The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-07-23
.bRESNAHAN GETS
CREDIT DUE MAC
Present Manager Of Butte Team
Did Much to Build Up
Cardinals.
OWNERS INTERFERED TO
DETRIMENT OF THE CLUB
MeCloskey Hopes to See St.
Louis Near Top of the Per-
centage Column.

w
roofing enthusiastically for the St. Louis
Cardinals In the National league race.
Manager Roger Bresnalan is the most
prominent man in baseball today. He Is
hailed everywhere as one Of the greatest
Of managers and Is given credit for nav
ing built UP pennant contender from
tail end team.
In ali the chorus OF general acclaim :
for Duke Roger not even minor note
of praise is heard for the man who paved
the way for Bresnahan's success. This
man is none other than John McCloskey.
manager and owner of the Butte team.
which Is now playing series OF games
in Salt Lake.
McCloskey for two years prior to Bres-
nahan's arrival was manager Of the car
dinals The team had the last place
habit and when McCloskey assumed
would have had difficulty is making good
In class 4 leagues. Honest John. as
McCloskey is known wherever baseball
is played had to resort TO heroic III Tlsas tn
ruthless band. signed youngsters ana.
taught them the rudiments of the game,
and when after two years OF EFFORT ne
had lot OF promising material Bresna-
han was given control.
Well informed critics OF today say that
Honey. the Cards first baseman is the
veloped by McClosley. as were other Ma
tional league stars. including Boony
Byrne. whom 81. Louis traded 10 PITTS
burg and Red Mnrray Se nov Ssnosed IN TeM NJ
many OF the men who served under his
predecessor. but fair minded observers
cannot fai! to give the present Butte
Bresnahan's success. But "the king Is
dead-long live the king
Frank DeHaas Robinson and ms
brother. Stanley Robinson owned the
club when McCloskey was its manager
Both of these men are dead and the club
is owned by their heirs, who have given
7, SaIt aI,e NIcCIoskey has told friends
what in fact was well known before. that
The Robinsons had interfered with the
management to "a great extent, x1,eh ,wo wars
without making a showing" said Nc
Closkey but this season, with fun au-
thority, he has made the former tail end
ers a pennart contender
Had McCloskey had the opportunity
that Bresnahan has this season, IL is
likely that the aggressive leader oil INC
leader and the Union league would still
be In the future.
But al that, Manager McCloskey of
Louis Cardinals In all the length. and
breadth Of this land OF the free and the
home OF the ball and bat.
Fullerton Praises McCloskey
Hugh Fullerton, one of the foremost
base ball writers of the present daY is
one who gives McCloskey fun credit i9r
his ability as baseball manager Full
lerton who is the author OF The inside
Game" CLOSE Decisions" and other Gas
sizes OF modern baseball. has an article In
the current Issue of the American inasa-
zine treating on the Science OF Coach-
In this article Fullerton ranks McClos-
KEY with Hurhie Jennings OF petroit,
of the Giants and other baseball gen
erals who occupy the very front rank In
baseball strategy. Fullerton rightly
places the blame FOR MeGoskey @ t the la,are psre
centages table of the National league.
not on the manager. but on the falluTe
OF his PLAYERS TO follow Instructions fui-
Ierton saws OF the present Butte man
aeer. whose team is leading the Union
association
John aicCloskey. one. of the greatest
the theory of coaching, both from the
bench and from the lines 10 an exact
science. Yet McCloskey has not been
successful because the players lack the
nuickness and the brains TO follow his
orders II he could find men who could
think and act quickly enough TO OBEY ms
signals ! believe beyond doubt that he
would be the greatest manager OF all
time.
zone great trouble in the McCloskey
system is that players are not yet ecu
dependent thinking and obey orders, The
worst feature OF the coaching system is
that the theirs not 10 reason why, theirs L
Ing After each blunder OF ball player
the reason assigned is I thought Be-
sides that. the fewer brains player mas
and the less ho knows of the science Of
the game the more liable he Is TO soon
at the lheorst and rldicule or ignore the
'wigwag system.
I'm Louisville one day last summer.
Milwaukee batter drove a ball down the
eft-feld corner of the grounds. Ihe
ball was In the shortstops hands when
the runner reached third base, but IN
stead uf holding him there the excited
urged him onward and he WAS
thrown out so feet from the plate. Nc
Closkcy who had been watching. had
slid down until the back OF bis head was
resting OH the bench and his feet were
six feet away on the ground. His oody
rigid 4 cruel substitute gazing at his
asked: What Is that, Mac?
A signal to slide feet first2