The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-09-11

\ VINO VIII manage the 81. Louis M
tIonals next yearg
The prevailing impression among
the fans Is that John j. McCloskey has
I the same fate In store for him that be
X fell William Armour, formerly man
ager OF the Detroit Americans.
\ Armour managed the Detroits II
( 1906, The Tigers finished below thu
st. Louis Browns that year Hugh
Jennings took charge OF the club II
1907 and won the American league
pennant with the same team that Ar
mour landed In the ruck one year pre-
/ vious,
\ Armour helped to build up the De
trolt champions. II was Armour that
secured. ry Cobb for Detroit and
/ Cobb's mighty work with the stick won
the American league pennant for De
troit In 1907. Armour Is a good base
bah man, but he could not prevent frIc-
tion among the Detroit players.
1t looks as though President Robl-
son is greasing the 'skids" for Mac,
who has been handling the st. Louis
| Nationals for three seasons McClos.
key has developed bunch Of val
liable talent for Mr.. Robson, but the
latter Is out for definite results. His
team was a tail euder when McCloS.
key took charge, aud It's a tall endey
still.
He declines to give out any inforlaa.
,ion us to his plans for next year. NJ
Robson acknowledges that McCloskes
has picked up some valuable talent To-
the Cardinals. admits that John J IL
good scout. but argues that his maE.
ager has shown lack OF ability to moll
his men together and polish up th'
Youngsters after he gets them. This
may be true, but II will be hard on
McCloskey II he is forced to rellnQulsh
the leadership Of the Cardinals.
The Cardinals own one of the best
pitching stats In the National league,
First Baseman Konetchy and 0uttield.
ers Murray and Delehanty are all good
batters. Third Baseman Byrne has
not played bis game at the bat this
season, but his work at third h9s
shown improvement Of late. Gilber;
has not made good at second He can't
hit lick, and his fielding has not bee;
consistently good. Charles seems bet
ter qualified to handle the bag than
Gilbert. If McCloskey goes and new
manager is secured to replace him, h.
will have to plug up two big holes IL
the team. behind the bat and at Short
also strengthen the clubs hitting lir
securing a new center fielder and II
Ing Murray in right field
McCloskey made the big mistake o.
his managerial career when he failed
70 push through the Beebe McGlyna
trade for Hans Lobert of Cincinnati
That deal would have put the Cardi.
nails in the first division this yc;l-
McCloskey engineered II aud should
have showed It through In face Of any
and all obstacles.
Mr.. Robson did advise against i'.c
zeal when Lobcrt wrote him thu. T..
did not want to come here. but Nc
CIoskey should have urged that the
trade be made in face of this fact. 10.
bert would have had to go to St
Louis or quit the game, and everybody
knows that he is not going to desert
baseball.
The Cardinals started out last spring
with five catchers-M Marshall, Ludwig.
Hostetter, Bliss and Boucher. Instead
# standing pat on this bunch Of ex.
1eriments, McCloskey should have
'aked and scraped the big leagues last
MI and made some sort of trade for
m experienced man Bowerman or
'resnahan might have been grabbed
rom New York for Karger. McGraw
tut both men on the market. Clncin-
lati dickered for Bresnahan. and Bos-
on finally landed Bowerman.
While McCloskey has made some
mistakes, his record, on the whole. has
been far better than the showing OF
he club indicates. As Judge OF
oung players he has few II any
quals. He also knows how to create
armony in team. His men play
lonestly for him. and II he had the tai
Mt it's a cinch that he would get sat
sfactory results. McCIoskey IL a hus-
Ter. and many good baseball men are
confident that If Mr.. Robson gives
lin another years trial he will land
he Cardinals in the first division Of
he National league in 1909.
While speculating on McCloskey's
'uture one naturally begins to look
round for his successor, provided a
:hange Is made. Some seem to think
1r. Robson may sign Clarke Griffith
run his team. Griffith Is unques-
tionably one Of the most advanced
paseball men in the game. He was
rifle unfortunate In his trades while
handling the New York Americans.
but his record as a manager OF win
hing teams Is sufficient to justify the
assertion made above that he is thor
1ughly competent TO handle a team.
A little tough luck put Griffith or
)f the running and lost him his job in
New York.
VIII Griffith go to st. Louis to take
".large Of the Cardinals?
Hardly. Griff is strong American
league man. and the insiders predict
ihat he will eventually drift hack 10