The Washington herald., 1913-03-09
Peerless Leader Schooling
the New Yorkers IN
Base Running.
MUST LEARN TO SPRINT
Cree, Welter, and Daniels Are Fast
0ut6elders and Good Men At he
Base Sliding Craft
by w. J. MACBETH.

Hamilton, Bermuda. March s.-Frank
Chance has shown. in the weeks train
ing here. that he intends to specialize In
The Peerless Leader has several sliding
pits in operation and every athlete Is
forced to spend a considerable time each
day in practice on the "fall-away,"
split. scissors" and all other known
varieties of the base sliding craft.
II am quite satisfied" declared the
Peerless Leader the other night. that
my club will develop all the necessary
hitting power. Two or three ciouters
of the 800 class should carry any team
to victory provided il is strong in other
departments Fielding. Of course. is one
kof the cardinal virtues. but equally i'm
portant with either fielding or hitting Is
base-running ability.
when McGraw started last season he
showed the league more speed than IL
has ever seen before on any club. I
mean speed In the feld-offensively as
well as 6efensively. Why IT was almost
impossible to drive the ball through the
inner line. And when the Giants got on
the bases they simply tore around. piling
up run after run that would never have
developed II the Giants had not been
properly schooled on the paths.
There Is nothing like the old wallop
In the pinch, but properly applied speed
will cover a multitude Of sins. A pass
and a steal Is as good as a double any
time to base runners, who are waiting TO
be scored. My team has shown me that
IL has the speed to become a marvelously
fast aggregation II II applies itself assid-
uously to a study Of base-running. I in
tend TO do all in my power along these
lines"
Chance Has Speed.
Come to figure it out Chance has a lot
Of speed. But heretofore II has borne
very little fruit. Hal Chase is one of
the best base runners in the game. Yet
he has never shone particularly In this
line except in flashes. Last season he
stole about twenty bases inside three
weeks. Then he didn't try to steal any
more for about month. No one has the
knack OF pilferlng third down so finely
as the Peerless Hal. No one can get
bigger break on the pitchers. Hal slides
head first and is 70 nimble and agile that
he can often squirm around a base guar
dian even II the ball beats him This slide
Is dangerous to the runner unless. Ike
Chase, be Is unusually active Hal IL
scarcely ever injured. Chance believes
that Chase will give Cobb and Milan the
run of their lives for base stealing honors
IL he meets with no Injury.
Chance himself was never a champion
on the sacks. but he IN a heady runner
and makes the best Of his opportunities.
He looks as fast to-day as he has ever
been within the past i've years, and con-
scientiousiy believes that he will be able
to set a good example The other In
fielders are green and inexperienced.
Derrick and Priest have both lots OF
natural speed and the former seems TO
be a pretty fair slider. Priest has plenty
to learn. however, though he has shown
rapid development. Midki1 and Young
are earnest enough though both viii have
to improve not only on the start. but
on the fall away. HartxeIl is one Of the
slowest men on the team
The outdeld Possesses great possihdl-
tiles. Birdie Cree is one Of the very best
runners in the American League and he
doesn't make the most Of his natural
qualifications. at that Cree Is a fast
breaker who can take an exceptionally
long lead without danger. When he first
came into the league he knew very little
about sliding. What he has learned he
has been forced to pick from observation
for himself. Cree Is a pretty nifty base
runner right now, but he says that
Chance has shown him a lot Of new
wrinkles by which he hopes to profit
greatly. Cree has a notion in his head
that he will make the fans sit up in
wonder before the end of the campaign.
Harry wolter has not been cutting
loose to the limit. His leg which was
fractured last sea son. seems to have be
come strong as ever. but naturally he =
a bit timorous as yet. He cannot help
but favor IL bit But he has sIl his
old speed. and il Is but a question Of
time before he will haye all his old fear
lessness. wolter was and undoubtedly
~ H<f L. ~ 49, Ma
base runners with Chance. He Is ahso
lutely fearless, a skilled slider, q won
derfully quick breaker. and as speedy
a. they come. Any time he Is on The
bases the fans get q run for their money.
think wolter will hold his own with
either Chase or Cree no matter how fast
. pace they may set.
Bert Daniels should be a great hass
runners-but he never has been. There
II great hope for him under Chances in
tuition Bert seems to have caught onto
. little sliding knack, which was pain
fully lacking in his work heretofore.
Daniels came from the Tri-State League
with great reputation as q base run
ner. He never. panned out In the big
show because he always seemed to slide
into instead Of away from the ball. All
q base guardian had to do was to block
Bert and he. was duck soup. Daniels
couio oiWayS take as long iedd as any
runner In the game, but this advantage
was somewhat nullined because OF
slow starting let him learn to get away
quickly and slide properly and he should
be q bear" Jack Eelivelt is no speed
marvel though he seems faster than he
was last fall. But fellow like Lellveit
can show his worth In other lines: he
can hammer the ball with the rest OF
them.
As rule battery men are not expect
ed to add to the speed Of any major
league OUTFIT. But Chance has several
pitchers who can sprint in lively fasion
Ray Caldwell. for instance. Is rafting
good hitter and a finished base runner.
Jack Warhop is better than the average
In the base running line. sweeney, the
first catcher. Is a slow fellow and so
In Bob Williams. But Sterretf. the
Princeton recruit. is Just the opposite He
was bothered by a fat wheel last sum
mer. but is sound again and looks the
part.
Trainer Doc Barrett has done lot OF
good work with the boys in helping
Chance with the base running lessons.
The "Bonesetter" is an athletic expert
and for years has trained the Williams
College track team. Needless to say he
will have a lot of quick breakers This
win help In beating out all sorts of In
feid hiss and in developing real sktll on
49,