The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-06-08
BY w. J. MACBETH.

mi inps Of the Boston Braves has
| so far proved the most success
full major league manager of the
season The race is quite young and
! the nBig Chief may take a big spill
| before October But the fact romans
that in the first two months of the
National league pennant fight he has
| shown more real managerial ability
| than any contemporary in either OF the
big leagues.
That is putting it very strongly.
There are some good leaders taken into
comparison. There is Connie Mack,
John J. McGraw, Fred Clarke and
Frank Chance-the quartette which for
years has been recognized as perhaps
the greatest of all time. OF lesser rep
utation and renown might be named
Joe Birmingham who has fitted out
pennant possibility Of what was
fyver N1ns c,r2y year rispb the oeTeland eTgina
s'hard luck guy Of ali the managers;
s'Red' Doom, whose Quakers have put
fear into all National leagues oppo-
sition. and "Bad BiH' Dahlen, who
seems on the point of raising Brooklyn
from the dust Of the second division
cellar for the first time in almost fif-
teen years.
Has Fighting Force.
Stallings may never earn the fame
of any of the 'FBig Four but on what
has gone this season he has shown
more class than any named, because
he has made fighting outfit and
feared rival out of what has come to
be considered a hopeless tailonder
without the least outlook for imme-
date improvement.
A man is known as much by the work
he has done as by the company he
keeps. Or, better, he is judged by the
manner in which his work is done un-
der the conveniences at his command.
A skilled workman Is not expected to
work without tools, he is not even ex.
pected to do competent work with dull
instruments. It may not be the work
of an artist to keep his instruments
in repair; but 1t stands to reason that
one who does 1t should command bet
ter wage and far more respect than
one who cannot. The real artisan
would naturally be the man who could
fashion as we'll as maintain the eff
cheney Of his tools when there could
be no excess to the market.
No Help From Rivals.
This in baseball way is just what
George Stallings had to do when he
fell heir to the sorriest legacy of base
ball history. Stallings has lot of
friends. Without exception they
breathed a prayer for him when his
name was first associated with the
Boston Braves. He had little or moth
ing on which to begin. His absolute
playing strength was represented by
one man-Second Baseman Sweeney.
Stallings appreciated the folly of ex-
pecting outside help. He had expe-
rienced on many occasions the lack of
sentiment in organized baseball. In
stead of trying to lend helping hand,
his rivals, without exception, endeav-
ored to wean from Stallings the only
ball player in his camp.
Tho outlook at the start of the sea.
son was most dreary one for the
"Big Chief.' Sweeney and Devlin |
were practically the only experienced
men on the club outside of a few ques-
tionable pitchers. Fortunately these
were so placed at second and third re-
spectively that they had young Maran-
vile between them. Maranville was |
a phenom. He has been one
of the sensations of the season. "Hal' |
Meyers, at first, is q very fast fellow |
He is good hitter, but his arm is very !
bad, He lacks experience But |
'oWeeHey HSlpeu MIN dlOng NJ Ilr5t ana |
he got away with his task well enough |
to round out an infield of more than
passing worth That is one of Stall. |
ings's great attributes. He has the
faculty of making his men do the
very best that is in them all of the
time and that counts more in the end /
than in individual strength divided Il
against itself.
Rounds Up OutfieIders.
When Vincent Campbell refused to
come back he left the Boston outfeld
IN very bad way. John Titus, who
has been cast off from the PhilIfes as
3 result Of broken leg, was the only II
known quantity, and he was very 4
asset The recruit out.
iclders did not satisfy the "Big
Chief He went on a still hunt for
and more TO the point, he
anded them. Where other managers
we're crying in vain that there was no