Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-04


of credit for the great early season
for several weeks. The great show
ing of the Cleveland pitchers had
much to do with this, especially the
return Of Falkenberg to form, the
man who was sent back to the minors
last year as no longer of big league
caliber. But Falkenberg has been
failing recently, and the rest of the
pitching staff has not been produc-
ing the results it was showing in
the earlier stages of the race. Per
haps the Maps have merely hit the
slump which is due all teams in the
course of the season, but the discon-
certing reports about disagreements
ON the club does not increase the
confidence in the club to any great
extent.
Lajoie Is not playing regularly,
and the rumors of the big leagues
have it that he has had trouble with
the management. Maybe it is that
the great Frenchman is reaching the
end of his baseball route because of
age, which slows the stars. ! sin
cerely hope not, because l hate to
see the great stars go. even when
they are opponents Of mine. Without
Bajoie in the Cleveland lineup, the
| batting strength of the team Is
| greatly reduced. 1t was the staunch
batting, combined with the pitching
which produced the excellent results
| in the first part of the race.
But 1t Is even more serious if
Lajoie does not think he is yet ready
to be retired to the bench, since this
is bound to split the club into fac
lions, and a team cut into cliques
never Is success. | hope that the
Maps regain their feet and make a
| tough fight, because it has always
been club that / admired.
COMMITTING must be said about
~ what Chance has done with the
Yankees at this stage. Figures show
he has improved the club greatly.
But he had to improve the team.
There was no room for him to 90
back any further. Up and through
the tenth of May Chance had won
! four games and lost sixteen. Since
the tenth of May he has won slightly
more than One-third of his battles,
and they say he smiles once In a
while now. The improvement is due
to the increased efficiency of the in
| field combined with the brace taken
by the pitching staff
1t would not surprise me to see
| the Yankees beat out either the st.
| Louis or Detroit teams. They are
the only two that can be passed by
| the New York club to my way of
thinking, but watch Chance next
year. He is building slowly and
surely, and every man who gets
regular berth on the team for next
| year will know Chance baseball. The
former Cub can afford to experiment
| this season, as he has nothing to
/ lose.
GNO wonder Chance and Jennings
~ are practically nervous
wrecks after managing ball teams
| for so many years. said Tinker, the
other day Il believe l am going
'nutty' myself. Managing a tail-end
I club is no nerve tonic. Look at the
gray hairs in my head And when
you are losing, everything breaks
against you, although understand
that l am not whining about the
breaks. The Reds just can't seem to
get together on the fine points of the
game, and they are what count in
big league baseball
The work of Tinker behind the
Reds is beginning to show results
now, however. II filled Joe's heart
with delight to trim the Cubs in the
series last week because, as is well
known in baseball, there is no good
feeling lost between Evers and
| Tinker.
If there is one club we will beat
out, it is Chicago" remarked Tin
ker at the beginning of the season.
1t does not look as if he could make
good on that prediction now, but he
has put lot of fight into his team,
and Tinker baseball is going to do
a lot for Cincinnati if they will give
Joe a chance ont there. The Reds
should crawl out of last place this
year, 1 believe.
IONcE more the Pirates are in
~ trouble because Wagner's knee
has crowded him out Of the game,
and, with Honus gone, the infeld is
brittle The Pittsburg team just APP
peared to be recovering its balance
when this latest accident befell Fred