Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-11-15
LOVE Of MAZUMA
CAUSED GIANTS
DOWN. ALL
Bv Sam Crane.

y there a yellow streak. or sew
= eraI of them, developed among
-ra Giants in the last worlds Sc
RES
THAT is a question that was ar
gned pro and con in a recent fan
s..r between several baseball rams
and players at an uptown resort
l.sr week where lovers of base
nau are wont to congregate to win
winter championships, dilate on
.... strength of various teams, COM
.,ra different managers, clubs and
..r.yars try to transform the great
,.-iora1 game and Chew the rag
in general.
strange to say, the players OF
fine party, two of whom partlcl-
,s+ad in last seasons pennant
ares were the ones who were the
rnosr insistent that the yellow
streak materialized and lost the
Giants the gonfalon, emblematic of
rho championship of the universe.
i Snodgrass Not Blamed.
Gnodgrass was not accused of
showing the tainted strain, be-
cause. as one player said, any
bodv is liable to muff a ball, even
an the easiest kind of fly"
Fletcher and Merkie, however,
did not escape so easily, for their
mistakes in the last inning-the
,enth. Of the eighth and deciding
oame-vere claimed to be due to
tneir failures to try for fly balls
that they could easily have reach
81 had they not deliberately quit
FIetchers fault of omission was
in starting for a fly hit over his
head into short left center and
then when by an extra effort he
could have reached the ball, he
stopped. thereby losing all chance
to catch it and also mixed up both
Snodgra.ss and Murray, either of
whom might have got to the ball,
thereby causing them to cease try
ing for the catch.
AIerkle. it was claimed by the
fanfesters, made no attempt at all
to get a foul fly by Speaker and on
ball that he usually "eats up" on
high was the fly, too. that Meyers,
who ran all the way from behind
the plate. missed reaching the ball
by inches only. and the chief is no
Splinter.
MerkIe and Fletcher Guilty.
II was decided that faults of
omission, in not sticking to the
bail" showed the yellow streak
most decisiveIy and that Fletcher
mo Merlde were the guilty ones.
Both Fletcher and Merkle We're
nervous; there is not the least
1oubt Of that; but nervousness does
not neces sariIy brand any player as
yellow"
What | think was the chief
cause Of those players failing in the
pinch was that the money differ
ence between the winners and
losers end was so big that when the
plays came to Merkle and Fletcher
to cinch the big end the responsible
ity put UP to them was too much,
and they weakened under the
strain.
] can remember that some of the
highest wads" among them talk
ed between themselves as to what
players ought to be entitled to a full
share Of the worlds series receipts
and those who should get smaller
"diyvys." And, mind you, this was
going on when the season was. not
half over They were money mad,
nothing else.
Slump Broke Their Nerve.
Then when their slump came.
and they dropped from their big
lead to paltry one of four games
and half. those were surely the
uouOlous times. The non spenders
uShtened up closer than ever;
took to trolley cars or shanks'
mare; wouldn't even buy newspa-
pers; lost pounds in weight and
Went around with pinched. drawn
faces. Woebegone and sick at heart.
Iney saw all that money they
hdd counted over so often gradually
of'ltlng away from them. They
We're shattered mentally and phys
IeaiIy. They had lost their nerve,
and wondered why they couldn't
WIN their games. They were play
ing their money instead Of base
ball
Now, is it any wonder thinking
as much of money as they did
dreaming about it, in fact-that
"hen the time came that they saw
HIo0o ebbing away from each into
l'e pockets of the Red Sox, they
became nervous during the worlds
series?
was nervous streaks not vel
10" ones, that cost them the
world championship.
But where does the difference
zone in?' may be asked.
It's beyond me.