Evening star., 1911-06-03
BY J. ED GRILLo.

the center field fence.
1t seems to have been the first real
taste of that cork center ball that the
locals have had this season. and they
made up for lost time, as the record OF
sixteen base hits for total of thirty
three bases will attest. Any time that
| cork-center ball is met properly it trav-
els. and there were any number of oc-
casions yesterday when the locals cracked
| it right on the trade mark.
Cunningham's drive was the longest hit
ever made on the local grounds 1t
| cleared the green fence in center neld
i by ten yards and was travelling at such
terrific speed that it took but an instant
| out of sight. No ball has ever been hit
over this fence, and the only other oc-
casion that hit anything like 1t was
made was on the occasion when Charley
| Hickman drove the sphere over the right
field fence just to the right of the club
house. Hickman's drive. however. was
not as long as Cunningham's. for 1t
| barely went over the fence, while Gun
ningham's was many feet over 1t;
| There is no doubt that the hard-hittine
matinee made the cork-center decidedly
popular with the crowd yesterday. That
| is because 1t was the home team which
| was doing the hitting, but II conditions
| had been reversed there would have been
Manager McAleer expects in the next
| few days to have some definite answer
! from Manager Bob Unglaub of the Lin
Paul Cobb McAleer would like to bring
Cobb on here at once, though he doubts
whether the Lincoln club could spare
him at this time. IT, however. Cobb can
closed for his delivery in the fall. There
is hardly a chance of Cobb getting away
from the local club. for Unglaub sug-
gested him to McAleer and expressed
himself as being anxious to have Cobb
come here. as he considers him ball
player who would greatly help the Ma
tionalS.
If this youngster Clarence Walker. just
purchased from the Spartanburg club of
the Carolina League. is anything as good
as he is touted. McAleer will have picked
up star. There is no doubt that Walker
has shown KahOe enough to justify his
being brought DIP to fast company. Down
south they consider Walker a combina-
tion Of Cobb and Joe Jackson.
Gessler reminded one Of the days when
he wore Boston uniform on the local
grounds. Doc is in hitting form again
and he is driving the ball to all corners
of the lot. Three of his four hits drove in
runs and he created much glee when with
the bases full in the eighth. he hit into
Ter continues to hit as he has Of late there
will be no occasion to search Yor an out
fielder to take his place, for it VIII be nc
easy matter to find his superior with the
stick.
Neither Ainsmith nor Street has re-
covered from his recent lay-on and
neither Is yet throwing up to his form.
as result of. which opposing base-run-
ners are having a comparatively easy
time pilfering. Regular work will OF
course. bring both catchers back to form.
but it will be several days yet before
they will be throwing as they should.
1t is a dangerous proposition to pay
too much attention to Cobb on the bases
when there are two out. He is constantly
drawing throws. and in their hurry the
fielders are very apt to make wild
with Cobb on third and Crawford on
second. Cobb took SO long a lead of
the bag that Hughes made an effort
to catch him. He threw past Conroy
and two runs came over the plate.
here the weakness Of the Tigers pitching
staff has been very apparent, and there
will have to be decided brace in this
respect il the team expects to stay In
first place. Not one OF the quartet OF
pitchers used yesterday appeared to have
enough to stop an ordinary team from
hitting, and, while Jennings team un-
doubtedly Is the best In the league when
it comes to scoring runs, the weakness
of his pitchers places too great handi-
cap even on his great run-getters to
make consistent victory possible. 1t be-
gins to look very much as IL the burden
Of keeping the team at the top Of the
heap will fall on the shoulders OF his
veteran pitchers, Summers Mullin and
Donovan. and even they will have to be
at their best to keep them there.
Tom Hughes Is OF the opinion that the
new cork-center ball weighs more than
the regulation five ounces. Hughes con-
tends that 1t is this fact which is making
1t SO hard for many OF the pitchers to
show their form. He holds that the new
ball. being heavier. makes q great differ
,ence and will continue to do so until the
pitchers get used to 1t. It makes 1t
harder to curve. and lack of control also
results. The rule provides that the ball
shall not weigh less than FIVE ounces nor
more than five and one-quarter ounces.
he has been asked to pitch weighed near
er six than Ave ounces, and that this
places a great handicap on the pitcher.
Tom Hughes is being worked with very
little rest in between games, and for a
pitcher whose arm is no longer as strong
as 1t might be he Is acquitting himself
very well. He is standing the strain
much better than was expected and
from this out expects to take his regular
turn on the rubber. The short left field
is q great. handicap to a pitcher like
Hughes. who always tries to make the
batters hit, and pop flies are being drop
| ped into the stands, on his pitching
rather often.
BIZ Cunningham gave a peculiar field
| ing exhibition. Several of his stops were
nothing short of brilliant, but his throws
| to first were a trifle wobbly. But Cunny
| Is showing better form with every game
and McAleer made no mistake when he
kept the youngster in the game, even
while he was going poorly.
by keeping him In the game Mc,Aleer
| is In fair way to make Cunny the ball
player his work last fall promised. He
| got off poorly this spring. and had he
been benched he might never have come
back.
| Nine hits for total of seventeen bases
| was the hitting done by the local out
| field yesterday. a showing which certain
ly justtfies the statement that for the
past week the three gardeners have been
doing their share with the stick Ever
since the first game in Detroit the team
has been showing plenty of class with
l the bat In fact. the hrst game with
had no right to win. But for some slow
work on the bases and some rather SAT-
| fron-hued pitching the team would have
| won whole lot OF games In q row and
be in a much better position in the race
than 1t Is II the stick work can be
kept up and the pitching will improve
| there Is still hope of getting far enough
| away from last place not to be in danger
OF falling into 1t after q defeat or two.