time he reached the bag. At the bat he hit so close to 300 that he may almost be called a 300 hitter, and he had the reputation of be- ing the most reliable pinch" hitter in the league, as nine times out of eleven if there was a runner on second Clark could be depended on to bring him in. His base running is way above the av- craze.
 Harry Manners did not play but very few games in Montgomery last season. but in the ones that he did play he showed that he is about as good catch CT as Clark. He hits well. runs bases and throws well, though Clark easily ex cells him. or any other catcher in the league. in getting under and pulling down foul flies.
 Clark has already signed and returned his contract while Manners Is the same as signed. being on last years reserve list. Of the seven men composing the pitch ing staff, three have already signed con- tracts. two are on the reserve list and one has accepted terms. Roach Is the south paw that Whistler had eigned for last season. He did not want to come South and got his release by Montgomery, playing the last season in the Western League where he is said to have been very fast. Carter, Californian, is a new man and unknown. but he has a No. i reputation. Deaver is one of the best known pitchers in Ine South and is considered a good, reliable right-hander. He started with Nashville last season, but was taken sick and kept out of the game during the entire season. These three have already signed contracts Hartwell is one of the California impor- tations and was one of the star right handlers of the Pacific coast league last summer, as was Lucas. Polchow and Stultz are too well known in Montgomery to need much said about them. Stultz pitched some wonderfully brilliant games last season, and was possibly the most reliable pitcher in the Southern League Polchow had the most dazzling array of speed of any pitcher in the Southern League, but his control at the beginning of the season was not the best in the world. AS the season advanced his con- trol became better, but towards the end of the season his arm went back on him. If his arm is all right, and he is as good this year as he was last year, he will prove a tower of strength to the slab department.
 For the four positions in the infield there are six candidates, and each one looks to be top notcher. Frank Dele hanty, who was with Atlanta in 1902 and hits in the neighborhood of 300, and Henry lansing will have tryout for third base. Lansing is one of the Californians. | and was one of the heavy hitters in the