Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26
BEST MAN ON EACH TEAM
Which, in Major League Ranks, Are
Most Valuablel
STARS WHO ARE REALLY USEFUL
hfhtheyvsOn Could Least he spared by
h Giants, Cobb by the Detroits,
Gibson by PittsburE-CoI-
Iins, tinker and Others.

There must be on every base ball team
one mar who Is the most valuable member
Of the team. Team play is the thing, and
pennants are won not by the work Of The
individual but by the work OF the whole;
but certain individuals by their superior
ability add strength to the whole, tone
up the whole team and by their own ef-
forts are responsible for a percentage Of
opportunities created and accepted which
count greatly in the long run. The more
strong individuals the better, II they can
work tremendously.
What one player, then, is the most i'm
portant on each team? What one player
can the different clubs Of the big leagues
least afford to lose? 1t is a subject for a
great variety Of opinion, The manager
has his opinion, and so do the %rooters. In
some cases no doubt they would agree, in
some be widely different.
There isn't much doubt that Mathewson
would get the popular verdict when it
come to deciding who was the nearest to
indispensable Of the active players Of the
Giants. A pitcher, no matter how sue
cessful he may be, isn't necessarily the
most valuable man on a team. There may
be another who is more influential in the
teams welfare; but in the case Of Mathew
son. he Is such a dominating influence, his
presence in the box exercising such a
bracing, stimulating effect on his fellows,
that besides his physical worth he imparts
a moral influence of no mean degree. Take
him away, and for a while at least his
place would be harder to fill than that
of any other man.
Furthermore, there is the very material
fact that Mathewson is the best pitcher
in the country. He is the best pitcher
go -. Va.-w., rufHha1tf nnu
doubt, superb all throAgh a game or at
going in to help out another pitcher who
is in distress, a peerless master of his
art, and when a pitcher is of that cali
bre-one whose equal may not be found
again in twenty years--any other man on
his team could be spared more easily. 1t
is McGraw who has been chiefly respon-
slble for the New York Nationals success,
but McGraw is not an active player.
P%ittsburg without Clarke or without Wag-
ner would. be deprived of a valuable unit,
SO would it be without Leach or without
Miller. Yet there is on the team a player,
not one of these four, whose absence from
the field would make a bigger difference in
the seasons showing than any of the four
stars mentioned. That one is Gibson, the
catcher. He has come to be the most inn
portant single cog in the machine, know
ing and handling, as he does, all of the
pitchers and filling day after day, as he
does, a position in which head work is a
prime requisite. When a catcher is so
closely Identified with the methods and tao
tics OF a team, catching every day, there
is no place so difficult to duplicate with
another man.
Good catchers are scarce at the best, and
this is a case of the same catcher doing it
all. While not Of the luster of Wagner or
Leach or Clarke his team could so fill in
were any of these three missing as to get
along and feel the loss less than were Glib
son missing an integral part. Great as are
Wagner, Clarke, Leach, Miller or Wilson,
their substitutes, braced up by a strong
team, could hold up their end so that the
difference and effect would be less marked
than were a catcher substituting for Glib
son. Were Clarke out he could still man
age, and this summer when Wagner was
disabled for a couple of weeks the Pitts
burEs held their own without any undue
trouble. Wagner, be II understood, is a
greater ball player than Gibson-the great
est in the country, in fact-but as the team
has gone along this season not so close to
as to be essential in the scheme of things.
To pick out the man on the Chicago
Cubs whose absence would most disturb
the nice adjustment of that Organizations
mechanism Is rather puzzling. The team
is admirably fortified with high class util-
fty men and so smooth of action that 1t
goes along we'll with a regular out occa-
sionally. Probably with Tinker out for any
length of time the harmonious balance
would be most disturbed. Tinker is the
best ground coverer in the infield, the con-
Meeting link in it's workings, and he is a
power in the attack as a cleanup hitter, one
capable of long drives such as break up
games. That has been proven time and
again. The moral effect and physical effect
of a prolonged absence on his part would
be felt more than that of any other player,
Mike Mitchell may be rated as Cincin-
MATHS most valuable player. He is the
ablest man in the Reds attack, a hard and
reliable hitter, a run producer. Besides,
he Is one OF the best throwing outfielders
and first-class in all departments. Not
snowy, he nevertheless is an anchor to
windward in the teams tactics. On the
Philadelphia team the palm goes to q
catcher, the Industrious and alert f'ooin.
, gingery player. good with the stick snd