The San Francisco call and post., 1913-12-09
SCRAMb Bile
FOR JOBS
IS KEEN
Seals Have Seven lnfieIders
Who Are Looking for
BerthS Next Season
By Joe MURPHY


Seals go into training next February.
No less than seven players. which in
eludes Manager Del Howard. will be
striving for jobs in the infield. From
the present array Of talent which
Manager Howard has on hand, it looks
as though he IS going to find it diff
ficult task in picking out the men who
are to get permanent places.
Howard assures us that he will be
back in harness next season and that
he viii play in a majority of the
games. Last season the big fellow
had some bad luck. being crippled
some OF the time; IN fact, he had a
bad year. Now, If Howard rounds to
shape and shows his old time form, he
is the man for the initial bag. as he
is needed there, as he is one OF the
best hitters in the league.
There are those who are skepticaI
about Del ever being able to play as
a regular. They maintain that he is
getting too heavy for an active man
around the initial sacks and that his
legs are bit dicky and will not stand
TO a first sacker.
Howard can not be considered too
seriously for the guardian of the first
sack. He told the members of the
press on various occasions last season
that he would get into the game reg
ularly after July. We viii have to
admit that he got into the game after
July. but not any too regularly.
Del can do his share Of work from
the bench. The big leagues are fnd-
ing the bench managers more sue
cessful than the playing manager, so
the same rule should apply in the
minor leagues. Howard made a good
showing last year, considering the
bunch of junk he was handed when
baseball out of Class B players, and
at one time during the season the
local fans took them seriously.
They were playing above their mark
and the strain Of the pace told on
them The big crash came about
July and the Seals started to slide,
until they finally reached the position
in the race which the dopesters had
them figured, right down near the
tail end.
During the last half of the season
Howard secured many new players
who look like men who can play
baseball and keep their team up in
the race. The infield will be one of
the problems that Howard will have
TO deal with.
There are McArd1e, Downs, Cor
han, Cartwright, Howard, O'Leary and
Charles striving for positions as in
ner guardians of the Seals. With the
exception of O'Leary, who is not
known to the local fans outside of
his major league reputation, the other
players are recognized as capable per-
formers and il is hard to figure who
should get the jobs.
Corhan is practically assured Of the
place at short, but the other players
are not sure of their berths. O'Leary
is a third baseman and he is said to
be able to hold down the initial sack
IN a capable manner. Howard and
McArdIe also will be after the job.
The latter was conceded to be about
the best fielding first baseman in the
league last season, but he was Woe
fully weak as hitter. If he is out of
the game it will be on account of his
hitting Mac plays intelligent base
ball, and, even though he is weak
with the stick, he is pulling off stunts
to advance a runner or score man.
He proved to be the best sacrifice hit
ter in the league last year.
Downs looks to have an excellent
chance of holding down second base
next season. He is a wicked hitter
and he is expected to prove one OF the
best batters in the league next year.
He was only a fair fielder last year.
The third sack is the one in doubt.
II is generally believed that O'Leary
will get the job. However, IT is up to
the former Tiger to show that he Is
entitled to it, as some bad reports are
coming to hand about his playing last
wear with the St Louis Nationals. It
is I'D to Charley to show the fans. as
past performances no longer count In
this neck Of the woods.
when the training season starts the
fans can expect to see some hustling
between these players for regular
berths.
The Oaks made a ten strike when
they landed Catcher Dan Howley from
Montreal Manager Art Devlin, who
is now in New York. wired the good
news to Magnate Leavitt yesterday
that he had signed up Howley for
next season. The fans along the
coast viii remember Howley He
played with the Portland Beavers
during the season OF 1912. Last sea-
son he played for a time with the
philadelphia Nationals and then was
turned over to the Montreal club of
the International league There was
rome dispute over salary and Howley
became dissatisfied. Devlin has been
dickering with the Montreal club for
some time and It was only yesterday
that he came to settlement with the
eastern club.
X y
Carl ZamIoch, the local high school
hoy who played in the Coast league
and then went up to the big league. is
said to be on his way to this city.
He is coming here to act as coach
p4his winter for the University OF Call
fornia baseball team.
Zamloch was the real hard luck
nitcher of the American league last
season. He played with the Detroit
club during the early part OF the year
ana pitched remarkable ball, but he
could not win a game. Every time
lie pitched the batters of the Tigers
fell down on him. He was turned
over to the Providence club Of the
international league. According to
the new system employed in the
American league In rating pitchers.
Zamfoch is right up with the first
flight of beavers.
y
Honus Wagner has batted above the
200 mark for IT consecutive years
This season Honus just got above this
mark by a whisker. He finished the
year with his usual rush and added
smore honors 70 his wonderful record.