The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-16
Season Ends With Baron Victory
HOW WELL BALANCED AGGRE- CATION, WELL DISCIPLINED AND FREE FROM INTERNAL DIssENTION SCORED A BRIL- LIANT TRIUMPH
By C. ". GREER

By c. ". GkEEH
 The 1912 season of the Southern league has passed into history With it vanishes the doubts. the hopes, and the. fears of local fandonl, for when the curtain fell yesterday on the last act of the local baseball drama the bold Barons of Carlton Molesworth were easy winners of the south's cham .pionship.
 Looking over the recent pennant race 1t is easy to see that the past season, as far as winning club is concerned, has been one Of the most successful that the Birmingham association has ever had. Not since the early spring. when Rick Woodward and Manager Molesworth first began to bolster up the weak places in the Baron lineup. has there been any doubt but that the Barons would finish first division club; and not since the crucial series of some weeks ago. when the iron bound nerve of the Barons conquered the Mobile Gulls in their meteoric dash for the pennant, has there existed any material fear lest the local club would finish at the wire head and shoulders in front of their nearest opponent. From the early days of the season when. the strengthened Barons first began their climb step by step toward the top most rung of the Southern league standing, they have played steady, con- sistent, pennant winning ball-not a sensational dash now and then a slump, not lucky streak of victories that placed them in position out of their class-but the kind of ball that showed them as they were, the strongest team in the southern cir suit.
 Remnants have been won in the Southern league when the victorious club was admittedly weaker than some of it's less fortunate opponents. Luck is ever an important factor with any club. And in any case the winning club deserves credit for its victory. But when a club, like the 1912 cham pion Barons, assumes and holds the leadership of the league through its merit and vouches for its position as leader in the race by consistently out playing and defeating its opponents, it should not only be extended full credit for winning the leagues championship but 1t deserves the credit of being the best all-round baseball club of which the Southern league can boast =
 Too much credit cannot be given Manager Molesworth and owner Wood ward for the showing of the Barons this season. Both realized that Bir- mingham was a good baseball town and deserved winning club; and they | spared neither pains nor expense to attain this end. How well they suc- ceeded is only too well known. They obtained for Birmingham an expert enced, expensive. well balanced ball club. Then it was up to the chubby manager of the Barons to demonstrate l his ability as a manager by working 1 his material into winning organiza- tion. This, too. was a marked suc- cess Birmingham had well managed well coached, we'll disciplined club. and this with the acquisitions above men- toned gave Birmingham champion ship team.
 And while hestowing upon Manager Molesworth and owner Woodward tho praise which they so justly deserve
 the service rendered by the Barons themselves should not be forgotten
 After all 1t was their work that gave Birming gham the pennant. It is oul
 belief that there Is not a man of tht
 local club that did not give the as
 sociation his very best service. Theil
 work was aggressive, earnest ant nervy, and while they may have suf fered slumps at times which caused ap prehension among the local supporters l their s<ccess as a whole marks thu efficiency of their efforts.
 The question has often been raised as to just what gave Birmingham
 championship club. Some attribute i to the slugging of the Cuban demon
 Almeida; to some it is due to ths l.wonderful speed of Jimmy Johnston
 others attribute it to the sensationa slab. work of Clarence Smith. Each O these was an important factor in tn,
 successful race, but the real reasoi
 for the 1912 championship lies in thu
 welding together of these attributes
 and combining them together with th'
 consistent work of every member O
 the club and the efficient managerial
 ability of Carlton Molesworth. Therein
 lies the reason of the Baron's success
 mot to one but to each member O
 the club Is due the credit: and tn
 fans of Birmingham have shown b'
 their efforts in raising a neat sum TO
 each of the pennant winners how mucl
 they appreciate the service of each am
 everyone.
 But the season has passed. The am
 bition of the Barons is attained, am now the fans turn their thoughts to
 ward the coming season. long drearv winter must pass before tn
 crack of the bat is again to be hear
 at Redwood Field, but the fans ma
 rest assured that Molesworth has Icompetent nucleus about which t
 build up formidable club for 191: and that again Birmingham will finis we'll up among the leaders.
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