The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-09

 far superior to his support. In the ninth the pitcher and the players were all to the bad.
 If the Barons can ever win as many as three games in succession we believe the trouble will be rooted out.
 It seems that the support doubts the ability of the pitchers, and the pitchers question the steadiness of the support.
 We earnestly believe that both the pitchers and the support are good, the best combination, in our memory, that Birmingham has had. All that is needed is for the two to have absolute confidence in each other.
 Nothing will bring about that conf- dence as rapidly as number Of success sve victories. The gaining of those vic tories is the important thing.
 If the Barons will settle themselves and calm their nerves, they will begin winning. They have the ability, and the fans here know it. The experts about the circuit admit it.
 Ninth inning finishes are popular in Dixie just at the present time, and the life we lead is strenuous enough for Teddy himself.
 Birmingham has been beaten on four occasions after establishing a big lead, the last such defeat being that of yester- day.
 Yesterday afternoon Memphis won d game from Little Rock by piling up five scores in the ninth.
 Vicksburg yesterday afternoon piled up SIX runs in the ninth, utterly crushing Meridian.
 in the ninth after Montgomery had seem- ingly cinched things.
 As far as winning in the ninth Is con cerned Atlanta takes the cake, having pulled off two such stunts this season to our certain knowledge.
 As far as losing in the ninth is con cerned, Birmingham has a lead pipe hay ing dropped four in a row.
 Tuesday afternoon R. H. Baugh, presi- dent of the local baseball association, requested President Kavanaugh of the Southern league. to ask for waivers on Gene Demont, Baron shortstop.
 This action was taken as a result of a disagreement between the player and the association.
 Clubs have three days in which to re- fuse the request for waivers The limit in the Demont case, therefore, expired yesterday afternoon, and the local asso- citation has been notified of no refusalsl
 The local association now, if it sees fit, may sell or trade Demont, but the trend of affairs points to the probability that Demont will wear the local uniform until the leaves fall next September.
 Fleharty will pitch for the Barons this afternoon. Dr. Thomas will work for Montgomery.
 F'leharty has shown ability since enter ing the Baron ranks, and coolness under fire.
 Thomas is the former American asso- citation twirler,. and considered as good as any other on Montgomery's pay roll
 The battle should be interesting, there fore. =.
 In striking yesterday Douglass bat landed with a slanting blow on Messitt's cranium, inf1icting a scalp wound which bled freely. Ryan stated last night that the catcher was not his only invalid. It seems that after a few minutes warming up' in Montgomery Thursday Billy Christall had a congestive chill. and is now in pre- carious condition. Another ''personal' in the camp of the 1 Pretzels is that Thomas who is Shri- l ner, was escorted by a committee of nobles to the scene of festivities last | night Late reports were to the effect 1 that he was enjoying himself.
 On the offensive the Barons were ex- l cellent yesterday, having trouble in | hitting Van Anda whenever they saw fit, | and scoring with great deal of reck | lessness.
 It is a notable fact, indeed, that the | Barons have lost very few games this sea- son as result of failure to hit the pitch i CT, and to make runs. All of which reminds that we are still | of the opinion that the Sleepers are go- ing faster than their speed limit, which | is the finest compliment that could be | paid them. We hope that the Barons will | eventually increase their speed to it's nat ural standard.
 The Apollo
 The Apollo bowling a tt night |