The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-10-04
INFIELD. IMPORTANT
IN COMING BATTLES

New YORK. Oct. "A weu-knOwn
big league club manager said recently
that in his opinion more games were
won and lost. on the ipf1eId than in.
any other department. of baseball.
| Few will contradict the assertion, and5
| it is quite likely that victory will hang
| to a considerable extent, upon the
work of theEGiants and Athletics in
field during the coming WORLDS xSer-
les between the New York and Phfla-
deIphia, clubs. The Athletics $780,
900 indeId is one that commands res
pect and admiration in baseball cir
cles, but it isn't worrying the Giants,
if their statements are to be believed.
McGraw has not tried to put a dnan-
ciaIs figure on his four inf1eIders, butt
hesis known to be as well satisfied
with his combination as q baseball
manager cansbe.ef ~ ~ 80 NJ 5,
Still, the fact remains that all the
figures, available regarding the
Worlds Series of 1911 and seasons
play this year point to the Athletics
infie1d quartet composed of McInnes,
Collins, Baker and Barry as superior
to Merk1e, Doyle, Herzog, Shafer and
Fletcher, considered as a whole. In
the combination which helped defeat
the Giants two years ago Mc1nnes
had no part, being on the bench with
aE-s5na which was just gaining
strength. after being broken. Harry
Davis, the veteran who took his place
proved a most acceptable substitute,
but with McInnes on the initial bag,
as he will be when the present series
opens, the Athletics inheld is certain
to be stronger than it was in 1911.
Shafer has held down third for the
Giants in place of Herzog most of
the season. and will probably alter
nate with HerZog, according to the
style of pitching to be faced. Aside i
from these shifts and substitutions
the lineup will be the same as two i
years ago, when the Athletics won the
Worlds championship with four
games out of six.
This being the case, the figures
available should prove the best means
of affording a comparison between the |
ouartets which will work for the Ath-
let1cs and Giants. MerkIe and Nc |
Innes will be the rival first basemen, |
and McInnes appears to have de-
cided advantage over the. Giants in
ittal sack guardian. MerkIe is not |
as finished player as McInnes, but |
possesses greater speed on the bases. |
In batting, the Athletics star out |
shines MerkIe. He is also more ag- |
sressfve and. covers more ground |
around first base. Davis outpIayed |
MerkIe during the 1911 clash, yet Nc
LINES held the bag up to the point in |
the season when he broke his wrist. |
1t is reasonable to suppose that Mack
considered him the better player of
the two.
Moving to second base, Captain
Larry Doyle is found to be opposed by
Eddie Collins. The Giants field /
leader is high-cIass player, but Col
Inns is ranked as one Of the most IA
NOUS second basemen of baseball. At
no time during the title struggle in
1911 however, did Collins outp1ay
Doyle. Whether the latter can du-
plicate this feat is doubtful. His
recent accident in which his shoulder
mobile crashed into a tree will not i'm
prove his game. Furthermore, Doyle
has not played or batted this season
up to the standard set by himself dur
ing the Worlds Series in which he
was opposed by Collins The latter
has improved steadily, and his bat
ting this season has been heavier than
before On the bases Collins is fast
er than Doyle. and has stolen many
more sacks than the Giants field lead
err AS run getter the former Col
Iumbia University student also has the
better of Doyle. /
For the position of third baseman
three players must be considered. For
the Athletics John Franklin Baker,
Of home run fame, is the sole candi- ]
date. He will play against both Her 1t
zog and Shafer in all probability since t
each is likely to see service before the !
series is completed. Baker outhit and i.
1utplayed Shafer and Herzog in bat {
ing this season, but in Shafer he viii IL
ind a harder opponent than Herzog I
proved two years ago. The latter is {
cool yet lightning fast, making SEN t
,ationaI stops and throws which ap- :
bear easy compared with Bakers
-ather awkward style. Both Sha- a
er and Herzog are faster in the base /
ines, but the Athletics star gets on c
more frequently, due to his heavy :
hitting. AS a run getter his season c
show that he outcIasses both t
he Giants who will probably figure in b
he third base play. t
The important position of shortstop T
n the Worlds Series will be filled by
Barry for the Athletics and Fletcher q
or the Giants Barry outf1eIded and T
'uthit Fletcher in the clash two years Y
go, but Fletcher has greatly improv- y
ID since that time, while Barry has s
lot done more than hold his own. d
This season the records Of the two V
.IaYeEs show that in their respective e