Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-29

There is no doubt that the splendid work
Of Mathewson and Marquard made 1t
possible for the Giants to win the Ma
tional League pennant. The prowess of
this pair, together with the good fortune
McGraw encountered in not having any
of his players out of the game, while
his nearest rivals were sadly crippled.
gave the Giants an advantage which made
it possible for even a weaker team to have
won. On their showing in the series
against the Athletics it became plain that
the best team did not finish on top in
the old league race. Injuries to Wagner
and Clarke put the Pirates out of it, and
Doom gave the Phillies black eye. while
natural deterioration, not to speak of
the retirement of Chance and Evers.
made the Cubs comparatively easy prey.
Yet these facts were not taken into con-
sideration when the Giants chances
against the Athletics were weighed,
and there We're many who figured that
McGraw's team stood the better chance
to win.
Considering it's weakness. the New York
team really made splendid showing.
losing two of the four games by home
run hits, a manner of inf1icting defeat
which while ESSENTIAL. is rather lucky.
for many balls are hit just as
hard as were those which counted home
runs for Baker and yet yield nothing.
But for these drives the chances are that
the Giants would have won the series. and
yet they would not have convinced any
one by such performance that they
were the better ball team.
One thing that the series established
is the fact that Chief Bender IS really
great pitcher, notwithstanding the fact
that he can no longer be classed among
the youngsters. Bender pitched three Of
the six games and won two of them. The
one he lost. the first, was the result of an
error by Collins. which gave the Giants
the tying run. But he came back and
won his second game after a long rest.
and then with but single days lay-off
pitched what many concede was his best
performance during the series. 1t was
by this game that Bender proved himself
really great pitcher.
Mathewson, though he did not 40 the
expected, should not lose any of his
laurels by reason of the two defeats the
Athletics inflicted. Mathewson, after all,
gave remarkable exhibition Of twirl-
ing. In none Of his games did his team
mates give him the assistance of more
than two runs. and there never was a
moment in any of the games he pitched
that he could take breathing spell. 1t
should be remembered that Mathewson
has been in major league base ball for
eleven years, and in that time has been
the manstay of his teams pitching staff
On him has fallen the burden of all hard
games, and that even SO sturdy a chap
would eventually give way under the
strain is not to be wondered at.
The prediction has been made that
Matty's value to the New York team suf-
fered by reason of his defeats at the
hands of the Athletics. The argument
is advanced that his spirit was broken
by those upsets. and while that may be
true. Matty's chief shortcoming these
days is that he no longer possesses the
speed necessary to protect his other de-
liveries. In the games he pitched Matty
used few fast balls. He curved and
used his fadeaway most Of the time, but
when he used his fast one II was to keep
it out of the batter's reach and served
no other purpose than to let the batter
know that he had such a thing as
fast ball.
That McGraw has good catcher in
Chief Meyers was demonstrated during
good backstop and thrower but he is
a hitter of much more than ordinary
ability, and gives evidence of being able
to think. The fact of the matter is that
Thomas or Lapp. and he caught all six
of the contests. Meyers catching was
the only bright spot in the Giants play.
He did splendid work and surprised those
who were under the impression that he
was nothing more than any ordinary
backstop.
Sporting Editor Star:
A few days ago l was idly glancing
over the names of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence when my
eye fell on one or two names Of men
that made history in those days. and
the similarity to the names of men who
are making history (of another kind)
today impelled me to select from
among the names of those venerable
and highly respectable gentlemen
team of all stars" together with
the Lineup" as best I could arrange 1t.
Some of them may be slightly out of
their accustomed playing positions. such
as Wilson, who is a catcher instead of
third baseman, and TONY" Smith may
not be well known at short, but / be-
lfeye the base ball public will recog-
nize the rest of the lineup.
Nevertheless, all of the names given
below are to be found on the Declare
ton OF independence.
Very respectfully yours.
Lineup of An-Stars: Hooper. right
field. Lewis, center field; Stone. left
field: Chase, first base: Williams. second
base; Smith, shortstop; Wilson, third
ase: Livingston, catcher; Clark, catcher;
Adams, pitcher; Hall. pitcher; Clymer.
substitute right fielder; Taylor. owner
and president; Lynch, umpire