The chronicle=news., 1913-01-14

New York. Jan. 1.-THE assertion
that this age OF baseball Is one OF
speed goes unchallenIcd. We had ir-
REPUTABLE evidence OF II very short
time ago when Pittsburg cut loose
from Mike Doniin. Now comes u
rumbling from the middle west that
Cleveland il TO sacrifice Its great king
Larry LaJoic. Next thing We know
OF the Hans Wagn.rs and Sam Craw-
fords Will he getting the hook be-
cause they fall OFF a pace or two In
sprinting form.
Fred Clarke was evidently Justified
III sending Donlin to Philadelphia.
even though Mike hit away abov"
30" In 1919. Mike Is slow and de-
cr"pit. too. In way. Hut for clcvc-
land to pass up the great LaJoic
sounds too foolish to attract attcn-
ton. Why that young fellow La
ici. Is Just begging Ia find himself In
tn" big tent. And do you think for
"a minute the Cleveland club does not
rca,iz. this, DO YOU think the Gle
"ylsnL club would dare To sell such
q fayori'c even II ~ wished To do soT
Do you think LaJoic would consent
TO be bartcrcd like a bush lcagu.r"
after ~ years In the big ring:
There are u few questions that fur
nish food for sound reflection. Larry
i.ajoic has slowed up un'loubtcdly
during the II years but he IL far
from being any sort OF dcrcllct. Last
year he played III games and hi, for
the remarkable average Of .3Gs. Tn
der those circumstances. having en-
joycd one OF tn. very best seasons Of
~ that Cleveland would consent TO
part with I.ajol. ut any price. lie has
become u Forest City institution.
Many Of I.ajoic's friends would
like to see him transferred TO some
other club. especially one which has
somc chance FOR the pcrna;. For the
big Frcnchman has never yet figured
on winning team OF shared any OF
the spoiis OF worlds series. Wagner.
wonderful veterans contemporaries
OF the old and modern schools have
had their shar. Of th. big glory and
big gravy. Several times Larry has
come close: most notably In 1905
when he managed tn. Blues. Tha,
year Cleveland. Detroit and the Whit.
Son fought such u finish that tn.
pcnnput was nos decided until the
very last day. The sad part OF the
affair from u Cleveland standpoint
was that l.ajoic that year. when his
services were so badly needed, had
the wors; season of his big league
career. Larry played In every game
but he batted only .:S9 and fleldcd
far below his standard. Only one
other time In his life did the big
| lfrenchman fail to rap 800 or better
In 1907 he fell shy OF the coveted
notch by only one point.
Lajoic broke into fast cuinpan,
when he was : | years OF age. He had
fairly broken up the New England
league as a member OF the Fall River
team when the Philiics netted him
lie played five seasons for the Quak
crs: hitting as high ns 1873 an,
never lower than .3.s. Ia 1901 dur
Ing the war bet twecn tho major lea
lsuss Lajoic. with n bunch OF hi'
teammates. jumped to the riva
Athlctics. That was the best seasoI
OF his career for in l3i games h
banged away at IA .i22 clip. The Phil
lies in tho meantime went to th'
lcourts and secured an injunction I,
lpreycnt the ''dcscrtcrs" appearing
with the Athletics. II was finall.
drciudcd by the courts that LaJoi
and his pals had no right to play II
Pennsylvania with any club oLhc
than tho Phillies. For this rcasoi
tajoie WIS gent to Cleveland. TIL
Maps assuming his wartime contract
Lajoic had been in Cleveland 10
the past 1 years. He managed tn
team for five years. throwing up tll