Evening star., 1911-06-10
BY J. ED GRILLO.

II the Detroit team should encounter a
slump at this time 1t can be directly at
tributed to the injury which Catcher
Stanage met in Philadelphia yesterday
Stanage is the only good catcher Jennings
has to call on. and his absence will be
greatly felt. Had he been in the game
yesterday it is not likely that Barry
would have stolen home with the run
which eventually won the game. Casey
lacks the experience and will not give
the pitchers the support that has Stan
age.
Charley Schmidt. who for several years
did the bulk Of the catching for the Ii
gers. is at home and not in condition to
work, and Casey is the only man avail
able while Stanage is out of commission
But Jennings has string on Beckendorf.
now catching for Buffalo. and he can re-
call him at any time, which undoubtedly
he will have to do.
The advantage of having control of the
ball was shown in Cy YOungS pitching
yesterday. Control does not merely mean
ability to get the ball over the plate. but
to be able to put it where it Is figured the
batter will be at a disadvantage to hit it,
Young worked every man that faced
him to perfection. There were, OF course,
q rev n1tS mace OIL OF DuI TIC pCi
centage was always in his favor. Pitch
ing nowadays has come down to where
unless a pitcher can put the ball where
he wants to he stands little chance OF be-
ing effective. Every batter has some sort
of a weakness and when a pitcher learns
this he must be able to take advantage
of ii and the only way he can accomplish
that is to have absolute control of the
ball.
of (taTp-
land team has never had a fixed system
Of playing the game. No matter who mas
been at the helm, the Maps have al
ways displayed a lack of up-to-date base
the rule When that team does the bulk
Of the hitting. and it has always been
good hitting aggregation, it wins ball
games, but let the hitting be anywhere
near even and its is shore to lose because
of the lack of system.
There is no doubt that IL the Cleveland
club had been blessed with an up-to-
date manager years ago II would nave
won some pennants for the reason that IN
the matter of strength the Maps have al
ways had a whole lot on some OF theIr
rivals But town lot ball will not win
ball games i'm the major leagues these
DAYS, and that is about the kind or article
that the Maps furnish.
If the lively ball has been shelved and
the old one substituted, base ball will be
better Off for it. But ii is doubtful ii
such q change has been made. In fact.
Ban Johnson insists that the new ball
will continue to be used. though it must
be plain that the game has lost much of
it's thrills by reason of the lively sphere.
The public loves hitting, provided II is the
home team that does it. but let the other
fellows start slapping the ball to all cor
ners OF the lot, and the spectators be-
come disguted with their own team There
has been no occasion to make any
changes in base ball for the past few
wears The game, as played, was most
satisfactory as the great attendance
proved There has always been a suspi-
cion that the ball was changed to suit
the rnanufa cturers. who probably save
money by making the new ball or they
would not have advocated the change.
1t is limited in New York sporting cir
cles that there is a good chance of Lang
ford and Johnson coming together soon
on the other side of the pond. 1t seems
that there have been some secret confer
ences between Woodman. Langford's
manager, and the champion. and while no
definite understanding has been reached.
the two fighters are nearer a matcn now
than ever before. johnson will insist
that he get something like $4,000, win.
lose or draw. and that. Of coursse. will
be the only obstacle IN the way Of bring
ing the two colored fighters together.
such a guarantee will require an i'm