The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-04

won win ms bat and. added to the
assemblaGe OF long distanc. hittcrs
on the Mack squad, he is very forIni-
d;,bic
With two hitting pitchers. one hit
ting catcher and six hard hitting and
one timely hitting regulars. ii looks as
II any pitcher who faces the Mackncn
has to work overtime to stop them.
one thing is certain--they cannot rest
up and take it easy when Schang
comes TO the bat. FOR he is likely TO
break UP a game al any moment.
or the second string Lapp is n me-
dunn strong hitter. very fair for a
catcher. and possessing a little more
speed than the others. Mclean. should
he break in at all is likely to make
history. This big fellow ought to he
one of the Ercatcst-but never has
been because of his careless habits.
lie Is slashing, hard hitting batter,
taking n terrific wallop at the ball.
and is dangerous at any time.
on the bases all the catchcrs are
negligible quantities Meyers couldn't
steal base without being irnpeached
SchanG has little more chance, as
he has been known to do It, and can
go down If tho pitcher or catcher Is
careless Mclean cannot run the bases
and Lapp is not likely to get chance
to try. Ira Thomas and Wilson have
little more chance to get into action
than the last bleachcritc so we need
not consider them unless severe acct
NS'tS u ippte the olnerS.
Ono Of Wonders.
Defensively. Schang has proved ono
, OF the wonders OF the year He showed
at buffalo such remarkable form that
not ono of tho dozen major league
managers who wanted him doubted
that he would make good in the big
show. He stepped right in among the
veterans at Philadelphia and caught
rs II he had been there all his life Ho
lacked finish In few of the Amer
points, but under Macks careful and
persistent teaching he has improved
lot during the season. Mack used to
knew a whole lot about catching him
SELF. They say that in his day he was
one OF the slnartest, and IL la certain
mat he has always coached mediocre
catchers until they worked steadily and
We'll Mack evidently commenced
coaching and preparing Schang for the
series two months ago, when he be-
gan 10 work the young star steadily
ana with all the pitchers and the re-
suits have shown the wisdom or the
course. The players say that Schang
is steadier and works with more iudr
ment than he did during the early mart
or the year. studies battcrs better and
works better with the pitchers
Meyers is rather heavy and slow
behind the bat. a magnificent target
Tor pitchers, and man who uses a
lot OF head work--for some of which
seems a fair judge OF batters, and
cunning in guessing what opposing
patsmen and runners are planning
Ills best asset is in steadyinE and
slowing down pitchers when they are
threatening TO wabble or go wild.
EVEN with Mathewson. Meyers some
times has TO put on the brakes and
SLOW down the pace. as Matty has q
habit OF hurrying more and more in
his pitching when things go wrong
In that fatal ninth inning in the final
game at Boston last fall it was an
parent that Meyers was striving To
make Mathcwson take moro time In
pitching to Speaker. yet Matty pitched
faster and faster. and after tho foul
ny cropped, he pitched almost as soon
rs Meyers stepped Into position-and
away Went the game and the pennant
Chief is Keen Judge
me Giants give the Chief credit
with being a keen judge OF the form
OF pitcher and n watchfuI student
oil batters. Mechanically, he is not as
good as many other backstops as he
tets TOO many balls break past him,
and he has one bad fault That is in
muEinE balls thrown to the plate TO
mead off runners. lie has n habit OF
takihS MS eyes OF the ball to glance
toward the runner, and when he looks
back the ball is SO close to the plate
that no Is liable TO muff. 1T is a nerv-
GUS hahit, and one he seems unable TO
cure. 1t led 10 the report In the
american Association. and later in the
National League, that Movers was
afraid OF the spikes. and mufTed bc-
cause ho feared the runner would cur
MN. This cannot be true. AZ he stands
up ana blocks WELL not moving to es-
cape the runner even when lie nuns.
In throwing, Schang has much the
better OF the argument. lie whips the
Dali around n In Archer. and shoots
WIN deadly accuracy. Ills throwing
10 hrst Is excellent. and he gets tho
Dali away like fash when runners
start Tor second If he throws during
u 'he series rs we'll as he has during
me present season, the Giants Will not
90 much stealing. Their hope seems
10 be TO upset his confidence and to
get him to throwing wild
y catcher who throws out so per cent
OF the base runners who attempt to
steal on him is n rcrnarkablo catcher
rms does not mean that 30 per cent of
runners who attempt to steal lcSiti-
mately succeed. At least 10 per cent
or the stolen bases are steals because
the catcher has no chance to throw
once l examined the scores of 100
games. in which ISL attempts to steal
We're made, and OF these attempts thir-
ty-two were made because the catcher
ana not care to throw at all, and in
twenty eight other cases tho ball was
pitched so badly the catcher hadn't a
chance. How many times the pitcher
allowed the runners TO get such leads
as to make ii impossible for a catcher
to throw them out is hard to tell
| took tfty-fve of Schangs games
this season, and in them he threw out
hfty-seven runners. and exactly fifty
seven steals were charged against him
II is safe to say that of these hfty-
seven steals at least twcnty-nye were
walk downs or wide pitched His
average OF throwing out runners was
much better than Meyers's was find.
too. that in Schang's games In which
he has caught Plank and Bender. he
has caught three out of every five that
started to steal.