New-York tribune., 1909-01-31
GIANTS MAKING PLANS
PREPARING FOR FRn
McGra1c Likely to Hare B...
Team than EUer This Yeor

kaHa
son begins finds most Of the Giants OLD .-S
signed Up for the season OF 1909 and plan, sf
preliminary practice about cornple1sd sN
Graw- with his usual reticencs about H. 40
mas given no Indication OF the way thar =. -
line up his players. but with the exception :, =.
N Is not difficult 20 foreea.. 80 "a
Giants viii take the field He belIeves sS.. =.
team will bs stronger than II was 4 vsa- a.
il II is New York will have a mighty ina So
Of winning the pennant
Starting at first base McCrav viii a.ns,s
Fred Tenney. the s1-Borton leader who pIa,.s
whirlwind game last and won the ssuBt-,...'
OF all Polo Ground followers by his hirh -
work and gameness- There Is no nan va =.
give T-nney auy points on covering IN. r,.,-
while he Is fine for stsadyfng the lns.l1
At second base Larry Doyle will undoub+.r
hold command. Just when he reached chs h.g-ss
Of his career last season he cut down bv H.,
John Hur1reH while stealing second In 80
physical CONDITION he VIII have no tro,hs. :,
holding the position. because OF his ability -,.
the bat In the 102 games he played last y..r ).
had batting average Of sos. and was thtra !,
the list the only men ahead Of him being waxu.
and Mike Donlin
Al BridweH who succeeded BIZ Dahl.n a, d..
stop and fully lived -r,p the confidence Mec-,.
placed in him. will be in the same position fs.,
year When he to New York there vas "a
doubt OF his ability fielder. but thers v.r.
some who thought he could not keep chs ose,
with the fine average OF .zS for 147 games Nor,
BILE than this. however, was his vork =.
pinch hitter. Many time he paIled zaras c,,
OF the fire by a timely hit and re is now str,,v,
frtrenched in the hearts Of the Polo Ground saus
Third base, of course. will De covered by Arrsu,
DevIin, one Of The few veterans now On the -
There other third sackers in the National
League VINO are greater batters than Artie bur \,
is without peer IN the fielding line Last wear n,
played in 157 game and FED the leagues third bas.
men in fielding. with the grand average OF ~
Just seven points ahead OF Steinfeldt OF Cnicazn
his rival. who played in 153 zanaaa
For the outheld there is Captain Nike DoaIn
who was runner-up 10 HonUs Wagner for tbs
batting honors Of the league, finishing the season
with the average OF -334 for 155 games twenty
points behind the Dutchman- Nike played in right
field most Of last season, but he covered the Isr
garden in twenty-eght games II is possible tazs
McGraw will put him in centre field this year
Cy Seymour, who covered centre field and had an
average with the stick Of .357 for 155 games may
take care OF Mikes cid territory or possibly hs
may be put in the hoodoo left garden. which proved
the downfall because Of the sun. Of "Sandovr
Mertes and Spike" shannon Then again re mar
not play at ALL and that IS what people thins
Murray, who comes from St Louis with FMS
record as fielder WILL almost surely be ssen az
regular. He divided his time last year between
centre and right field. playing the majority OF ts
games in centre He will be valuable 10
on a taiI-end team for the fine average OF n
which placed him fourteenth in the honor list
Before discussing The catchers and pitchers the
substitutes must bs mentioned II Fred fennsy
needs at any time McGiraw can put IN Frcd
Nerkle who hit for -26s last year but got black
eve temporarily In the estimation OF ths pubis
for not touching second IN that memorable gans
with Chicago for which. by the way. he deserved
little censure Il is safe bet he'll nor repeat that
performance and It IS certainty that he viii get
his full OF applause when he trots out n
the Polo Grounds this spring
Charley Herzog Will be on hand 70 relievs sith-
DoyIs or Bridwell. and he Is almost as good 10
either Of these two regulars In ffty-ntne games
he averaged 800 with the bat. remarkable PEI
forrnance for any player, and especially young
ster He is lightning fielder and II Is q pleas1rs
TO watch him play. for he IS after everything
Josh De Voc, who was on hand ar the tail end
Of ohe season. may get q chance IN the fed n
some of the games this year There nunher
Of other youngsters who VIII be tried out ard PER
haps McGraw nav retain several ot them IN csss
Of emergency
Now for the pitchers; and they are mighty
promising lot Head and shoulders above them al
In Matty who Is a national character Then .ners
Is wIltzs as good IeftLhander there is n re
business and Red" Araes, who cams tnto Ms oS1
at the critical period last year. after long nnes
Besides these three tried and true men. the t4snrs
pitching star Will include 'Ru0e' Marquard FhS
made poor debut IN fast company, but VII surely
make his mark this year: Louis Durham Wno 40
got bad break last year. but has a minor leasas
record which would be credtt 70 any I..'
Bugs RAYMOND who was obtained ron :
Louis. and has the reputation q being aoe ~
fine work IN the box when he IS SO l7ci1eo' sA1
a couple Of others. who are still doueFrul slzH
tities
The catching staff with include Admiral scns.
a Cincinnati man. and a worthy s1osfiruts o@
Roger Bresnahan. who now IS a. the head OF u
St Louis Cardinals; Snods-Hss. a willing aHa a4-
working youngster who has had the hene1t
wear on the bench with the Giants. ana "AS'-
another youngster- -.
McCraw thinks he can pick chanpionSs
team from this SQUAD and so does the majority g
the loyal New York rooters- The men Vho H~
already signed are Tenney. Merkle, Schlei' H1r@S
Anes BridweH De Voc. Durham and NarQosl~
iE,CD IIIv GILL NEEDH 4Ut