Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-08
By "Chief" Meyers.
(Star Catcher Of the Champion
Giants and ono Of the Most
Deadly Slugsers in the Ma
tional Leaque.)

A FORTUNATELY half the Ma
~ tional League 1918 schedule
has been completed. and the
Giants are out in front This happy
state of affairs signifies a third con-
secutive pennant for the Giants. l
will try to show why with the race
so well in hand at this stage, our
club can go to even easier victory
than we had anticipated at the open
ing Of the campaign.
In the first half of the season we
have more than held our own against
all competition. We have proven vast
superiority over the Phillies, the only
club that has so far given US a real
argument for the honor of leading
| the race. We fought and conquered
, Dooin's men single handed; there was
no assistance from the weaker clubs
OF the league that somehow failed
to develop as stiff opposition against
Dooin's men as they showed against
US
Brooklyn, of course, helped us out
nicely on their recent visit to the
home of the Quakers, but that little
matter OF four straight victories was
just about due the Dodgers, who lost
a great many games to Philadelphia
through tough luck and by one run
earlier in the season. At that the
Dodgers, with their recent victories
have not won as great a percentage
against Dooin's men as they have won
from us.
For which reason l think no one
will dispute me when l say that the
Giants practically single-handed have
stopped the Quakers. We handed
them four straight defeats the last
time they called at the Polo Grounds
And they came right back with the
same dose the past week in Phila-
delphia
In the last eight games with them
we made up just eight games gain,
That can not fail to have a very de-
cided moral effect for the good OF
the Giants in the remaining games
between these two deadly rivals
Dodgers Are Troublesome.
| think the Phillies have been very
effectively stopped. For the present
at least we will presume to look in
other quarters for sitter opposition.
Just now our attention is held by
Brooklyn, a club that has caused us
a great deal Of worry so far and a
club to my mind that Is better fitted
to maintain a fight through to Octo-
Der than are the Quakers at the pres
ent time.
Chicago will have rather tough
time of 1t in the East in the near flu
ture Pittsburg is too far down in
the race to cut any figure as a con
tender, while Cincinnati and st. Louis
have been out of the running from
the start
McGraw is in a better position now
than he was two months later in 1912
Last year our club encountered all its
best luck early in the campaign Mar
guard went out and won nineteen
straight games. Behind only average
pitching our players slugged like
demons, and, by running up big
scores, gradually drew away from the
field until we were leading by more
than sixteen games. During all that
tine we never encountered a slump
Then suddenly things began to break
badly for US
Vanguard, as the result Of the ter
rible strain TO which he had been
subjected in his record breaking ef-
forts, suffered complete reversal
Of form when finally he was stopped
He did not recover his wonderful eff
fectiveness until the approach of the
worlds series. the good old reliable
Tesreau and Matty had to shoulder
the pitching possibilities
Chicago and Pittsburg finished
with a rush Our lead dwindled away
to about three. games. The better the
Pirates and Cubs played the worse
We seemed to slump. And ! can tell
you the daily worry Of seeing that
great lead fritter away was such a
mental strain as few ball clubs have
ever experienced.
Early Lead Wins.
Luckily for us the early lead we
had piled up was too much for the