The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-03-20
HOW THEY LINE UP
Western Association Teams
Made Up for 1905.
Guthrie, Oklahoma City and
Wichita Now on List.
TOPEKA STANDS WE'LL.
Secretary Logan Thinks Home
Team win Play High.
Oklahoma City Falls Heir to
Winning lola Stars.

All over the Western Association cir
cult the work of making UP the teams
for the season Of 1905 is practically COM
pleted. Changes will be made, of course,
as the season advances, new men will
be tried out and old men tested again
as of yore. The three new towns, Guth-
RE, Oklahoma City and Wichita would
be expected to have the hardest sled
ding, just as Topeka did last year. The
building up of an entire new team is
the work Of years and not a few days.
This trio of southern towns have an ad-
vantage, however, which this city did
not have, namely, they bought fran
chlses on which players of 1904 have al
ready been reserved. Oklahoma City
got in on the ground floor and gathered
up most of Iold'S pennant winning stars.
Wichita got the Pirates, a good second
rate team. Guthrie is holding the sack,
for that town bought the Fort Scott
franchise.
In looking over the players signed on
the entire circuit. it will first of all be
easily conceded that Topeka stands an
infinitely better show than it did last
year at the tail-end of the season, at
which time the Saints were playing a
pretty fair article of baseball. But a
little close inspection still discloses that
many of the old stars who played under
the Missouri Valley flag are still in
local harness. Joplin, Oklahoma City,
Sedalia and to an extent Springfield, all
four contenders for last years bunting,
have corra1led many Of their best men
OF last year, a gain to do battle during
those teams did last year, and it is an
axiom that needs no key, that they can
do it again this year if called upon.
But Secretary Logan and Captain
Abbott think Topeka is not a second
rater by any means Don't you be-
lieve it, says Logan, that Topeka will
wind UP at the bottom of the list. We
have a good lot of men, They are going
to be right at the top when the season
! closes. 1t is not going to be the old
story of last year over again, a. mixed
up team from beginning to last. com
posed of men who do not know from one
day to the next what position on the
diamond they will occupy The fans of
this city viii have team that they can
we'll be proud Of"
Captain Abbott gets down into partic-
ulsrs by declaring that he now thinks
there is but one stronger lineup on the
circuit than Topeka, and that is Ok
lahoma City. j think that statement
will be proven too" he says, before
the season is very far advanced. Spring
field, think, will show up strong too.
Sedalia is rotten. Joplin Is sort of an
unknown quantity. But I am not wor-
ried about Topeka. We Will have a
team in this town all right-in fact we
have it right now. think that the
Saints have the best infield on the cir
cult, and we have a bunch of hitters
too"
Springfield's Lineup.
Shorty fIurlburt shows that he has
again been busy during the winter de-
spite the fact that he lost some of his
stars last fall to bigger leagues. Two
of his cracks, Schmidt and Mig Perrine,
are notably absent and they make a
big gap. Neither is Skinny Horton on
the pitching staff. Dutch Persch is
gone from the center field, but there
are a few new ones to fill in. Prominent
among these is Seabaugh in the field,
one of the best hitters, catchers and
f1elders in the business. The aDrospec-
tive lineup follows; II M
Redmond, catcher; Speer, Groom,
Steel, Craig, pitchers; Post, first base;