Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-07-05
BY Percy Fl. Whiting.

TN HERES a lot of fun watch
ing the Crackers play these
days even if they DO lose at
least every other game For
Hemphilrs bunch is real ball
club, made up of real ball players,
and when its pitching strength is
increased until II is on par with
its playing and its batting strength
it is going to sweep the league,
And l don't care if they did lose
to the debilitated Billikens yester-
day afternoon, score to 8.
The Cracker and Biniken teams
showed about equal offensive and
defensive strength yesterday af
ternoon, outside the slab position
But Paige pinned it on the Crack
ers, while Atkins was hit hard
Yes. true enough, Paige was,
just the other day, a Cracker. And
he couldn't have won regularly in
that uniform against the tail-end
team of the Federal Penitentiary
League Neither was Bert Max
we'll any. good as a Cracker nor
Neal Ball, nor al Demaree Though
they didn't even bother to find out
in AIS case) They were no good
as Crackers. They become Won
ders elsewhere. We don't attempt
an explanation. It's lust "one Of
them things" The fact remains,
though, that Paige, who couldn't
win for the Crackers, managed to
win from them yesterday with
something almost bordering on
ease. And he won because he out
pitched Tommy Atkins and not
through any failure on the part of
his teammates,
A IL Of which brings us back to
"A the original contention that
Atlanta has a real ball club And
more than that, Atlanta has the
best fielding first haseman that's
been in the league since the days
of Jake Daubert His name is Joe
Agler, and he hasn't peen a Crack
er long.
ANY time YOU want TO see a reai
baseball player in action, come out
to the park and watch Joe go to 1t.
Now. Of course, when in any mi
nor league it becomes necessary to
talk Of great performing on the
FIRST sack it is customary to lug
in the name of Harold Chase, erst-
while great player of the never
very wonderful Highlanders. Now
Agler is no Hal Chase and he's
not even a Jake Dauhert or
Frank Chance. But his fielding
certainly does remind one, in a
mild way. of Chase's work He
pulled some stuff yesterday after
noon that would have been some
what to the credit even of Chase.
Agler is built more along the
physical lines Of Chase than he is
Of the conventional first haseman
of the Jim Fox or the Abstein type.
He is slight flexible, agile, quick.
And he'll do for the Cracker team.
You expect pretty good BAH for
ARler. for he has been playing in
the International league, and has
had the benefit of the tutoring of
the cub staff of experts. But a
man who is showing lot, of whom
so much is not reasonably TO he
expected. is Douglas HARRISON
This youngster. from the deep and
dingy bushes came almost unher-
aided. but ne came with a rush
and he has been coming right
along ever since,
w HY drat that Atlanta team
w it's real ball club as It
stands today. Callahan has bios
somed out 10 point where he is
even better than he was his best
day last year. Bailey is improv-
ing every minute McElveen is
putting up a game that is on a par
with his best ever shown In the
Southern. The catching staff CON
tinues to de well And the two
who have been going good every
minute Of every game all the sea-
son-Hemphi and Alperman--
continue in the same stride
And yet. blast the luck. the
Cracker team continues to hover