Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-04
GREAT PLAYERS At
SHORT AND SECOND
By TED SULLIVAN.

'
Eighty per cent of the hits on a ball field
pass through or near the territory of the
shortstop and second baseman. These POSI-
lions have been occupied by some of the
greatest stars that have figured in the his
tory OF the game. The fate of many a
game has been decided by the quick think
ing of one or the other OF the men on short
and second. Intuitive knowledge of what
to do with the ball in the crisis of game
must come first or mechanical skill will go
for naught
The first two men to demonstrate the pos
sibilities of the positions of shortstop and
second base were George Wright and
Charles. Swasey of the old Cincinnati Reds.
Wright was the pioneer of all "heady'
plays In the fnfeld. and he was the leader
In that department until he retired from
the ball field. Wrights next partner at
second who rose equal to all occasions was
John Burdock of the old champion Bostons.
Charlie Snyder, who was the catcher of the
Boston club al that time, was in the scheme
Of every play pulled off by Burdock. That
combination of Wright. Burdock and Sny-
der Kept the most daring base runners in
ferment as what was to come up. Many
and many time have l seen those daring
base runners of the old Chicago club get
nipped at second while leading off by
a snap throw of Snyders.
Other stars have come and gone from
that position, namely, Glasscock and Dun
lap of the old Clevelands. John Ward and
Richardson of the old New York Giants.
Fred Pfeffer. Tom Burns and Ed William
son of the famous Chicagos, Bill Gleason
and Yank Robinson of the old St. Louis
Browns. Herman Long and Bobby Lowe of
Boston, John McPhee and Tom Corcoran of
Cincinnati. These Were all men of the
highest
and way of playing its positions, but in
their way all were stars of the first mag
nitude.
There was combination of three in that
old champion Baltimore club that l have
not mentioned, namely, Wibert Robinson,
catcher, Hugh Jennings, shortstop, anu
Reitz, second base. Although Reitz was
cracking good man In those years, 1 will
have to separate the great work of Jen-
nings and Robinson and call ii combina-
ton in itself. This combination pulled on
plays in the great years of the Orioles that
have never since been duplicated. AT near
ly all stages of the game when man was
stealing second the ball left Robinson S
hand and was sent on its journey with
rifie-shot speed to second base, only to be
met by the meteoric dash of the fleet-footed
Jennings, who had left his position at short
when he saw the base runner start to steal
second. There never was a shortstop that
had the faculty of putting ball on a base
runner as quickly and neatly as Hugh Jen-
nings.
Today we have some great stars occupy
ing that central position of the base bail
diamond. Davis of the Chicago Whites Is
good ''heady'' man and he and Billy Sui
Ivan, the catcher of the Whites, have pull
ed off some very good plays in the crisis of
a game. Parent and Ferris of the Boston
Americans are good men, so are Evers ana
Tinker of the Chicago Nationals Tom Cor
coran and Higgins of Cincinnati are Ideal
men in their positions and Higgins will be
still greater as years roll on. OLeary and
Shaffer of Detroit are to be stars of stars
if they remain together. Cassidy of Wash
ington 1 consider the coming star of all the
shortstops of America. Had he brainy
side partner at second with mechanical
skill nearly equal to his own who could
lead him into plays that are only slumber-
ing at present under his base ball cap and
only require the touch of the wand of a
base ball magician to let him know that
they are there, Cassidy would he the star of
all.
1t Is UP to the second baseman. or short
stop to break in on the batting streak or
any team by knowing what to do in the
crisis of game. No team Is in a run-set-
ting position until 1t gets man on a base.
and there are times when 1t is better to al
low a man to score and get the man. at
either second or first to clear the bases
than to try to make some hairbreadth play
a. the plate. But this intuition in any man
must come when he first dons the base ball
uniform. He cannot be coached in those
things any more than base-runner can be
told when to steal as one must get away
as the gate is swinging out on Its hinge, not
waiting until it is returning, as he would
lie caught between the gate and the POST