The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-06
SMITH BELIEVES PELLS AND bAR0NS
 HAVE NO CHANCE
HOLDS TO THEORY THAT COyA- LESKI AND LAFITTE WILL FIX POSE THE WEAKNESS OF TWO CLUBS-SOME DEDUCTIONS
BY GEORGE H. BUTLER

BY GEORGE H. BUTLER
 Chattanooga, April 5.--(Special. )-Analo- mics are frequent in baseball, but not as striking as the one which exists between the condition of the Detroit Tigers in the last lap of the race for the 1909 American league bunting and the New Orleans and Birmingham teams of the Southern league at the present time,
 Along the last days of the 1909 race the Tigers were leading the van with tho Philadelphia Athletics closely pressing them for the championship honors. The Tigers narrow lead was due primarily to the heavy hitting of the entire squad. Ty Cobb and Wahoo Sam Crawford were the stellar figures in the swatting line, but were closely pressed by Rossman and Big Claude stick put many a game upon the safe side of the ledger for Jennings clan.
 And then the baseball world was startled one morning by the incredible announce ment that Rossman, the heaviest hitting first sacker in the league, had been dis posed of by Jennings. and that he was to be supplanted by Tom Jones of St. Louis
 Like the monosyllabic utterance of some Titan came the single exclamation from the united ranks of baseball fandom- Why? And to answer this universal in- terrogation the scribes began an investi- gation. Jennings himself answered their queries-Rossman couldn't throw.
 Why was it that Rossmans weakness had not been discovered before. An an swer to this problem proved far more difficult than the first. The scribes fol- lowed innumerable clues seeking vain;y a tangible source of information. Finally it was discovered that the tip which had proved Rossman's downfall had come from the camp of Connie Mack's Phila- delphia Athletics.
 Naturally-there was a curiosity to know where Connie, as astute as he was, could have gained knowledge of the secret which Jennings so jealously guarded, and this was easily satisfied, the disastrous and fatal information had come from Ira Thomas, the man whom Hughey Jennings did not consider fast enough for a berth on the Tigers squad.
 Birmingham and New Orleans now face in the Southern league the same predica- ment which so nearly proved fatal to De- lrO1t ana the lneSt1IlaDle dQNanIaRe or the knowledge of their very weakness lies with Billy Smith, the pilot of the Chattanooga Lookouts. Among the Chat tanooga aggregation Is Jim LaFitte and Harry Covaeski, the star battery men of New Orleans and Birmingham respec- lively last year, and in their presence is the certainty that Smith possesses a knowledge of the Pelicans and Barons respective weaknesses far more exhaus- lAI1 A11- l.. regard to Jennings Tigers.
 For, take the Barons' lineup for this season. It is with the exception of third base identical with the one that repre- scented the Iron City in 1910 Ghat Is, acting upon the supposition that Molesworth will obtain Messenger in spite of the Browns failure to waive). At first, as last year, is McGilvray; at second, Mar can; at short, Ellam, and at third Phe- Ian. Of the entire inner defense only one man is new. The outfield, as before stated, should Messenger come. Is also the same in Mcbride, Molesworth and Bob. Behind the bat appears Rowdy El- fiott as of last year. To say that Co., valeski knows the hitting weakness of all these men is putting 1t mildly. Some one asked Cove the other day if Moes- worth has any special hitting weakness and the Pole just smiles-he didn't have
 
 Smith smiled too.
 And now for New Orleans, the only mo- ticeabe change with the Pelicans is at first base. for Manush will undoubtedly return to Cholly's bailiwick, and the man at first is Johnson. To say that prac- tically every man on the Lookouts' squad knows Docks fatal weakness is needless Just mention a certain curve ball to the physician and he will turn pale with fear and wilt under the gills. The other ln- fielders are Rohe and Lindsay, and each has his weakness, rest assured of this. If he didn't he would be in the big ring And to inform him of these weaknesses Billy Smith has none other than Jim La Fitte. | "v.isI So bear this In mind When Billy Smith procured Harry Covaleski and Jim La- Fitte he did not obtain merely the pre- mer twirler and receiver of the South ern league-he gained an even greater as- set, an exhaustive knowledge of the most | minute weaknesses of every member of the teams which will prove his strongest competitors for the 1911 rag of the south ern league.
 | That this knowledge will prove the downfall of these competitors let subse- quent developments show