Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-06
YOUNG. PLAYERS
FORGING AHEAD
BASEBALL HAS DEVELOPED TO
SCIENCE
Managers VIII Pay EntloIng Salaries
to Men Who Show Signs Of
Becoming Great
Catchers

Not a baseball year passes but there
are in evidence changes in the manner
of play from preceding years. 1t would
not be correct to say that the national
sport is approximating an exact sci
ence.
The element of luck must ever be a
| potent factor while It is played, but
there is little question that the ideals
of the sport are better personihed, and
that the possibilities of the pastime
still tend toward the standard of per-
fection rather than remaining at a
standstill or deteriorating.
1t is true that now and then there
seems to be a dearth of players, es-
pecially adapted to one department of
another, which Is essential to all high
class teams.
Some years ago there seemed to be
a lack of pitchers. This was subse-
quent to the time when the curve ball
had become a feature of good pitching,
and old players and young were pass
ing through the rudimentary stages
of learning a new method which should
render them skilled "twirlers.'
Since then there have been years
when the good second basemen could
be named on the fingers of one hand;
years when the country was ransacked
lTOIll one eIlQ 10 lIle Quiet W llIlu lIlell
who could play first base acceptably.
Time was when the position of short
stop was the bugaboo which confront
ed many an anxious manager daily,
and years when third basemen combin-
ing the ability to throw and bat or
throw and field were so few that the
teams fortunate enough to possess them
were envied by the remainder of the
baseball world.
Good Catchers Scarce
If there is a dearth of players in
any one position at present it seems to
be behind the bat. 1t is true that there
are a number Of catchers who are of
average ability, and it is also true that
the really first class catchers are not
to exceed half a score.
Types of the very best style are
found in Bresnahan of New York, Cri-
ger of Boston and King and Sulli- !
van of the two Chicago clubs.
Doom of Philadelphia, Bergen of
Brooklyn, Bowerman of New York and |
Kleinow of New York rate close be-
hind them.
OF course the reader must under
stand that in making this rating all |
the best points of the men are taken
into consideration.
For catching, batting, base running |
baseball ability combined !
Bresnahan is the best of all. His value
to asteam is not reckoned solely on his
ability to catch, as he can fill in at all
positions.
Bresnahan is a fine general on the
field, and so is his side partner, Bower
man. Were the latter possessed of the
agility and the batting strength of his
contemporary he would run him a
merry race for supremacy.
Killing, Criger and Sullivan are all
baseball commanders. They are not
catchers in the mere mechanical sense
of the word, but they are ably fitted
to guide the work of a team and 1t is
q dull person who will not note the
difference in the play of the nine with
which they happen to be engaged when
they are on the field
Major leagues generally, and minor
league clubs as well, are looking on
all sides to obtain competent catchers.
There is no department of the sport at
present in which young players can
forge to the front more quickly.
one of the most successful managers
in the United States made the remark
three months ago that ten competent
young catchers who could prove their
worth in the summer of 1907 could find
ten engagements in the summer of
1908 at the maximum salaries paid In
the major leagues, and could hope for
employment for five years to come If
they could maintain their speed.
Three Of the most prominent owners
of baseball clubs in the. western half of
the United States asserted at the Joint
meetings of the major league. which
were held in New York recently, that
they stood ready to give lop price for
the release of any young player who
could show. that he was the equal of
Bresnahan or King or Sullivan or Cri-
n hn xHyftI To-
That gives an idea of the necessity
which is felt on the part of the pro-
moters Of clubs to obtain good catch
ers.
Pitchers Are Strong
OF pitchers there is a plethora. True
they are not all Mathewsons, but there |
are many good young pitchers at pres
ent, many old timers of merit, and |
many youngsters coming on who seem
likely to hold their own for at least |
half a decade.
1t may be interesting to note in con-
nection with the subject of pitchers
that the vogue of the "spit ball" so |
called. is on the wane
1t will be used this year by some
of the pitchers who depend upon 1t for
success, but there are few who have |
peen encouraged to adopt 1t by men |
who have had experience with it.
Less than year ago Clark Griffith |
the manager of the New York Ameri |
can league, himself pitcher of promi- |
nence, said that no man could pitch
the "spit ball" steadily for three years
in succession and hope to save his
arm.
For the most part" said he. "pitch-
ers who try ii for two years will break
down." This seems to have been exem- |
plifed in the case of a pitcher of Grif- |
fith's own team, ChesbrO, who has an
nounced that he has retired from base |
ball because he is afraid that he has