Evening star., 1911-08-15

NEW YORK. August 15.-There are
catchers and catchers, but there seems
to be no such thing as .'the best catch
ers'- least not just at present. Rather
there is one-of course there is a best =
but nobody can place his finger on him
and say with truthful certainty: There
he is
Almost daily we hear of somebody say
ing that such and such a man Is the
classiest thing in backstops. Such per-
sons don't know what they're talking
about But they think they do and they
have their reasons for thinking SO; they
spin fabric of sophistry, which they
call logic, dealing out the facts that exist
and supplying from their own fertile
imagination those that do not exist The
whole thing is a matter of opinion, the
same as every comparison of this sort.
There Is one fact, however. that I'M
presses itself on every fan who is non
partisan in temperament. That is the su-
premacy of the National League in the
receiving department. The senior organi-
zation boasts no less than seven catcherS
who are top-notchers in every sense of
the word. Enumerate them: Johnny
King, Roger Bresnahan, George Gibson,
Chief Myers, Larry Mclean. Red Doom.
Jimmy Archer. In other words, every
club in the league has first-caliber re-
have a man, who, strictly as a catcher.
compares favorably with any, but as a
batter or base runner he is not worth his
salt That is Bill Bergen Bill is a Won
der behind the plate, but heaven help the
team that has to send him to thetba in
a pinch. The other seven mentioned are
the exact antithesis of Bergen in this re-
spect. as their batting averages attest.
And they are all past masters at handling
the big mitt Combining the versatile
oh ind Ia
the equal of any catcher in the rival or
ganization.
AS against this array, the American
League offers Charley Street. Ira Thomas.
Ed Sweeney. Ted Easterly. Jimmy
Stevens, Billy Sullivan, Bill Carrigan and
Oscar Stanage. All good men: otherwise
they wouldn't be big leaguers. But.
where do you find star in the whole
bunch? Some team partisans VIII pick
out Street, Thomas or Sweeney and the
the business. If the fan will carefully
analyze his man, and weigh him part by
part with the cracks of the National
League, he will realize that there is hard
ly a team in the Lynch organization that
cannot put forward a better man. Dur
ing the last few weeks, We have asked
every club manager-National and Amer
ican-for his opinion as to the truth Of
that broad assertion. Without exception
the American League moguls refused to
way of deciding 1t. Several National
League leaders were willing to talk lucid
ly on the subject. They declared their
association far superior to the rival in
the catching department.
The aciturnity of the American Leag-
uers on the general subject serves as a
verdict that is as near to final as could
be desired.
Promising catchers is a different mat
ter In this line the American seems
to have a little the hotter Of the argu-
ment With two youngsters like Stanage
and Easterly showing the form they are
there is good ground for the prognosti-
cation that one of the pair will surely
become a world-beater before Father Time
calls him from the game to gentler pur-
suits. Both young men are put up along
the same lines physically, and their me-
chanical actions are much alike; they
would be dead ringers for each other
in moving picture. Who has the great
er .noodle?" Apparently Stanage. at
than his rival, and that is the thing
that will count in the long run.
The youngster who sprouts into great
ball PLAYER. one whose name goes into
the base ball hall of fame. is not often he
who startles the circuit with phenomenal
work the moment he strikes the big
league. Nor is he the man who after
laboring along mediocre performer
for some time. suddenly strikes his gait
and flashes forth. as it were. overnight.
The greatest players, almost without ex-
ception. are those who started out as an
average sort of a worker, getting a little
better each month and season, until at
last they have reached the bunch. passed
them, and then left the others behind.
Such was afathewston. such was Wag
ner. such were King. McGraw. Wallace
and Cy Young when they were just grow