Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-02
By Rube Marquard.


4 combination, after all never
have been superstitious, but after
watching this present 1918 campaign,
as far as it has gone, I must con-
fess that it has me wavering.
To date It has been mighty funny
year for both leagues. The dope has
all gone topsy- turvy We Giants
were picked to run away from the
field: and. truth to tell l myself
thought that by this time we would
have a much greater lead than we en-
loved a year ago at this time, Then
if 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 a stitter
fight than we anticipated. Ihough
why we haven't been and are not
making better progress is more imam
I will venture to explain. IheIe slll-
ply is no explanation. ,--.-.z-
Some sort of jinX seems towering
over organized baseball in general,
as exemplifed in the big leagues
save only in Philadelphia. It's ollght
has not affected Quaker ToWn-at
least. not as yet. CONNIE MdCN
Athletics are running Wlid to"aIu
another pennant. The Phillles re-
fuse TO be shaken in their purpose or
having a little worlds series all IN
Slumber Land Players are not I'M
mune from the evil influences OF the
year save only the very old timers.
Mathewson Still Great.
There has been, there is, and there
viii he only one Christy Mathewson.
Who ever saw him better than
against Brooklyn a few days ago
He pitched nine innings or shut-oul
ball. delivering only 10 balls, despite
fine 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 VINO
broke in about the same time as Mat
~ is Mack's main reliance. 'Chlet
FENDER. the tried and true Indian, has
won almost so per cent of his
games. .-.-,,..
lines; but so far it surely has devel-
oned any number OF unusual kinks.
we will glance over several of the
most startling instances as briefly as
POSSIBLE.
To begin with, Ty CObbs throne
has been usurped for the time by
"Shoeless Joe" Jackson, of Cleye-
land I do not see where Iy mas
much kick coming. for he Is sun
away about the $50 notch, which Is
mighty fair batting for most any
major league performer But l read
iiy understand the sentiments of the
| Georgian Peach as the result or MS
recent slump. To a 400 hitter like
Cobb $50 appeals in the light or
about O67 to the average pitcher.
Who this spring would have be-
Iieyed that Pittsburg would now
be trailing in the second division,
with lust about one chance IN nun
dred for a lOok-in at the world
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 infield a we'll balanced
outfeld, hitting strength, defensive
strength. speed what was usually
considered the best pitching staff IN
major company and a weu-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. Il is true that
Pittsburgs catching corps has suf-
fered greatly from injuries, il 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 to stay somewhere close to
the leaders.
Champions Start Slowly.
The worlds champion Boston Red
Sox furnish another example. They
finally have crawled up somewhere
in the neighborhood Of where they
belong in the American League
standings. But for the first six weeks
Of the season the team that last fail
won from us the highest honors Of
baseball showed a little better form
than the tailender of the Johnson cir
cult
For some inexplainable reason the
aggregation simply could nOt pull to-
gether properly. 1t is rue mat the
full strength was not i'm he field.
But BOstons showing was worse than