The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03
Empire Audit Company
 G. L. LEMON, President MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTS AND SYSTEMS
 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
Steele, are youngsters who have splen-

Steele, are youngsters who have a splen- did future ahead of them.
 Very few of the pitchers who are doing good work in the big league, nave cost their employers a large sum of money. The case of Marquard is an exception, but
 McGraw always did say that the "Rube" was good. and his judgment was vindi- cated. All that Marquard needed was confidence, and with the acquisition of this necessary quality he became a star pitcher.
 The best example of a pitcher who has not made good is Russell Of the Athletics. This player has shown very little since he joined the club, and it is the general opinion among experts that he will never be of any use to the Athletics who paid what was until recently regarded as the high-water mark in prices for pitchers. Connie Mack authorized his scouts to go as high as S12,500 for the Baltimore pitcher
 and they purchased him for that amount.
 His work in the Eastern league has led
 every one to predict great things for him.
 but he was a failure from the start and is seldom used Mack will hold onto him, however until the end of the season. The money is not taken into account these days by baseball magnates and man agefs. Any minor league club which has
 a star is pretty sure to get a good bit Of money for the player, especially if he is a pitcher. Competition Is so keen among all of the clubs that a good player will bring anywhere from $5O00 to $l0,0Oo The highwater mark was reached last i9onth when Marty O'Toole, the star St. Louis pitcher, brought a bid of s22,O0O. Whether O'Toole will make good re- mains to be seen. Cincinnati paid q large sum for "Rube" Benton, a Southern league pitcher. but had to turn him back as he did not pan out. He will be given another chance in the fall If he does do
 anything the club wll consider that it was not stung on the deal.
 Minor league club owners resort to p1anS schemes to get big money from major league scouts One of the oldest games is to have many fake bidders offer va
 rious sums for the player in the hearing of some of the scouts and thus urge the latter on to make larger bids. When the magnate has secured satisfactory price he closes the deal immediately, and some
 major league owner finds that he has
 been buncoed to the extent of $7000 or $SOOO. This is the real reason of the failure Of
 many of the high-priced stars.
 Many good men have been purchased for less than $500 and some at the regular major league draft price. Alexander cost
 the Phillies less than s7Oo, and Nap Rucll- CT was purchased at the regular Class B draft price. It often happens that man may be a wonder in a minor league. but loses his nerve in the big leagues, and this is the reason for his poor showing. Put the same men back in the mino~ leagues and they appear to be too fast for even Class A company. They seem to invariably drift back to the bush leagues, and managers pass them up even though their records warrant trial in fast company
 Many stars have been secured for noth- ing. most of them from college teams Jack Coornbs Is a notable example. He came To ihe Athletics from college ard has been one Of the nest valuable men on Ll.e team since he joined the club, winn'Eg la pcnnant and worlds champion5h.p for Connie Mack. JEore are others of his st"pe Tn various CCpa. tlnents ot the sare now paving on o' league teams who have cost rotbng>
 The life of star pitcher Is short, as far as fame is concerned. The man who is regarded as hero today is pariah to- morrow, and the same fan who shouts with glee at his victories this season will be bowling in wrath and hurlng insults at him the next year if he should be un-
 fortunate enough to have bad season.
 The case of Rube Waddell is a good cx-
 ample of the fickleness of the fan. A more
 eccentric and brilliant pitcher never
 twired a game. His name was on the
 lips of every fan in the country which he
 was in his prime. He is pitching for an
 American Association team now and is en-
 tirely forgotten in the big league cities,
 except when stories of his past dongs
 crop up.
 This has been a bad season for the old
 stars. Even Pitchers Mathewson and
 Brown are not regarded in the same god
 ly fashion as they were last year or the year before and they are slowly but surely giving way to the younger crop of
 pitchers. Mathewson is not greeted with
 the same wild acclaim as of old, although
 it is true that he is still pitching grt at
 ball for the Giants
 The fan forgets the victories and has only q sheer and little sympathy when a
 pitcher loses. The man in the oeachors
 is the worst of al No matter how good a pitcher worked last season cr how many games he has already won during the current season, the bleacherite is the first one to put up howl when the favorite loses.
 Should the pitcher have another good season he temporarily gains his popular ity. Old Cy Young of the Cleveland team, seems to be an exception to the general rule, for whether he makes good or not he meets with the same reception. He has done his work well for 19 years. ana the long association with the fans in the big league has put him above the average pitcher even though his work has not been as brilliant as some of the other | slab artists.
 Mordecai Brown of the Cubs perhaps