Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-03
FIGHTING TEAM
NEEDED To WIN
DIXIE REMNANT
"Pep," "Gab" and Determination
Pull Teams Through-Crackers
Criticised for Lack of Noise.
By Percy H. Whiting.

A W well, if you all insist. We
n just have to tell you what's
the matter with the Crackers
They lack pep" and fight"
No. we didn't work this out for
ourselves either. A former baseball
writer dug up the idea and passed
it over.
Said he: Il was in New York thu
other day and l went out to see the
poor old Yankees play. l was sur
prised. They haven't a thing but CAB
and pep. But they are winning gam :"
on that alone.
you know how quiet Ed Sweeney
used to be-wouldn't open his face
except to chew gum Well, he's yell
ing and dghting like a terrier now
Russ Ford has become positively
noisy and actually gets out on the
coaching line and FIGHTS for the
team. And Birdie Cree-well, he used
to be the qUietest bali player In the
world And now he's scrapping and
yelping like a pup. The day l was
there he came rushing in from left
field to protest a strike decision. Any
time an outfeldeT does that he is
trying, hard to get his team to win.
what the Crackers need is just
SUCH a spirit as that. They need
more fight, more pep, more CAB.
Fighting teams win pennants.
BY lighting team" is not meant
- a team of umpire baiters, row.
dies and rough necks. but a team
that contests every point-an agsres-
siye, noisy. two listed club that never
knows it is beaten.
Look at the Crackers two pennant
winning teams. They were fighters
from the clang of the gong.
In 1909, they had a great collection
of scrapping players-Otto Jordan
Sid Smith, Hugh McMurray, Harry
Johns. Red Fisher and Tommy At
kins. They weren't rowdies, but they
were sCrappers. Anytime a game got
by them there had been a fight for
it. They had pep, noise, highland
they won a pennant.
Going back to the other pennant
winner. 1t also had Jordan and Sid
Smith those champion sCrappers
along with Castleton. Spade, Castro
and Dyer. There was a team with
life and pep" They didn't kick
themselves out of games, but they
fought every inch of the way with
their opponents the umpires and the
fates They were scrappers.
THE best teams of baseball history
had the pep and CAB and fight
in them Look at the worlds cham
pion White Sox of 1906. All they had
was pep and a line of talk Look
at McGraws teams. They may be
unnecessarily rowdyish, but anyhow,
they fight for everything every step
of the way They never quit. they
never stop making racket, they are
always trying. And these tactics
make champions out of bum ball clubs.
If ever a lemon club won a pennant
it was last year when the Giants
COPIED. Pep and speed, along with
plenty Of CAB, pulled them through.
THE Crackers might make more
! noise without doing any harm
OF course 1t isn't a laxative team
naturally. But it might develop a
little artificial CAB" That stuff helps.
I don't know why, but 1t does. A
laxative team is always better than
a quiet one, Anybody can talk and
make a noise. That's easy enough.
Pep is something that can be de-
veloped also.
If little more pep and noise is
what the Crackers need by all means
let's have it.
It's a shame to see a potential pen
nant winner hugging the 800 mark.
That's poor place for any team
to be.