Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-03
By Rube Marquard.

nected with this thirteen"
combination, after all never
have been superstitious, but after
watching this present 1913 campaign,
as far as it has gone, I must con-
fess that it has me wavering
To date It has been a mighty funny
year for both leagues. The dope has
all gone topsy- turvy. We Giants
were picked to run away from the
field: and. truth to tell, I myself
thought that by this time we would
have a much greater lead than we en-
joyed a year ago at this time. Then
it was believed we would better the
Cubs record of 1906 when Chances
wrecking crew won 116 games in one
campaign.
I am as confident as ever that the
Giants will eventually triumph,
though undoubtedly it viii be a sitter
fight than we anticipated. Though
why we haven't been and are not
making better progress is more than
will venture to explain. There SIM
ply is no explanation.
Some sort of jinx seems lowering
over organized baseball in general,
as exemplified in the big leagues,
save only in Philadelphia. Its blight
has not affected Quaker Town-at
least, not as yet. Connie Macks
Athletics are running wild toward
another pennant. The Phillles re-
fuse to be shaken in their purpose Of
having a little worlds series all in
Slumber Land. Players are not I'M
mune from the evil influences Of the
wear. save only the very old timers
Mathewson Still Great
There has been, there is, and there
will be only one Christy MathewsOH.
Who ever saw him better than
against Brooklyn a few days ago?
He pitched nine innings of shut-out
ball delivering only 70 balls despite
the fact that he used IA pitches in
one inning, the eighth. That more
plainly than anything else points out
the complete mastery he had over
the ball and over the batsmen.
Other leading pitchers in both
leagues are seasoned performers. Ed
die Plank, the great southpaw who
broke in about the same time as Mat
ty. is Mack's main reliance. Chief
Bender, the tried and true Indian. has
won almost so per cent Of his
Now this season may eventually
adjust itself along safe and sane
lines: but so far it surely has devel-
oped any number Of unusual kinks.
We will glance over several of the
most startling instances as briefly as
possible.
Cobb's Throne lettering.
To begin with, Ty CObb's throne
has been usurped for the time by
"Shoeless Joe" Jackson, of Cleve-
land. do not see where Ty has
much kick coming. for he is still
away about the $50 notch, which is
mighty fair batting for most any
major league performer. But read
iIy understand the sentiments of the
Georgian Peach as the result Of his
recent slump. To a 400 hitter like
Cobb $50 appeals in the light OF
about .O67 to the average pitcher.
Who this spring would have be-
Iieved that Pittsburg would now
he trailing in the second division,
with lust about one chance in hun
dred for a look-in at the worlds
series prize? In a great many re-
spects no team in the league can
show as much strength, on paper, as
can the Buccaneers. Clarke has
rafting good infield. a we'll balanced
outfeld, hitting strength, defensive
strength, speed. what was u9uNiiE
considered the best pitching staff in
major company and we'll balanced
catching department.
Yet two months after the season
opened Fred Clarke was trailing the
Boston Braves, a club that was the
laughing stock of the league when
the campaign began. It is true that
Pittsburg's catching corps has suf-
fered greatly from injuries; II Is also
true that the pitchers have never
been in first-class shape. But al
most without more than mediocre
battery strength, This team might be
expected to stay somewhere close to
the leaders
Champions Start Slowly.
The worlds champion Boston Red
Sox furnish another example. They
finally have crawled up somewhere
in the neighborhood of where they
belong in the American League
standings. But for the first six weeks
of the season the team that last fall
won from US the highest hOnOrs Of
baseball showed a little better form
than the taiIender Of the Johnson cir
cult
For some inexplainable reason the
aggregation simply could GOT pull to-
gether properly. II is .ruo mat the
full strength was not in he field.
But Boston 5 showing Was worse than