The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-22
FOUR INDIANS IN
 BIG LEAGUE RANKS
Meyers, Johnson, Bender and Thorpe
 Represent Noble Red Men.

About the best rebuttal that can be
 framed for the often referred to pass
 ing of the red man" is the quartet of
 Indians now shining with considerable
 brilliancy in the major leagues. The Indian may be passing, but those men toned here are, as far as can be dis cerned, passing rapidly forward In the national paStine.
 There are probably no more prom inent figures in baseball to-day than the Indians in the National and Amer icau leagues. John T. Meyers, better known to the fans as Chief, the for rnidable backstop of the Giants is likely the best known of them all be- cause he happens to be with team that is always followed with great in terest, and because also ability as batter is one of the assets of the team and a. matter of deep concern to op- posing pitchers Chief Bender of the Athletics svvh ose pitching has helped to win two cham pionships and as many world cham mpionships for Connie Mack, is a big figure, and James
 Thorpe and George Johnson have
 been added to the list this year to add to the prestige of the Indian in base ball.
 Thorpe. who is the worlds best ath- Iete even if he has been stamped as a
 professional" has not had a chance to give much of an account of himself in baseball, but George Johnson, who is on the payroll of the Cincinnati Reds, has proved his prowess as a pitcher by winning practically all of the games that Tinker's team has | amassed this year, among them being one from the Giants.
 Meyers is member of the old tribe of Spanish Mission Indians of Califor
 mia. He is among other things a graduate of Dartmouth, a, lover of art and one of the most dangerous bats men in baseball. The Chief made his professional debut in the West. He played in the Northwest League for a season with the Butte team, and his ability to get home runs led to his be- l ing drafted by St. Paul in the Ameri- can Association. He served there and l Improved until McGraw got hold of
 him. When the Chief first came to I the Giants Roger Bresnahan was do- 1 ing the back stopping and the Chief did not fit into a regular job until Rog CT went to St. Louis to manage the Cardinals Under the tutelage of Mc- 1 Graw he had, however made big inn
 provement and when the chance came he was ready to fill a regular place.
 Meyers has never broken any records
 as base runner but he only fell one hit shy of leading the National League in batting two years ago and was right up among the first few last year. He
 is always capable of hitting 300 or
 better.
 l Bender of the Athletics is not only a I star pitcher. but he fnherits much of the craftiness of his Eace and has used
 it to good advantage in baseball Ben | der, who is also known as Chief in
 Philadelphia, is one of the most de- | pendable Of Connie Mack's hurting
 staff. Last season he experienced his first bad year in the game, and it
 was due largely to his lack of form that the Athletics failed to win the pennant But he is back in his old
 stride this season and the Athletics l likewise are up at the top again, ap- parently intending to stay there l Bender exemplifies his craftiness in
 the manner in which he handles op- posing batters. He is cool, deliberate and stoica1. He is exceptionally keen eyed and seldom misses a chance to get the better of a. situation. He is a
 mighty reliable pitcher under trying
 circumstances. It was said after the
 worlds series between the AthIeti cs ! and Giants in 1911 that Bender by his characteristic keen sightedness had
 caught on to the signals of McGrawss s
 team and that by this means the Ath-
 letics were enabled to forestall every | move that was planned by the Giants. Bender was on the coaching lines a l great deal through that series and if
 was claimed that he kept his team AAdtoS pOSIeQ on JuSt what was going | to happen.
 Jim Thorpe, whose Indian name is
 Brave o-Drags-a-Rope,' is a
 member of the Oklahoma Sac tribe
 and not of the Sac and Fox tribes as
 has been repeatedly said. He owes
 his presence, in big league baseball to 1 the fact that he was found out'' in athletics. But if he has any regrets
 he fails to show them. Thorpe has
 wonderful speed and lots of natural l ability. It may require several sea
 sons to make a finished player of him.
 but McGraw is keeping him this sea
 son for the purpose of developing him.
 and 1t may be that he will be as big
 a star in baseball as he was in other 1 athletics while at the Carlisle school
 Johnson, the new Cincinnati spitbaIl 1 artist, is a full bIooded Chippewa of minnesota Since his advent into bfe- 1 league ball he has made a record thai
 any veteran twirler might be proud i Of He is very deliberate in his deliv-
 cry of the ball, studies his batfers carefully and then puts a reverse Engi1sh on the famous baseball max
 i'm of Init 'em where they afn't's L,, putting the ball where the ba++sr 1 a1n't goin' to hit''
 l R TT c