The Washington herald., 1909-07-05
wESTERNER SCORES BROWNS
Claims that Failure of McAIeeF's
Club to Make Good This Season Is
Mainly Due to Chauvfnistic Tao
tics-Cites Many Examples to Sub
stantiate Argument I'm Question.


throw as never man threw before. But
he can't run lick. SO. as a BAN PLAYER
he is useless out Of the pitchers place.
There IS Austin. of New York. He can
field like a fend. throw like catapult,
and run ike a deer. But because he Is
the very opposite OF Criss. who is a fall
ure. Austin is a failure. too. For Austin
cannot hit enough TO get on base often
enough TO do his team any good.
There you are.
Sometimes speed is the quality needed
sometimes brains. OF course, both quail
ties in moderation IS better than one
quality in excess.
But there are thousand things 10 be
reckoned IN the building Of bali club.
The Cry for Speed.
Disguised with the sloth OF the Browns,
St. Louis is cying for speed, speed and
then more speed
OF course a competent manager will
pay no attention 20 the public clamor
He will know his business and conduct
his team TO best advantages.
AS for speed. it is Wen. but give us
brains without speed rather than speed
without brains
Slow men. with brains. can steal bases,
Fast men, without brains, cannot. Frank
Chance is not fast but he is q grand
base stealer. No better. not even Cobb or
Wagner Cobb and Wagner will steal
when there is no good reason for stealing
when game is won or lost beyond hope
for the sake Of stealing, as Billy Hamil-
ton was wort 20 steal But Chance viii
not steal save when there IS great rea-
son that he shall steal
SO much depends upon environment
Barbeau. with Cleveland. could not steal
base. With Pittsburg he is a crack
base runner.
It is being urged against several Of the
Brown players that they are poor base
runners: that they are slow.
May they not be other Barbeaus. fast
enough 20 steal with other clubs2 Not
a Cleveland player is among the ten
leading base stealers Of the American
League. Cleveland. with G0Ode and Lord
and Turner is not a base-running club
Sc when with Cleveland, Barbeau was
not a base runner.
Pittsburg has four men in the ten lead
ing base runners Of the National League
They are Wagner. Clarke. Leach, and this
same Barbeau, who could not get a yard
of base with Cleveland.
Fast Feet and Poor Base Running.
In 1907 the Browns had Niles. HemphfH
Pickering, and Stone. four excessively
fast men. Not one Of them was among
the ten base stealers any more than Fer
ris. Wallace. Williams and Jones. the
alleged slow men
But with New York last year both Niles
and Hemphill leapt into the ten leading
base runners and run getters.
Dan Hoffman stole fOrty-six bases at
Philadelphia one season. and thirty-three
IN New York in another season. He could
steal but seventeen IN St. Louis in I90S.
This year he is not IN the honor list.
either. Men ike Elberfeld and Chase.
men not half so fast as Hoffman. are in
this list.
Stone. a very fast man. has never been
among the ten leading base runners. Save
HeidFick, no man that has played on
the Browns in the past eight years. has
ever been on this roll OF honor.
Base running is the important branch
OF baseball L opens, up the field FOR the
batter by pulling the infelders 20 the
bases II gives a chance for scoring by
forcing felders 20 make hurried throws.
Hurried throws are often inaccurate.
The ChauvinIsm of the Browns.
But in the past three years no one could
tell the Browns anything One fearful
and dlscouraging feature Of the team has
been its desperate Chauvlnism. It's OBJ
stinate adherence TO obsolete ideas. the
unfailing certainty with which Il was
sure 20 take the Unprogressive side Of
any controversy.
For instance. with the Browns. the
methods OF Cobb. who scores more runs
and who steals more bases than any man
in the game. are all wrong. He IS too
fresh he does the unexpected. he stars.
he eXcels, he succeeds. Therefore he IS /
wrong and everything he does is wrong.
Not long ago Ferris was at pains 70 get
himself quoted as saying that Crawford
was a far better ball player than Cobb,
more valuable 10 his team, a better run
maker. If not a better run-getter. Now
listen 70 that
Crawford is a grand batter and a grand
fielder Of the old school. Of which Sam
Thompson. Dan Brouthers. Ed Delehanty.
and Roger COnnOr were the best expo-
nents. Crawford Is a better ball player.
probably, than any of these men, but in
his day. Roger Connor was just as good
a hitter and Just as fast a man as Sam
Crawford
Crawford can hit and he can field No
doubt Of that
Does he worry Ferris as much as Cobb
does? VIII Crawford beat out a bunt or
an infeld hit? VIII he take that extra
base?
No. indeed. You can go back to the
limit Of your arm on Crawford and await
his hit with all confidence. It may shoot
past so fast that you cannot see Il. II It
comes at you and you get it you have all
the time IN the world. There viii not be
any attempt 20 lay down and beat q bunt.
Crawford IS a slow man and he rarely
will beat out an infield hit. He will be
thrown out by fifteen feet on an inheld
tap that Cobb will beat a yard.
Cobb VS.. Crawford on Bases.
On the bags: VIII Crawford make the
fielder hurry that throw 10 third and thus
let the man on first go to second? VIII
Crawford pull that throw TO the plate?
VIII Crawford worry the catcher as Cobb
does? What is the use Of arguing the
question with any intelligent person?
Ferris has a grand pair Of hands. No
better man IN the world on a ground
basl, no surer catch Of a fly ball. But he
is what is called "a natural ball player"
plays ball his own way, and never can
learn anything else.
The Old scheme Of Ball.
The old game Of ball has been done for !
some hve years now. In the old National I
League there were twelve clubs. one
great one. Baltimore; one good one. Bos- |
ton; one fair club, Cleveland. Philadel- /
phia had a good, lazy club. a Chauvin- (
istic club, with Ed Delehanty. a grand
natural ball player" as the chief of /
the Unprogressives. The Chicago. St !