Evening star., 1908-01-12
DEVELOPMENT OF A NUMBER OF
STAR PLAYERS FROM YOUNGSTERS
FROM MINOR LEAGUES LAST YEAR

was practically the only young second
basennan and he did nothing consistent In
the field or at bat. his batting average
being .219 and his fielding record $50.
Nichols of Philadelphia proved to be a
mighty good shortstop and splendid
batter. hitting .3G2 and fielding $3.50. Tony
Smith and Shipke OF Washington are two
good infielders but their batting is weak.
The young outfielders besides the Cleve-
land pair were Sullivan of Boston, Old
ring OF Philadelphia. Welday of Chicago
and Milan Of Washington. Sullivan made
good in way. although he was not a
star. He hated .245 and fielded .975. Old
ring batted well. his figure being .2ss. and
felded within a point of Sullivan. Milan
and Kay both hit strong. but Kay's field
Ing will keep him on the bench for an
other season at least. OF course, Ganley.
Clymer. Barrett and Pickering were new
comers in a way. but all four have been
In the big leagues before.
A scarcity of young catchers Is noticed
in the National League, but one having
been tried out during the year. Young
pitchers were numerous and several more
than made good. Liefield and Maddox of
Pittsburg. McGlynn and Carger of ST.
Louis. Rucker of Brooklyn. McQuillin.
MOren ana HlCnle or the Pnllile were the
most notable instances
Karger and Leifield were two of the best
southpaws In the league. and karger's re-
lease would bring $4,000 were he placed
on the market. Rucker is another south
paw who delivers the goods. Maddox is
league with the Pirates at the close of
the campaign and proceeded tA win six
straight games. most of them being low
hit affairs.
Leifield won 90 and lost 16. Karger won
16 and lost 20. Moren won II and lost 1S,
McGlynn Won IA and lost 25. Rucker won
Is and lost 13. while Richie split even in
II games. The st. Louis pairs record
does not look good on paper, but the
team that played behind them must De
taken into consideration.
Il
OF the minor league first sackers that
were tried out Konetchy of the Cardinals
appeared to be the best. He ,batted .a51
and ffelded .975. and according to Stanley
Robson. is a fixture. swacina of the
Pirates failed to Lat better than 200
Merkle. the Toledo boy with the Giants,
did better than that. hitting at .255 clip.
Knabe of the Phillies proved star sec
ond baseman and batted .255. Grant of
the same club put up rattling good game
at third and hit .243, Byrne, the diminu-
tive third sacker for the Cardinals. is
sure of retention, being one of the stars
of the st. Louis club. He batted .256.
Storke. the Pirate third baseman, batted
.25S. but fielded below the average.
Hummel of the Brooklyns proved to be
the most valuable utility man, working
brilliantly wherever he was put, either
on the in or out fields. He batted only
.234. however. Doyle batted $50 for the
Giants. but did not field any too well.
!. Among the young outfielders were
Mitchell. Kane, Kruger and Paskert of
Cincinnati. Osborne of the Phillies and
Anderson Of Pittsburg. The last named
failed to bat. his average being .2O5.
Osborne played something like thirty
games without an error and batted .276,
SO it looks as If he made good. The best
of the bunch. however. was Mike Mitchell,
who batted .292 and f1elded about $50.
Krueger evidently did not make good, for
he has been sold to Columbus. Paskert
did well in the few games he played, but
his record must be based on what he does
next season.