Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-02
NATIONALS FUTURE DEPENDS
LARGELY ON THEIR PITCHERS
McAleer Believed to Have Capable Running
Mates for Johnson in Walker and
Hughes Ball Gossip.

, that he was running the team. Stall
| lings allowed him to take charge. and
in this way got great work out of his
first baseman. though Stallings was the
guiding hand. Chase did not set things
afire after lie took hold last fall. He
still has to show that he is a capable
manag ger. and he certainly has the ma
terial with which to make a showing.
When Fred Merkle lost the pennant for
the Giants i'm 1918 by his failure to touch
second base il seemed certain that his
career with the New York team had come
to an eEd The average manager would
have been SO eXasperated at the young
ster's stupidity that even though he had
shown ability he would have been al
lowed to drift to other fields. Not so Nc
Graw, however. He never held the error
against Merkle. and gradually developed
him into one of the best first baSemen III
the National League.
Fred Merkle has lived down ali bad ell
feCts of that famous incident of not
touching second base. McGraw dldn I
let that happening sour him on Merkle'
his attitude toward the first baseman, on
the other hand. being rather one of SYM
patty and confidence. Merkle very SEN
sibly refused 10 let the occurrence and all
that followed it affect his peace OF mind
OF interfere with establishing himself as
"A player worth keeping. He went about
the work of making good earnestly and
quietly, and McGraw was appreclat1ve
of his efforts Il shall keep Merkle at
first base" McGraw remarked to the
writer at time when some folks were
still disposed to regard Merkle as a joke
He has worked hard and deserves the
place.
There was no tendency to regard Merkle
as a shining culprit. On the other hand
the cranks have been kindly disposed TO-
ward him and have shown help1ul atti-
tude They have simply regarded Merkle
as unfortunate in being the victim OF
extraordinary circumstances which would
have resulted in nine players out OF ten
landing in the same boat.
Specialize ton in sport is what those
who advocate not sending the pitcher
to bat would bring about. and there is
no good reason whatsoever for TINS par
ticular form of specialization. says
New York writer. The idea is neither
new nor good. Common sense has pre-
vented it from being considered seri-
ously and is likely to go on acting as
a preventive against a move which
would refine the pitchers job to the
point Of making him a thing apart from
the rest Of his fellows. Nine men play
ing ball and only eight of them going
to bat seems like departing from one
Of the rock-ribbed foundations of base
ball. ENCOURAGEMENT Of all-around abil
ity and not its encouragement is what
the patrons of the game like to see It's
sure thing the pitchers don't take
kindly to the idea. Like every other
more than anything else they do on the
diamond. To bar good-hitting pitchers
from the batting would be manifestly
unfair and stand in the way of their
some day taking up another position. as
they sometimes do. and make it OPP
tional whether not the pitcher goes
to bat would mean two teams contending
under unequal conditions.
Another point. Pitchers pitch effective
~ enough now without being saved ex-
clusively for that work. Apropos of
bOxmen outstanding their energy, Ed
die Collins. who writes as well as he
plays. tells of how Connie Mack doesn't
have his pitchers cut loose on the bases
unless absolutely necessary. A good
many pitchers have learned wisdom in
that regard and last year were notice.
ably cautious and Shy about firing them
selves out on the bases. Man a sudden
batting rally and lost game has followed
a pitchers violent dash around the bases
in the inning before, and nowadays
twirlers are getting SO they are content
with two-baggers where any other batter
would have a three-bagger unless the
occasion justifies the pitcher running
the risk of being winded.