The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-21
BASEBALL GOSSIP
 OF MAJOR LEAGUES
BY MANHATTAN.

that he should treat them thusly?
 Never in the history of baseball have there been so many postponed games at this season of the year, due to rain, cold, snow or some other weather vagary. There are now 45 postponements in the American league, and the National league Is almost as badly off with 42. A few of these postponed games have been played off, but not many, and there are enough postponements to be played off to require a superabundance of double-headers for the rest of the season. Double-headers are better than nothing to get the money back, but they are not as good as if the contests had taken place on the original date set, provided there was good wealth er' which would insure good attendance The club that Is doing poorly, or is crip- pied, doesn't mind these postponements, but they are sore trial to the manager that has his team going along in good style.
 With the exception of one week, there has not been a week in either big league which hasn't had day or days of bad weather with no games. The American league managed to scratch through it's sixth week without a break in the sched- ule, but that was the only one. The east ern clubs seem to have even got the worst of bad deal. The Yankees have IA postponements, while the Giants have 16
 Joe Ward, the infielder of the Yankees, has been sold to the Philadelphia Nationals and has already joined that team.
 While at practice in the south, Ward contracted muscular rheumatism, and when he recovered had apparently lost all interest in his work. Ward lives in Philadelphia and was most anxious to re- turn to his home city if a change could l be effected. Manager Stallings, while keenly disappointed in Wards recent work with the Yankees. thinks that Ward Is one of the best -infelders in the league, and if he gets down to business will be | a valuable addition to the Philadelphia | aggregation, as he is fast and great | hitter.
 John Kull, pitcher for the Pottsville, Pa., team of the Atlantic league, has been | purchased from that club by Connie Mack | of the Athletics. Kull has lost but one | game this season, and is said to be dead | ringer for "Rube" Waddell
 The fans are wondering why Iron | Man" McGinnity was ever allowed to eo | to the Eastern league In view of Joe's showing in the games he has played in | this season for the Newark team, he | looks fast enough for any company. Joe Is said to have all his old-time control. and Is practically the whole show in | any game he plays.
 The announcement from Oakland that | George Van Haltren has been released internationally marks the passing of one of the greatest baseball players the coun- try has ever seen. Van Haltren played , ball for 25 years in all parts of the coun- try. in big leagues. and little leagues, bringing by his wonderful skill joy to countless of thousands, only to find at the end of his career a blue envelope marked, Your services no longer required"
 van Haltren was a great player in every l department of the game-batting, bunt- l ting, base running, fielding, inside work l and with his passing the game has lost !: one of its heroes, who ranked with Mike i Kelly and John C1arkson
 There has been IS extra inning games 1 in the National league and Il in the | American league so far this season. The Cubs have been in seven and won five of l them, and the Pirates have been in seven l and won six. The Athletics, Tigers and Highlanders have done best in the Ameri- 1 can league. The Athletics have won l three, the Tigers have won two, and the | Highlanders have won two and tied two.
 Catcher Carrigan of the Boston Amer | jeans is still confined to his home be- | cause of serious case of blood poison- ing Carrigan was accidentally spiked by | an opposing player in Philadelphia a | short time ago and gangrene developed. i It will be several weeks before he is able to again take his position behind the | bat.
 It now appears that President Navin | of the Detroit club put Claude Rossman | In the sale catalog for exhibition pur- poses only, and that he was beginning suit for separate maintenance and not 1 for absolute divorce. These baseball mag | hates have cunning way of throwing | scares into their favorite athletes, who | may imagine they are worth more than | they are getting. The trouble with this argument in the Rossman case is that l President Navin didn't have everybody i, spiked. Rossman is worth as much as | Mr. Navin is giving him to any club.
 Won't somebody please take Charley Murphy, president of the Cubs Garry hermann or Cincinnati, chairman of the | National commission, and Barney Drey- | fus and Fred Clarke, president and man. ager, respectively, of the Pirates, lock them in room and, as Jeffries says, | Let the best man come out?' The public i Is tired of the personal scraps between l managers and presidents. Dreyfus is re- ported saying that he couldn't find a | name that would suit Mir Murphy and | Clarke, while not so bitter in his denun- citation of Hermann, said enough to , cause that gentleman to send some news paper clippings to MT. Clarke with a ! query as to'their correctness MT. Herr | mann's letter to Clarke was very quiet | in tone, but the scrappy Pittsburger Is considerably worried, evidently bearing in | mind the old adage of "A calm before a | storm"
 But the public is not particularly in- terested in what these gentlemen think of each other. What they want Is base ball games, and what the baseball pub lie want they generally get, if not from one team or one league, they will get from another. So 1t behooves the gentlemen to cut out personalities until the end of the baseball season. and then fight 1t out They will get just as much newspaper mo- toriety as now, perhaps a little more, and the public will have rest for few months.
 Chick Fraser the Cubs pitcher, who was sold to New Orleans, has refused to go and has brought suit against Presi- dent Murphy for libel, claiming that the Cubs president accused him of stirring up trouble n the club. Fraser also roasts Chance, Overall and Brown. Fraser Is a hrCt O t1-I Iax of