The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-06
BASEBALL.
 IS GOOD THING
 t-- Real Fans Never Hold Any
 Post Mortems ALWAYS LOOK AHEAD zS. z z.z.4
ALWAYS LOOK AHEAD
Christy Mathewson of the Giants IS Also Some Checker Player. But Football Beats
 Them All
nr MANHATTAN

@ New York, November o.-Aopecia4-' VI all acknowledge baseball is the e'e@'e'r game that the ingenuity of man hds se. invented. Just the same 1t IS soo1 thing that for a little while 1t can go l"'o cold storage and we fans can aceuinuid'e euousb to start out the season or lsl@ III good shape. -i
 One good thing about the great Amefl- can game is that it's devotees spend little Hme in post mortems When a game ID nlaved it passes into history and eyes are turned to the next game.
 In the recent worlds series for eAaih' ple. which, by the way, was the ihos' hair raising in the history Of the galie' was won by the best club, just as the two eontesting clubs were the best in the Two leagues. and now that the series is III the discard the men of both teams dfe filled with the determination to wlh ou. fu their respective leagues next year anu try it over again. .,z. 4f,.
 If was of course unfortunate tial eie rain came and bred so many scandals hnt these really didn't amount to much. of course nobody really believed, Tor ih- stance. that Snodgrass tried to spiAe Baker. or that Umpire Conhohy, con sciously made improper rulings. II Was all the result of strained nerves ana loie- ness in combination and after the ~lti- ters rest all these things will De lor- gotten.
 sjlx o'r,oughlin. the American league umpire, is strong advocate of speed He says the games are becoming too slew. and he planes the players. Tn ais cussing this fault the noted diamond judge said yesterday:
 Put ginger into any public amusement and you'll attract and delight patrons who nav their money at the box office. 4 lively act in vaudeville or a snappy play will crowd a theater any time. scientific swiftly moving boxer will coni- inand big boxing at boxing club because people will pay more to see him than a clumsy slugger. Baseball is the same. Speedy playing is essential toward keep ing up the interest. If the games are al lowed to drag the fans grow tired and lose interest.
 rye always maintained that between i9xines the players going h and from lie benches should be made 10 hurry. It looks better than 10 see them slouch to their positions. stopping on the way 10 borrow a chew or 10 discuss an error maybe. When the American league was organized the games were played so rap idly that there was a cry in some quar- iers that there was too much hurry and hustle Games were frequently played in one hour and l5 minutes, and l really be- iieve a majority of the fans were satis- fed But in recent years the players themselves have adopted slothful lnetn- eds. with the result that the games are again too long.
 Much time is wasted by the batteries The spit ball pitchers consume most or it bv moistening their fingers and pre- parine to take aim. Then again some or them can't make out the signs given by tie catchers. In such eases the pitchers stand still, looking at the backsto2's fingers. as they indicate the sign in the fellow of the mitts If they don't under stand the pitchers shake their heads and in many cases go up near the plate 10 hold confabs, when. a matter of Tact the field umpire and the infielders can see tho signs as plainly as day. There should be no such delay if the pitchers really : wanted to hasten matters. More time Is lost when batsmen can't find their own sticks You'll see them handling every lat in the pile before their own is picked out That is all unnecessary. too. I be- lieve that the managers can remedy ,hese defects if they want to and I'd like to see the powers that be compel them to-"
 All of which is quite true. Action is what the fan wants and the play cannot be too rapid for him.
 Christy Mathewson, the big gun of the Clients. is supposed to favor two pas times in the realm of sport. The first of these is baseball the next checkers, in both of which Christy is a champion.
 But. on the other hand, neither base bali nor the game of checkers holds the highest spot in Chrsty's esteem. The Giant star picks football as the greatest game he has ever played.
 I'd rather play one good game of foot ball." Matty replied to a query along his line. than dozen games Of baseball, checkers or anything else. I'm not knock ing baseball It's great old game and has done more than it's share for me But for all that, I've never drawn the thrill nor the pleasure from it I used to got in a moleskn suit while hitting a inc or taking a shot at the goal in a tight pinch"
 "Matty was the same careful student and hard worker in football that he has always been in baseball" said an old col 1ege chum of Matty's, who furnished a few interesting side lines upon his work 4 on the gridiron. He was always the first man on the field and the last man to leave.
 "Long after the others had quit off around dusk Matty was still out there rracticing drop kicks and bunting lp and down the field. He would work from diff
  be prepared for any sort of emergency
 ''He not only played the game. hut studied it all the time-studied it just as he had studied baseball. It has always been Matthewson characteristic that no matter what he went to, he went to it with everything he had. studied it closely and overlooked no bets.
 Frank Sullivan, inventor of the trudg- T eon-crawl swimming stroke and recog- nized as the leading coach in America las assumed the duties of his new post as instructor at Princeton, and is enthu- Siastic over his prospects. He will for the present devote his entire attention to the freshmen. The recently adopted rule making swimming a part of the curricu- lum has placed 200 first year men on his hands. and he has already shown ais ability to, systematize matters by dividne them into classes. according to the,r Knowledge of natation. and teaching each class separately By this method he $E hopes not only to issue more rapid prog rfss, but also to pick out the promising material and form strong freshman, A4Rm.
 The varsity squad will not be called cut