The Alaska citizen., 1912-10-14
THE BASE BALL SEASON.
 By a falrbanksan.

 Ici the bunting in the National and American leagues Those teams ar. Low ,ontendiue for the title Of champions ot the World" New York and Boston lead their respective leagues from before the first Of Aug ust, and although for a short time il looked as if either of the teams might bp Oy,rIaken. there was never any grave danger of the complete characterization that would have had to occur if either Of the ultimate winners were beaten out hy another team. The race Ras keen and ex- citing in both the National and American leagues.
 In the older orIauization the su- gerior pitching of the Giant tWirl. CTS is one of the most important fea- lures in their victory. Marquard aithouEh he fell down somewhat to- ward the close of the season had an. other wonderful year The Ruhe Won nineteen straight games for his team. and McGraw's three years Of grooming spent in the face of harsh criticism was rewarded by the elongated twirler who upset the old Idea that a southpaw cannot shine two wears in succession. The peerless Matty. although quite as effective as ir former years will finish the sea son with an average of about .6G7 He pitched over thirty full games and many of the younger veterans ot th" league still bow to the in Eentor oi the mysterious fadeaway Ames had good year with the Giants The veteran Wiltse also did better this year than last while Otis Crandall. the hard hitting slug ger not only won many games with his riaht wing. but that trusty bat was responsible for a number os games that the New Workers pulled out of the fire The statement of McGraW that he would repeat last
 
 good pitcher was proven He copped the bunting. and the good pitcher that he drew from his bunch of re. rruits was Tcsrcau. who last season hurled the pill for the Toronto team of the International league. Tesreau is siX-iootcr. He pitched the first ' .;,h SoN. He is as cool as a cucumber. has good speed. and above all excel lent control of the ball. McGraw figures that the giant will be invalu able 10 him next year. Myers. the In dian, proved himself to be one of the best catchers that wore a mask his year. Wilson came to the front very rapidly, and "Muggsy" has in those two men very formidable catching staff. Fred Merkle bows 10 few first sackers. He is fast on his feet. and plays the game every minute. Al second Larry Doyle. the captain of the Giants played the best game of his career At the bat, the powerful captain. had an excellent season. Fletcher or Shaffer were both played at short. These young sters who have never played with any other team than the Giants as far as prOfesson- al ball goes, played strong fielding game, although at the bat they could hardly be classcd as wonders. lierzog lived up to his reputation. pevore. Murray, Snodgrass and Beck cr are fast accurate fielders. Snod- grass is a powerful batter. while Red Murray usually lands on the horse hide when the hit is needed. He is one of the best men in pinches in either league The Giants were lightning fast on bases. They were confident The team was not trou- hled with internal dissension at all. McGraw had his boys on their toes from the first day to the close of the race and they finished the sea son strongly, even lNOuBu they ulu slump a little during August.
 Chance had a lot of trouble with the Cubs Doyle's death left a big hole at third, and Lennox who came from Louisville couldn't seem to fill it. When Zimmerman was thrown into the breach, the position had been the cause of many defeats for the Cubs. Safer at the initial sack made good with a capital G. At the keystone bag, little Johnny FVers. came back well enough to be classed among the best in the game although the Troy merchant didn't play up to his form of three years ago. At short Tinker was the same reliable fielder and demon clouter Behind the bat Archer did the bulk of the work As a thrower the De troit cast off is without peer. Toward the last of the season Needham and a youngster named Cotter were fore ed into the breach through an acci dent to the hard working Archer. Lavender and Ritchie were the best pitchers for Chances men. Brown. Ruelbach. and Lefty Leifiled, whom the Cubs got in the famous deal