The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-09
Catcher m 1eam's Success

Crack pitchers are all right-a baseball team has to have them to win pen nant.
 Nevertheless teams that have won pen nants and have not had capable, brainy catchers are as scarce as hens teeth.
 The catcher stands there behind the bat inning after inning and game after game taking a pounding and filling q less spectacular role than any other mem Der of the nine His work Is not as showy. Superficially viewed he is more of dray horse than any of his fellows but in reality he is a great power In team s success, though often he doesn't come in for as much credit as the players who work more in the open so to speak, says the Philadelphia North American.
 In the old National league days of '76 the Chicagos won the pennant, and they had for chief catcher lime White, a backstop who used his head. Lew Brown. who caught for the champion Bostons of 1871, was another thinking catcher, as was Charlie Snyder, who caught for the Bostons when they won the pennant In 1878
 Here is the list of the pennant winners from that day down to the present, to- gether with the principal catchers, and there isn't a backstop in the list who did not use his head as well as his hands;
 1879, Providence, Lew Brown; 80 and 'Sl, Chicago. Silver Flint; 's3, Boston, Myrtle Hackett and Mike Hines; 'S4, Providence, Ginigap and Maya; 'S5 and S6, Chicago. Flint: 'S6, Chicago, Mike Kelly; %, De troit, Bennett and Ganzel; 'SS and 'ss, New York Buck Ewing; 90, Brooklyn, Doc Bushong and Tom Daily; 9l, & and '9s. Boston, Martin Bergen; 99 and 1900' Brooklyn, Charlie Farrell and Jim Me Guire; '01, 02 and '03 Pittsburg, Zimmer; 'O4 and 'o5 New York, Brensnahan; 'os, Chicago, King.
 Great catchers were Bennett, Ewing, Bushong. Kelly, Gnligan, Hackett Mar tin Bergen, Robinson and Farrell And great present-day catchers are Goger Bresnahan and Johnny Kling. both identi- fled strongly with pennant winners and pronounced factors in the success of the New York and Chicago teams,
 Mike Kelly caught for the Boston Brotherhood team, which team won the pennant of that organization in 1890, the only year of It's existence. Apropos of Flint, there is in one of the old guides the interesting statement that in period of thirteen years he caught S35 games of the 1925 that his team played. Jim Mcclure must have a still more extended record of service.
 Doc Bushong was with the St. Louis American association team when 1t won the pennant under Comiskey in 1885, and Charley Snyder, with the Cincinnatis. when they won the American associa- tion flag in 1882. Not all the great catch CTS have been confined to championship teams, but a material share of the suc- cess of the various pennant winners was due to the presence behind the bat of such masters as Bennett. Ewing. Daly, Bush ong, Kling. Bresnahan, Snyder Kelly. Gilligan: Farrell, Robinson and other ex- perts with whom the mere physical duties of their position was matter of second- ary import. They were generals, think CTS, plr nners. originators.
 American league successes, too, have been made by teams that possessed this same shrewd. capable type of backstop. A star in every department Is Billy Sul- livan Of the worlds champion White Sox. The Cbicagos won the American league pennant In 1900, 1901 and 1906, Sullivan be- ing with them in all of those years
 Ths catchers of the Athletics. who won