El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-11

FEW YORK. N Y, Jan. 1.-THE
assertion that this age Of
L baseball is one OF speed, goes
unchauenged- We had irrefutable
evidence of it very short time
ago, when Pittsbul=y cut loose
from Mike DOnlin- Now comes a
rTmbIing from the mid die west that
Cleveland is to sacrifice Its great king
Larry LajOie. Next thing we know,
Hans Wagner and sam Crawford will
be getting the hook because they fall
eff a pace or two in sprilting form
Fred Clarke was evidently justified
in sending Donlin to Philadelphia.
even though Mike hit away above 800
in 1912 Mike is slow and decrepid,
too, in a way But for Cleveland to
pass up the great LajOie sounds too
foolish to attract attention. Why that
young fellow. I.ajOie. is just beginning
to find himself in the big tent And
do you think for minute the Cleve-
land club does not realize this2 Do you
think the Cleveland club would dare to
sell such a faVOrite, even If It wished
to do so2 Do you think LajOie would
consent to be bartered like a bush
Lacquer" after It years in the big
ring?
There are a few questions that fur
nish food for sound reflection Larry
LajOie has slowed up undoubtedly dur
ing the past II years. but he IS Tar
from being any sort of derelect- Last
year he played III games and nit Tor
the remarkable average Of .36S- Under
those circumstances, having enjoyed
one Of the very best seasons Of his bril-
liant career, it is very unlikely mat
Cleveland would consent to part with
Lajoie at any price. He mas become a
Forest City institution
Many of LajOie's friends would ike
TO see him transferred to some other
club especially one which has some
chance for the pennant. For the big
ffuTTTa6 a
winning team or shared any of the
spells of a worlds series wagner, /
Crawford Cobb. Donlin and all this /
wonderful veterans contemporaries Of &
the old and modern schools have had /
their share Of the big glory and big 1
gravy.
Several times Larry has come close: I
most notably in 1908 when he managed /
the Blues That year Cleveland De
troit and the White SOE fought such a
finish that the pennant was not de- Z
cided until the very last day The sad /
part of the affair from a Cleveland {
standpoint was that Lajoie that year, /
when his services were so badly needed
had the worst season Of his big league
career. Larry played in every game, 4
but he batted only ES9 and fielded far 4
below his standard. Only one other
time in his life did the big Frenchman J
fail to rap 500 or better In 1907 he
fell shy Of the coveted notch by only
one point
Entered Big League at q.
Lajoie broke into fast company when
he was q years Of age. He had fairly
broken up the New England league as
a member Of the Fail River team, when
the Phillies netted him He played
five seasons for the Quakers, hitting as
high as .379 and never lower than 32S. !
In 1901 during the war between the
major leagues. Dajoie, with bunch Of /
his teammates, jumped to the rival
Athletics That was the best season J
of his career, for in 131 games he
bagged away st a .422 clip. The
Phillies. in the meantime, went to the
courts and secured an Injunction to /
prevent the "deserters" appearing vita i
the Athletics. 1t was finally decided
by the courts that Lajoie and his pals
had no right to play in Pennsylvania
with any club other than the Phillies.
For this reason, Lajoie was sent to
Cleveland, the Maps assuming his war
time contract.
Managed Maps Five Years.
IaiOie had been in Cleveland for the
past II years. He managed the team
for five years. throwing up the job in
1909 after a pennant possibility took
a bad cropper. Immediately he resigned,
LajOie's own game improved The past
three seasons he appeared to have been
az fit as ever Lajoie has always been
a great honor and a credit to the sport,
but he Inadvertently figured in
breath of scandal in 1910. That. year (