The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-14

give the Barons a. chance to get closer to the Pelicans."
 This charge was on the lips of thousand Chattanooga fans yesterday, They are mystified by the wretched showing of the team since it left New Orleans in triumph.
 There is nothing in the charge. of course; but it might be mentioned. by the way. that Birmingham is crawl ing up mighty close to the leaders and only little more than four games separate the two tonight
 There would be two big jokes con nected with the race If the Barons should cop the bunting.
 The laugh would be on Charley Frank for letting so many good ones go, thinking he had the rag cinched.
 But the hugest ha-ha would be on the bugs of Birmingham.
 They have roasted Molesworth from pillar to post and tried to knock him out of his job.
 It reminds one of the treatment given Billy Smith by the Atlanta folks in 1909, only it was the bosses in At lanta.
 The bugs have often accused the writer of being a bit too squeamish in his treatment of problems connected with the ball club.
 We do not believe in knocking, ex- cept in certain instances Especially, we do not believe in throwing dis organizing spirit into a ball club by in- dividual roa sts.
 The writer has shaken the hand of every member of the Lookouts this ir, fr-t 1ol, ,fr% To n G a grudge against any member of the team. It looked like a good team and we said so.
 We cannot explain, however, the hor- rible performances of the last few days. Something must be wrong, somewhere. The team seems to have lost its spirit and its desire to win.
 It would be useless to fill these col umns with expressions as to how we feel about 1t.
 The bugs know, without being told
 Atlanta Georgian: Atlanta will lose Beumiller by repurchase under optional agreement and Zimmerman by purchase under an option. The Brooklyn team will take Beumiller back and the Chi cago Cubs will grab Zimmerman, under the terms of their contract made when they turned that champion in-and- out CT Foxen over to the Atlanta club.
 Of course, these recalls will be for mally promulgated now and will not take effect until next season.
 Charley Ebbetts will get Beumiller back. not for use with the Brooklyn team, of course, but to help him close deal he has in mind, and Beumiller will play next season with some north western club.
 The announcement that the Cubs are pretty sure to exercise their option for the purchase of Zimmerman is a bit of a surprise and yet it really needn't be, for this lad is batting well and running bases in handy style. Evident ly Manager Chance wants to get him out next spring, look him over and then farm him somewhere where he can keep an eye on him. While the Crackers are losing two men by recall or purchase, they will bet back there. These three arc Hum phries, Sam Mayer and Jim Luck The first two are playing up in the deer blue grass and are fairly whitening Il up with their speed Mayer Is batting over 400 Humphries Is winning three fourths of his games. Neither man IS looked on as good enough Tor the Cracker team next year, but both are so promising that the Crackers will hang onto them Jim Luck had bad luck this year because teams got In the way of blowing up under him. So, at present he Is without a steady. base ball job. However, he did good work with the teams he played with, so long as they lasted, and he will be out at Ponce next spring for another try out
 Nashville Tennessean: Evidently the Birmingham club intends to get so Tar beyond the Volunteers before the latter reach home that there will be no chance to top them this season How ever. the Barons haven't figured on one thing--Nashville at home is going to be the knottiest proposition that the Barons or any other club Tn the league have run up against yet
 Bill Schwartz and his men are prim- ing themselves slowly but surely Tor the grand rally in the Dell. That rally begins next Monday afternoon with the Birmingham club. From that time un- til September 2 the vols are nsuring on being complete lords and masters of All they survey. The team will be over any slumpiness which may have shifted in during the two weeks road trip.
 No one regrets the fact that Birming- ham and Montgomery. the teams with which Nashville Is struggling for sec- ond place will be the first to land in the local lot According to chance and the records. thus far there should be no trouble in trouncing these teams two out of three games each. About the hardest proposition we can think Of Is to take three straight series from the Barons, but 1t wousdnt be surpris- ing to see the locals turn loose on them at that selfsame rate in the Dell. As for the Billik ems, the Vols haven't had particularly good luck with them so far, although there has been prac- tically an even break up to date. Now, with their guns in action for the last charge Nashville ought to pass through that bunch of Dobbites like a Louis- vile and Nashville train through Brentwood.
 Birmingham surely did. have an easy thing with those Lookouts And yet the fans over in Chattanooga say they have the best stuff in the league Looking at 1t from one viewpoint. the Lookouts really have got the best or the next best team In the league. As for natural ability, 1t would be hard for the Peli- cans in their palmiest days to eclipse the Chattanoogans, yet take squint at the standing of the clubs. Chatta- nooga Is hopeless second division club. what does 1t mean when a team has the ablest pitching staff In the league, | which is not tossing over 50 per cent efficiency?. Again. with an infield and | outfeld which can stack up with the best in Class A ball the Chattanooga team loses game after game. What cause can be assigned for such de- generacy in form Well. to get down to the root of the evil, there is Billy Smith. Smith hasn't risen to the occa- sion In one sense he is responsible for the whole breakdown of the Look out machine If he were the capable leader which it was thought he would