Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-01
BALTIMORE TEAM
WAS FAMOUS
BASEBALL EXPERTS TELL OF
ORIOLES
Was the First Nine to Train sys-
tematieally-Ned HanIon Led
the Players to
Victory

managed the champion Baltimore
Orioles. writes thus OF that famous ag-
gregation:
Baseball enthusiasts who have
watched the game carefully and
faithfully for the last five years are
prone to the opinion that the game,
as played i'm the American and Ma
tional leagues today. is faster and
more scientific than any baseball
which the world has ever seen. But
FANS Of say fifteen years standing as
well as many players who are still
doing great stunts i'm the big leagues
and who took part i'm the historic
struggles of the early '90s. declare that
there never was such ball before and
never will he such ball again as that
which was put up in the twelve-club
league during the years 1894, '95, 90
and 90. when the Baltimores, New
Yorks Bostons and Clevelands, to say
nothing of the other eight teams, were
battling for supremacy.
Hanlon went to Baltimore from
Pittsburg in 1898 when the Baltimore
team was, to put It mildly, pretty
punk. Hanlon fired all the old-tlmers,
retained the promising youngsters and
got out and hustled for more. Among
those whom he retained was McGraw,
though Barnie had in the previous
Mac to Anson for $400.
Hanlon never had lot of stars on
his team-that is. to start with. True,
they all developed into stars. but that
came later. In 1893 the club made
mediocre showing in the race, but it
got out of the tail-end habit. Then
Foxy Eddie" began to make some of
his celebrated trades at the end of
that season, those trades in which the
Oth fn1In,1-s oil od fp yot he
worst of it.
He sent Shndle and Treadway to
Brooklyn in exchange for Brouthers
and keeler. Shindle had been good
third baseman and poor sticker both
for Detroit and for Baltimore, but he
was going downhill.
Treadway was a hog-wid batter
whom Hanlon had obtained from Cali
fornia at the same time he got Catcher
Bill Clarke, late of Washington fame,
and Second Baseman Reitz. Treadway
could run just about as fast as Clarke,
but he wasn't the all-round player
that Clarke was. Brouthers, though
an old-timer, did good work for Balti-
more with the stick, and as for Keeler,
everybody knows what Keeler has be-
come.
Then he was a third baseman and
left-handed thrower, at that--a most
SERIOUS 0dllulCdp IoT man play illS
that position. Hanlon put him in right
field. Jennings came from Louisville
with First Baseman Harry Taylor
thrown in. and Billy Barnie who had
gone to manage Louisville, got i'm re-
turn for these two one Tim ORourke,
and whatever became of Tim after he
left Louisville nobody seems to know
jennings who is now manager of the
Baltimore Eastern league club, devel-
oped into what was probably the most
brilliant shortstop that ever played
baseball, though some still argue that
Herman Long of Boston was his equal
il not his superior. Kelley, now cap
tain of the Cincinnatis under the man
agement of his old leader, was pur-
chased from Pittsburg for a song, as
was Brode from st. Louis, and these
two turned out to be able to fill the
left and center gardens as acceptably
as any other two outfielders in the
league. Kelley was a great batter
Brodie was a good one
Hanlon, during his stay in Baltimore,
always had the same catchers-Robin-
son, the old standby, and one of the
best that ever wore a mask; Clarke, a
good substitute and Bowerman, now
New York's star, who very seldom got
a chance. Four men played first base
at different times-Taylor Brouthers,
Carey (also known in Washington and
Jack Doyle. Reitz, from California,
led the second basemen one year; Nc
Graw. of course, was on third. Steve
Brodie and Stencil were in center dur
ing these different seasons
OF pitchers through the three cham
pionship years and the following year,
when Baltimore lost the championship
to Boston by a margin of one game,
there was long string. Among them
were Gleason, now captain and second
baseman Of the Philadelphia National
league club; Arthur Clarkson, Hem
ming, Esper, Baker, McNabb, Pom,
Inks, Mullane, Hawke, Brown, Nops
and Joe Corbett.
There may have been some others,
but of all this list there were only two
really first class men-McMahon and
Corbett. Mcmahon was the equal of
any twirler of those days, not barring
Rusie, Meekin "Cy" Young (the same
old ICY" today or Breitenstein,; and
Corbett, when he was right, was un-
beatable.
With this bunch of has-beens, un-
knowns and nondescripts Hanlon went
to Macon, Ga, in March, 1894, and
started to drill some baseball sense into
them individually and to weld his ma
terial into a team which was a team
in all that the word implies. For two
weeks in Macon and for two weeks In
New Orleans the gang was put through
the pace morning and afternoon and
was taught more baseball than they
ever dreamed OF. The hit and run
was originated right in Macon at that
time and was tried with success time
and time again in the contests with the
Southern league clubs.
The squeeze play was there perfected
as well as the triple steal. which was
pulled Off the other day by the New
York Giants with so much eclat and
hailed as a brand new trump. There
were lots OF others. too, Hanlon giving
most OF his attention to what is known
as INSIDE" work-that Is, the work
which is done when the team is at the
bat.
When the team returned to Baltimore
to open the season Of 1894 with the New
York Giants. Hanlon was "undeI
cover" He would make no prediction
for the club, save TO say that he
thought his men would finish in the
first division. The best known baseball
scribes IN the country laughed at this
prediction. Among these were Tin