Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-09-03

baseball. The American league has
some wonders-Hooper, Speaker
and Lewis. of the Red Sox, have
deadly arms one and all; Ty Cobb
Ia possessed of a good wing, and
so is Joe Birmingham, of the Mans.
Maybe some of these can return
the ball to the plate from a deep
field as quickly as Red Jack" but
not one of them will make as many
accurate pegs in ten trials.
Ills deadly accuracy has made
Murray the terror Of all opposing
base runners. Even fast men hes
itate about going from first to third
on a hit-and-run play If the nee
essary bingle goes into Murray's
yard. Still fewer will attempt to
score from second on a hit to right.
while a sacrifice fly in Jacks ter
ritory has to- be about twice as
long as to any other section of the
pasture. The uncanny accuracy of
Murray's wing Is responsible for
this. He can whistle the ball with
rifle bullet velocity from almost any
part of his playing territory right
to the plate. more than nine times
out OF ten. This Murray has proven
to the satisfaction OF all his op-
ponents, and now they give him
wide berth.
10 a Hard Luck Player
Murray is a good. game fellow.
He has proven as much this season.
Anybody under the hammers of the
bleachers who can go out and make
the fans doff their sky-pieces in
admiration has to be possessed Of
great gameness as well as great
merit. Proably the best way to
explain Reds former shortcom-
ings Is to refer to him as a hard
luck player. When he hit safely
invariably there would be no one
on the sacks. When he famed the
bases were generally full. When
he booted one 1t let in a run or
two; usually they were the fatal
runs that decided the pastime.
But this year Is a new page in
Murray's history. He apparently
has Outlived the little idiosyncra-
sizes of the past. He has been one
of the main cogs of McGraw's
champion pacemaker, and If a Sec
ond pennant is unfurled at the
Brush stadium, no one will have
had a greater part in bringing it to
New York. Murray is playing the
game of his life. He is one of the
best pinch hitters on the team. He
is one of the best base runners.
Both defensively and extensively he
has had more spectacular achieve
ments than any other Giant. This
season he has won more games for
his club and lost fewer than any
of his fellows. In short, he has
generally been at his best in the
pinch.
On the Job in Pinch.
The most beautiful part Of Muir
rays work this year is that he is
supreme in emergencies. No out
fielder has cut down more runners
at the plate. No gardener has in
stilled more respect on the part OF
base runners in the matter of TAX
ing chances of advancing on long
flies. No fielder has taken more des-
perate chances when the game
hung in the balance. II takes
nerve to play for what appears
an almost impossible out when a
failure at that out means a long
hit. But Red" has never hest
tated about accepting the greater
spOnsibility. He has lost some
games by taking long chances in
stead of playing safety. but for
every game he has blown he has
saved several. The fans appreciate
this fact.
Murray kept the Giants in the
thick of the fight when his asso-
ciates were stale and almost ready
to give up the ghost. K's sensa-
tional work against the Cubs saved
the Giants from complete annihi-
lation in the last series in Chi
cago. Had he gone the way of the
rest of McGraw's slipping legion,
nothing could have prevented the
final trip through the west devel-
Opins into an utter rout.