The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-07-27
GOOD CATCHERS ARE
MOST SOUGHT AFTER
Pitchers, lnhelders and Out
fielders in Abundance, but
Backstops Scarce.

is Ine crop Oh goOd caLcherS running
short; are the requirements behind the
bat greater than a decade ago, or haq
the demand increased more rapidly than
the supplyl
These are questions that comparative
ly few Of the managers will attempt to
answer
There is an oversupply Of infielders,
an abundance Of outfielders and pitch.
ers a-plenty, but when q scout hits the
trail in search of backstop who can
deliver satisfactorily IN the major or
faster minors, he generally has long
and frequently fruitless hunt ahead
1t may be that the general average
Of catchers Of today is higher than
formerly and that the requirements
have grown greater.
However, the really great eatchers of
the past decade can almost be num-
bered on the fingers Of your south
paw.
Buck Ewing remains the standard of
comparison behind the bat, but there is
little doubt that the game has become
more complex since the days of the
Hon. Buck.
Ewing Was Good.
Ewing doubtless would be as great
today as he was then. for he was OF
the stuff from which great catchers are
made.
But there is little doubt that 1t is
harder for the average young catcher
to make good in fast company than it
was generation ago. This Is state
rnent which naturally will be disputed
by many Of the old-timers.
For one thing they Will point to the
better protection afforded the mod ern
backstop in the way OF nattress-like
IL Il
guards. ear muffs and other upholster-
ing.
Admittedly. the pampered player Of to-
day has a softer thing physically than
Undoubtedly the old timers were more
hardy lot, and usually sported a pair OF
food grabbers that looked as II they had
been run through rock crusher cou-
pie Of times.
There Is an increasing demand for men
who catch with their heads as well as
their hands. Brains backed up with
Drawn is the ideal combination. But OF
the two. gray matter is the more desira-
BILE. In short, the science OF catching
has reached a point where Il is more
mental than physical.
The ability to stand up under heavy
battering day after day and throw with
the deadly accuracy of rifle get man
but little unless he tops these things off
with a halr-trigger intelligence amount
ing almost to instinct or intuition.
The catcher is the cerebellum OF the
club-the center from which radiate the
signals on innumerable defensive plays.
AS a rule he Is more familiar with
the weak and strong points OF the man
at the bat than the pitcher, and the lat
ter is generally guided by his advice
ptebea Many can mana aka has 0 been e4edted
with twirling great game, when the
credit should have gone to the squat,
sweating figure crouched behind the bat
Sullivan and King Best,
Fielder Jones always has eontesded
pionship by the Chicago White Sox IN
1906 was due more to Billy Sulltvan's
head than to Ed Walsh's arm
The decline OF Sullivan marked the
passing of one OF the smartest catchers
that ever buckled on a harness. 1t was
a pleasure to watch him outguess the
opposing club. Sharing the front rank
Of superiority between them never was
Then there was George Gibson. who
has never 6een quite th9 Sas sonssssTe anss
Probably, in the minds Of the majority
King ranked fiTst The faot s,s snae o,,s me
may explain this. in e measure. HOW
ever. tnose who place Sullivan az Kings
peer are legion
greatest Of their time, threatened to
ieave the game without backstops OF
equal caliber. Archer and Meyers helped
to relieve the stress. Tho Development
of the latter was slow and painful buf
he was finally fashioned into drst-olass
catcher by the hns hand OF McGraw
Now come schalk and Schans. the for.
mar of the white Sox and the latter OF
the Athletics, making q bid for a Per
manent place In the hall OF fame
Schalk has been the sensation Cd mo
season. 49, -
"He can claim distinction with the
great and only Buck Ewing" said CO.
miskey recently In q burst OF admira-
ton.
IN Philadelphia
AS rule each decade produces about
two genuinely great catchers-
Possihlv the Young Dutohmen mon
toned are destined TO earn this diBdnc-
ton. Maybe this is TO be their decade.