The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-20
Gulls Finally Beat the Barons

game of baseball yesterday
- for 1t is true, despite express
sions to the contrary, that sometimes
a good game is game which is lost
The Barons and the Gulls were about
evenly matched, and only that mys-
terious factor, known as the "break,"
could have settled the dispute.
Neither team was suffering, how
ever. from an over dose of pepper.
Things dragged considerably-and
things. at baseball game, should not
drag. The Barons should get little
more ginger into their bones. and
get at the enemy with more fire and
vitriol.
The same advice would be given the
Gulls. but for the reason that we are
entirely Indifferent as to their style
OF play.
It is peculiar matter that Thomp-
son cannot win. He has yet to turn
a victory and yet to pitch a bad
Game-with the exception of course of
that one inning in Atlanta in which
he was driven to the tall and uncut.
1t may be as some have alleged that
he cannot work with men on bases.
Or there may be some other reason.
At any rate, he pitches we'll but fails
to win.
Perhaps it is all in ink" We
trust so. For some day the ink
If he exists, will be canned" and
Thompson will blossom forth as a real
sensation He seems to have an abund-
ance of stuff topped by cool head.
Barney Sheridan, the amateur
cracksman of the Mobile Register,
was deeply offended against luck
following the three successive defeats
of the Gulls by the Barons. He at
tributes the downfall of the Mobile
gang to the good luck of the Barons.
He figures, III other words, that in
the first game, the rain saved the
Barons. In the second game, he de-
clares that Campbell had all the best
OF the argument until McGilvray
bounded the ball over the head of the
shortstop
"Gummy' Flournoy, however, the
scribe of the Mobile Item, in refer
ence to the second game, declares
that Campbell blew" Flournoy has
already had more baseball experience
than Sheridan will ever have even
should he live for 1000 years
Sheridans argument concerning
luck follows:
w RarpnS nN
they won because they got the breaks
of the battle. May sound strange,
lnasmuch as the same has been often
said before, but nevertheless it's true.
Sifted down, the dope will show that
freak base hit from McGilvray's
hat won for the Barons Campbelrs
suddenly developed streak of wildness
had put two men on in the tenth and
an unsuccessful attempt to retire a
man at third, on sacrifice, had filled
the sacks. The Gull infield played
in There was one out for them and
that was to make double play. Me-
Gilvray hit into what seemed a made
to-order double, fast bounder to
Stock at short The little fellow set
himself to take the ball and make
the throw to the plate. But right here
enters the break of the game. The
ball hit pebble, clot of dirt or some
bound away from Stock and over his
head 1t went for a base hit and
scored two runs After two had come
in they may as well have had hun
dred, and the Gulls blew and let in
three more. But right on that play
centered the outcome of the game and
the luck was with the Barons, so they
won.'
Furthermore, the Mobile Register
man, for the purpose of convincing his
readers that nothing but luck could
have defeated the Gulls, issues the
following interesting comparison of
the personnel of the teams:
But a game with Mobile and Br-
mingham as contestants shouldn't even
be close 1t is not often that the state
ment is made in this column that one
ball club is far superior to another.
But just this once Mobile should beat
the team now representing Birming-
ham seven games ont of every 10.
Moley may strengthen, as Birming ham
has a way Of paying big money for
ball players they need. But, right now
compare EN- position for position, and
see for yourself. Any fan can Judge
the relative merits of ball players and
if the Guls don't lap over the Barons
at every corner of the field then we've
got poor chance to win the 1913
Southern league pennant. Does their
pitching staff of Hardgrove, Prough.
Thompson. Sloan and FoXen compare
with Hogg. cavet. Campbell Berger
and Robertson? Does McGilvray. Mar
can. Carroll and Mcdonald compare
with Paulet, Starr, Stock and ODell
as an infield? And the same thing
in the two outfields, as well as catch
ers. They've won two because they've
had the breaks. The rain helped 'em
to one contest and a freak basehit
won 'em another. With an equal
share of the luck Mobile should beat
that team as often as each day rolls
around
For some reason we have always
been a little partial to Umpire Rud-
derham. But the New Orleans Item
probably due to the fact that the
Pels are hopeless Observation-Disclosures
him dub. The Item is also incensed
with Umpire Wright. We reproduce:
"In the second inning two men who
think they know something about base
ball agreed that they would tell the
public today about the two excuses
for umpires If the Pelieans won the
game 1t has ever been the policy of
The Item not to roast umpres as an
excuse for lost games. But yester-
days game was so badly played by
the Pels that no effort is being made
to charge the loss to the two men
whose only pxciISp for heirU rauo rdad