The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-09


 behemoth of St. Louis, Mo-, and sur rounding country! That title is richly de- served by the man who is considered the most expensive human baseball chattel of all times. Roger Patrick is at present being idolzed and lionized by St. Louis fandom. and anyone who can wedge his way into the heart of the Missouri sport fraternity, the like of which there is not, from critical standpoint. has earned his spurs.
 Roger Patrick Bresnahan. be it known, is manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. For years the team has been in the mre in the National league standing, and un- til last year it was looked upon by all strong teams as being in the league for the sole purpose of increasing their per- centage The Cardinals ever despised by their stronger sisters, appear to have reached the tether of their stepping stone proclivaties and are in the slashing race this year with both hands. feet and whole anatomy
 For over a fortnight the Cardinals have been lowering around the first division. looking for a chance to slip through the
 
 four leaders. For a while it seemed that the Philies would be the victims. and for brief period the Pirates seemed doomed to second division berth. giving way to the Cardinals. While they have as yet been unable to crawl into the elite four. the fact remains that the Cardinals are so close that even a temporary slump by any of the leading teams would mean their disposition from select society. with St Louis as the successor.
 This narrative deals with Roger P. Bresnahan. and l have picked out the superb showing of the Cardinals as should be eulogized.
 The splendid work of the Cardinals is due mainly to Bresnahan. both to his per Eonality and his ability as baseball gen eral. Before Roger took hold of the ''show me- crowd. St. Louis was a habit ual occupant of the cellar position in the National league. It is a well-known fact that 1t takes several years to whip a championship team into line. Bresna- han has had hold of St. Louis for two whole years. Tfis is Rogers third year
 
 of Bresnahan's regime the Cardinals fared rather poorly, though not as badly as in previous years Bresnahan lacked the material. and the shrewdest manager In the world can do nothing with a team of crude players. But Bresnahan pos sessed two or three players that were real ball players. And he formed a nucleus of this trio and built his team around them. He picked up new players right along. until now he has about the young est aggregation of pastimers In the game.
 Toward the close of last season the mould had been cast The team played harmoniously and showed a fine spurt at the windup. But still experts persisted in placing the Cardinals among the base ment occupants in the National organiza tion this year. Their calculations have been rudely upset. as the records will at- test. The Cardinals boast afpercentage of over 500. the first time in many years that they have been up so high in the rating at this stage of the race.
 All credit is due to Bresnahan for mals- ing the National league race five-team affair. He is one of the few players that
  agers. Bresnahan is still very much in the game, and his heavy stick work and brain work have reaped their just re- wards. Bresnahan is a brany. aggressive end scrappy player. He is keen stu- dent of the game, besides being versatile at the bat and on the bases. Bresnahan has succeeded so well that there is talk that he vii become owner of the club be- fore another year.
 Bresnahan will eyer be looked upon as one of the greatest catchers in the game. He helped bring a couple of league ban ners and a worlds championship to New York While a member of the, Gants.> In 1907. when the Giants were going bad and Ii was alleged that McGraw was not par tlcularly anxious about the welfare of his team Bressahan was reported as abont to become manager of the Giants. This report created quite a stir in base ball circles for a. time. The rumor that he. was to become a manager looked good to Bfesnahan and from that time on he yearned to sinauage a bali club. His am bition was realized on December 12, 190S when he was shipped to St. Louis in q gigantic triple deal, In whicf St, Louis New York and Cincinnati were involved Eresnahan went to St. Louis in return for Catcher Schlei. Outfelder Murray and