El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-19
MhITY MAY De On
TObOGGAN, But
STILL GREAT
It Appears He Has Lost His
Cunning, but Fans
Honor Him
CIV w. S. Farnsworth.l

d11y. 1t mas DSSn uOLlCSdD1o III MAI
tvs last few starts that he has lost a
good deal of his old cunning. The
teams that Matty used TO handle with
ease only a few years back, seem to
the great Giant hurler Matty's ap-
parent disintegration at this stage of
the close baseball campaign casts a
dark cloud over the chances OF the
Giants to win the National league pen
nant this year.
McGraw has always commended that
If he could get another winning pitch
er to work with Matty, things would
be quite easy for the Giants Mc5
Graw has always felt thai Matty would
be good for at least another decade.
Now 'Rube" Marquard comes along
and more than redeems the $1,000
pledge paid for him oy John T. Brush.
Marquard appears TO be the saving
grace of the Giants these days. To
counterbalance Marqdards great per-
formances, Matty IL pitching far be-
low his standard and has been losing
games with amazing regularity.
May Be Premature, But
This rabble about Matty going back
may be bit premature, but his work
during the past month or so presages
such a gloomy outlook for him. If
Matty has really gone back to such an
extent that he is no longer a winning
pitcher then the game will have lost
the best twirler baseball has ever pro-
duced- It will be one of the rare cases
where a ball player is a star one sea-
son. and a dismal failure the next
and succeeding seasons. It once more
revives the time honored question of
why star players do not retire in their
prime The game must possess some
magnetic influence to keep men In the
game until they have fully exhausted
their usefulness. There are but one
or two cases on record where star
has quit the game while still possessed
of his best capabilities
Always Safe In Hearts of Fans.
Should it really come to pass that
Matty win have to retire from the
public glare because of his inability
TO deceive opposing batters al of yore,
Christopher will always be refnem-
bered as the peer of pitchers. Christy,
admittedly. has a mighty right arm
but it is more than his arm that has
placed him on the pedestal he has en-
joyed for many years. Matty has
brain matter and has always made
use of it; that is why he was a success
for a decade. Matty could nearly al
ways outguess the batter, and he new
er extended himself unless the occasion
demanded it Matty never strived to
keep the opposing side to a minimum
of hits. On the contrary the oriposi-
ton could get as many hits as they
wished off Matty SO long as they were
not of damaging nature Matty's
specially has always been to prevent
q from
best work in the pinches; that is how
he acquired a nationwide reputation.
He could tighten up quicker and-more
effectively than any pitcher in the
game
Tinker Has Had Mafty's Number.
There is only one player In the
game who has had Mattys number"
Said player is none other than Joe
Tinker. the last of the famous Cub In
field machine. Excluding one year,
Tinker has raped Matty for an aver
age Of something like 700 In the last
six years This is notable record
for there is no player in baseball who
had pitchers goat as much as Tin
ker had Matty's. Christy has always
tried to evolve some method where's
by he could outwit Tinker while the
latter was at bat. But somehow or
other Joe nearly always outguessed
Matty- Tinker has broken UP many
game on Matty. One game especially.
the play-off of the famous Merkle in
cfdent, day after the regular season
closed In 1908, VIII long be remem-
bered by Matty, who will ever consider
Tinker his Nemesis. Early in the
game Tinker made a three base soak
that started a Cub rally that eventual
~ won the game and the pennant for
the Cubs. This smash took the heart
out of the Giants. Matty was the
pitcher at the time.
Chances Opinion of Tinker
Here's an instance Of how much
Frank Chance thinks of Tinker when
the Cubs are playing the Giants. 1t
occurred less than fortnight ago.
The afternoon before the Giants in
vaded the Windy City, Tinker was
fined $3.50 and suspended for the re-
nainder Of the season for alleged 'in-
different playing" On the eve of the
Giant invasion, manager Chance and
president Murphy conferred and re-
considered. The result was that the
fine was recalled and Tinker REIN
stated. In the first game against the
Giants, which Matty happened to be
pitching, Tinker made four hits in as
many journeys to the plate He was
directly responsible for seven Of the
eight runs scored by the Cubs and he
assisted in the production of the 9TH
er run. These runs were needed for
the Cubs TO win, as the Giants made
six runs off Miner Brown
Now that Brown has been mentioned
it would be well to say word or so
about the industrious Cub twirler
Brown, always Matty's hated rival on
the diamond, also appears to be slip
ping backwards. While he stil1 re-
tains his old speed, Brown has not the
old control of the ball and at times
has difficulty in serving the ball his
catcher calls for
Reverting to Matty.
Reverting to Matty: The big blonde
hurler has been the main cog in the
Giant machine for years and years. His
great pitching has brought a couple
Of National league banners and
worlds championship to the big town.
His percentage, except that of his first
year with the Giants. when he lost the
three games he pitched, has always
been higher than the team average.
Matty only recently made the state
ment that. unless a pitcher can attain
percentage equal to that of his club,
he could hardly be considered good
one. 1t looks as If Matty will have
to retract that remark, unless he
takes decided brace.