Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-02
By Rube Marquard.
must be some magic &C


= combination, after all. never
have been superstitious, but after
watching this C-2sent 1918 campaign,
as far as it has gone, I must con-
fess that it has me wavering.
To date It has been a mighty funny
year for both leagues. The dope has
all gone topsy-turvy. We Giants
were picked to run away frr'7 "he
field; and. truth to tell, I L slf
thought that by this time we would
have a much greater lead than we en-
joyed a year ago at this time. Then
it was believed we would better the
Cubs record of 1906, when Chances
wrecking crew won 116 games in one
campaign.
am as confident as ever that the
Giants will eventually triumph,
though undoubtedly it will be stitfer
fight than we anticipated, Though
why we haven't been and are not
making better progress Is more thah
| viii venture to explain. There SIM
ply is no explanation
Some sort of jinx seems lowering
over organized baseball in general,
as exemplified in the big leagues
save only in Philadelphia. Its blight
has not affected Quaker Town-at
least. not as yet. Connie Macks
Athletics are running wild TOWARD
another pennant. The Primes re-
fuse to be shaken in their purpose OF
having a little worlds series all in
Sumber Land. Players are not i'm
mune from the evil influences or the
wear. save only the very old timers.
Mathewson Still Great.
There has been, there is, and there
will be only one Christy Mathewson.
who ever saw him better than
against Brooklyn a few days ago?
He pitched nine innings of shut-out
ball delivering only 10 balls, despite
the fact that he used IA pitches IN
one inning, the eighth. That more
plainly than anything else points out
the complete mastery he had over
the ball and over the batsmen.
other leading pitchers in both
leagues are seasoned performers. Ed
die Plank, the great southpaw who
broke in about the same time as Mat
ty, is Macks main reliance. Chief
Bender, the tried and true Indian, has
won almost 80 per cent of his
games.
Now this season may eventually
adjust itself along safe and sane
lines; but so far it surely has devel-
oped any number Of unusual kinks.
we will glance over several of the
most startling instances as briefly as
POSSIBLE.
Cohb's Throne lettering.
To begin with, Ty Cobb's throne
has been usurped for the time by
"Shoeless Joe" Jackson, of Cleve-
land. do not see where Ty has
much kick coming. for he is still
away about the $50 notch, which is
mighty fair batting for most any
major league performer. But l read
ily understand the sentiments of the
Georgian Peach as the result Of his
recent slump. To a 400 hitter like
Cobb $50 appeals in the light OF
about O67 to the average pitcher.
Who this spring would have be-
lieved that Pittsburg would now
be trailing in the second division,
with lust about one chance in a hum
dred for a loOk-in at the worlds
series prize? In a great many re-
spects no team in the league can
show as much strength, on paper, as
can the Buccaneers. Clarke has
rafting good infeld, we'll balanced
outfield hitting strength, defensive
strength, speed what was usually
considered the best pitching stan IN
major company and We'll balanced
catching department
Yet two months after the season
opened Fred Clarke was trailing the
Boston Braves, a club that was the
laughing stock of the league when
the campaign began. It is true that
Pittsburg's catching corps has suf-
fered greatly from injuries; it is also
true that the pitchers have never
been in first-class shape. But al
most without more than mediocre
battery strength, this team might be
expected 10 stay somewhere close to
the leaders.
Champions Start Slowly.
The worlds champion Boston Red
Sox furnish another example They
finally have crawIed up somewhere
ia the neighborhood Of where they
belong in the American League
standings. But for the first six weeks
Of the season the team that last fall
won from US the highest honors Of
baseball showed a little better form
than the tailendeT Of the Johnson cir
cult
For some ineXplainab.e reason the
aggregat ton simply could DOT pull to-
gether properly. It is true that the
full strength was not in The field.
Puf RDstOn's showing was worse than