The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-30
THE BOSTON REDS
 CAUSING GOSSIP May Land At Top of the Ameri-
 can League MANHATTAN'S OPINIONS Regrets Retirement of LaJoIe as Man ager-Donin To Manage Brook
 Iyn-The Story of Tim
 Hurst's Dismissal.
MANHATTAN'S OPINIONS
BY MANHATTAN.

BY MANHATTAN. New York. August 29.-rhe pennant bee IS buzzing boisterously in the bonnet of
 the Boston Red Sox. The devotees of
 Browning and Emersan are full of conf oence and cayenne. It don't seem to make any difference what club is pitteA against them. they keep plugging away "ith repertoire of smartly applied tac- tics ana all-round good ball playing. They nave climbed the ladder steadily and unlike any other club in either of tho
 Dig leagues, although meeting with oc- casional reyerses have not taken tho slump that is taken as a matter of course Ill all clubs. will the Red sox win the pennant?" That is the question being asked throughout the east. If they con- tlnue to play ball as they have been doing for the past three weeks there can be no doubt that this years American leagus pennant will go to Beantown by the Bay. IL was with regret that the fans heard that Napoleon Lajoe had resigned as manager of the Clevelands It was against the wishes of the management of that club that the great second baseman hand ed the reins over to another. But there IS consolation in the fact that I4aloie Will still retain his old position with the Maps Lajoie simply got tired of being a figurehead. He was manager in name only, and although powerless to increase
 the efficiency of his team having to take any material handed to him by the man
 
 his home town and surroundings venting
 their chagrin at the poor showing the
 team was making on Lajoes devoted
 head, it is wonder that the popular player insisted that his resignation be ae-
 cepted.
 Outside of Honus Wagner of the Pirates
 there is no more popular player on the diamond today than Lajoie, but an able, popular manager cannot make a winning
 team out of a bunch of bush leaguers in i one season.
 It may occur to the management of the
 Clevelands, in the near future, to employ
 a manager that will manage the team and 1 whip it into shape.
 | Having given up all hope that the deal ! between John McGraw and the Philadel- phia club, whereby Mike would join the
 latter team this season, having been dis i pelled, Donlin has signed a contract for | six months with theatrical firm, who is having a new sketch written for him and l his wife, Mabel Hite. It is said the
 new sketch will be tried on the dog, which : in this city is Buffalo, N. Y, early in
 the fall.
 | Mike says that he will be in the game
 again next season, and if MeGraw can i be induced to release Donlin for reason- | able amount it is not unlikely that the 1 heavy-hitting Mike will be seen in the | uniform of a Dodger next year. It is
 known that Charles Ebbtts, president of l the Brooklyn club, is willing to pay a | goodly sum to obtain Donlin for what he { is striving hard to make a pennant-win- | ming team for next year. If Donlin goes 1 to Brooklyn it will probably be as man. | ager, to succeed Lumley. Mike would | be valuable addition to the Dodgers | both as an attraction on the field and | from an attendance standpoint. ] And Donlins troubles this season re- 1 mind me that the pgheadedness of two
 managers, or two players, it is hard to ! decide which from the various rumors | and statements made by the managers
 and players, has kept two of the most
 popular baseball stars ever known out l of the game this season. Baseball stars 1 although not made in a day year.
 seldom last moro than a few years, and i the fact that Mike Donlin and Johnny 1 Kling have been compelled to watch
 games from the grandstand throughouts l the season, is a matter of regret. Was rumors in which the American
 association is cutting a big figure are l attracting much attention among base | ball men in the west. It is consistently
 stated that the American association will | become outlaw major league cir | cuit' next year, with clubs in Chicago,
 Louisville, Pittsburg Indianapolis, Brook i lyn Buffalo and Baltimore and either l Providence or Newark The men behind | the scheme led by Havenor of Milwau- I kee and Tebeau of Louisville and Kan
 sis City said to have been digging 1 up financial packers for several months
 and have met with encoura cement from
 men who believe that baseball will be- l come more popular next season. The ma i jor league magnates say they are not worrying, but nevertheless 1t is believed l they are getting ready to sign up as many of the best players possible be- l fore the alleged war cloud bursts. l Ban Johnson says he has dropped Tim l Hurst from the staff of umpires and
 nobody will blame him. An umpire that
 so far forgets the dignity of his position
 as to use a players face for cuspidor l EaS no TlBnt OH a DdSeDall Helu. But while we the subject would ! if not be well for Ban Johnson to dis ciplne some of his players for abuse of the umpires. There is absolutely no req
 son why a baseball player or a base | ball captain manager should make
 a protest about play while the game is ! in progress. In fact, a player has no right l That the men who make the rules that
 govern our national game think that a l game played without the spectacle of
 half dozen players rushing toward an umpire and yelling uncomplimentary re- ! marks and abusive epithets at that much , tried individual for decision that don't
 suit them. would be much more attrac-
 tive to the public that maintains the
 game if they will probably conclude that
 the only time a protest can be made on
 an umpire's decision Is after the game l and in writing. It never has and never | will do any good to protest a decision | on the field, and the sooner the practice
 is forbidden by the rules of the game
 and those rules enforced, the better it
 will be for players and public alike. ! Regarding Hurst they are telling a | story about that unfortunate individual | at a recent game at White Sox park. | Chicago. The gatekeeper hurried up to 1 President Comislxey and said: Umpire Tim Hurst is at the gate with
 two friends. Shall I pass them inrs | Comiskey gasped.
 What, an umpire with two friends?''