The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-17
NEW WORKERS HAD THINGS THEIR WAY Birmingham Players Sadly in
 Need of Practice, TINA SCORE WAS 13 TO 0 Would Be Unjust to Attempt to criti. else the Coal Barons, as All
 of Them Were Playing
 Out of Position.
TINA SCORE WAS 13 TO 0

of the season, 1t is but fair to say tndt slagtown was disappointed As an inci- dent it might be well todd that the score was New York 1s Birmingham 0.
 On account of the absence of several regular men Manager OBrien was forced to put up patch work team against the National leaguers, and consequently the sport was as exciting as closely con tested game of croquet. As a matter of fact it was fierce.
 From the very start Birmingham was outclassed not only in condition but in final fitness and with this double handi- cap there was mourning in the valley of West End
 Hundreds of cranks tried hard to think that the Barons had a chance, but there was simply nothing doing. One Ineasly scratchy single was the aggregate sum of the slagtown hits. and with that against them 1t was all off for the day.
 Not Fair to Criticise.
 To attempt criticism of the work of the Birmingham team would be unfair.
  was in condition and early in the game the Coal Barons took an aeronautic voy- age and McGraws' Giants chased around the bases like mechanical horses on parlor race track. Muggsy pressed the button and his men did the rest.
 Wagner was the only one of the Bir- mingham pitchers who was partly free from the stiffness of winter and none of them attempted to let himself out. Know ing the danger of an early stiff arm O'Brien instructed his men not to over work themselves, but such instructions were unnecessary. They simply could not do it. Even Billie Smith, the tried and trusted fielder, had kink in his back and muffed two fys after beautiful runs. To an experienced baseball crank the at tempt of these men to get gay while stin and sore was ludicious. They were game to the core however, and took the mild and jovial roast from the grand stand good humoredly. They knew they were in no condition but did the best they could.
 pitcher was on first base, an untried infielder was on second, a fielder was at short and the stortstop played third.
 Tamsett Does Nice Work.
 Tamsett did some excellent work at third and the big leaguers had few tricks to show him. He Is as fast as lightning on handling round balls and runs like deer. The crowd liked his work, and the New York players pronounced him gem of the first water. Though unused to the position, Lynch did some very nice work at short. and showed himself abl, to hold down almost any job on the team Mcconnell, who, by the way, got the only hit on the Birmingham team, evidently had stage fright, and juggled with the ball on several occasions, not knowing which way to throw it. The players in- sist however. that the cranks will yet take off their hats to this youngster from Toledo. His hit consisted of a slash at the pitcher which was too hard to handle. Mllerick caught a perfect game and no fault could be found with the gentleman from Wakefield. Duffy handled himself well In the field and showed but little soreness.
 None of the men for Birmingham could hit the ball and that Is the story. On the other hand, the Giants swatted the ball at will and took all kinds of chances on the bases. McGann did the heavy work with the stick, landing on the Slag- town twirlers for two three -baggers, and a two-bagger. Several long drives which would ordinarily have gone for two and three bags were caught by the Birmng- ham feders.
 New Workers in Trim.
 The New York men had enjoyed eight days practice, while the Coal Barons had not had one They only assembled day before yesterday, and were then afraid to practice for fear of being too sore to play the first practice game with New York. They will go actively at work to- day and will be able to give a much bet ter account of themselves when they face New York for the second time on Sauur- day.
 The baseball rooters who harshly crit icize the work of the Birmingham play CTS do them an injustice. Give them a chance
 Manager McGraw of the New York team said last night that he would be delighted to contribute his share of the receipts of game to be played one day next week for the benefit of the Vulcan fund. The local management had already agreed to this proposition. and a day will be set probably during the early part of the week. With good attendance this game ought to net the Vulcan fund be- tween $500 and $,o00
 The tabulated score of yesterdays game is as follows:
 The tabulated score follows: