New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-20
Nv GEORGE T. STALLlNGS.
Manager of the Boston Braves.

70 will have more 10 say about the
silver lining to the cloud.
However. last season did not open
- brightly for the Braves. As | said
,F,he article last week, we did not pa
- iris tough luck TO the public-or
.,;ed not 10. Evers could not do
s;nself Justice until June, because ne
- . badlv sprained back, and Rabbit
Meanwhile caught tonsillitis. Z was not
80 before Deal developed a BAD case
Ts,barley horse" and nothing will
sn-s his disability of a ball player ex-
sspt thorough rest. ! could not rest
IN because there was no one else Tor
b;s plsee. and he played along gsmely,
practically on one leg.
The team hung in last place, and the
,owsnapers began TO kid" US, and our
sannorters were inclined 10 desert. Be
49, the team being torn 10 pieces with
;niuries and sickness, the pitchers were
srsv of form on account of the cold,
,sw weather. and my outfield was not
hitting Il looked like a bad ball club
dining those first two months and a
hsif and even Mr.. Gaffney was little
Iscouraeed AZ times. although he was
AN, AZ the grounds every day that we
niaved At home. roofing like mad
Ang" Those first weeks of the season
xsre some Of the toughest times that |
have ever put in with q ball team, and
often had TO set my teeth to keep on
Along in June Evers began TO get
hack into condition with the warmer
weather. and the pitchers started to
shoW more, so that | was encouraged,
hut nv outfeld still worried me.
knew # | had some hitting outfielders
we could start 70 climb, but where TO
y,t hitting outfelders in mid-season is
a problem 10 stump any manager. On
trip 10 New York in May / met a
friend Of mine. Ny friends, BY the
way. were not so numerous IN those
days as they have been since the
worlds series.
whats the matter with your eIuo'
George ?" he asked me.
III would be all right If we had some
biting in the outfield,' ! answered.
sThe rest of the boys are coming
slong all right"
He did not believe me and just
smiled, because he thought was pull
bg bad alibi
told the same thing TO Mr.. Gafney.
well. wish we could get tnst hit
ting" he replied.
Il Was Bedtime Idea.
Then the idea came to me in bed
one night Just before | fell asleep, and
I got up and wrote it down on paper
to be sure to have it by morning. That
is an old habit Of mine-to write down
ideas which come to me in the night,
since have found that in years past
il did not take this precaution they
had evaporated by the next day. Some
OF my best plans hit me at night after
! am in bed. .,
The scheme which I had was really
only an enlargement Of a practice tnat
many managers had carried on In
desultory sort of way for several sea
sons. In the past leaders had selected
pinch hitter according to the style OF
pitching. They would send right
handler up TO bat against southpa"
OF reverse II. Working on this notlon,
the idea struck me that | would shifI
my whole outfeld, according to whether
right handler or left handler was
working against US. But did not
have sufficient material at the time TO
Try il, 60 decided to pick il up quietly
The scheme was intended to supply the
missing batting punch in the outheld.
Devore has always been a lucky
player for me. / developed him IN
Newark before he went to the Giants
and the team had luck all the time he
was along. / made a deal for him to
come 10 Boston. Connolly was left
banded batter who could sting the
cover of the ball against right-hand-
ers, but who had not hit much against
hand swinger in him. IL was this
weakness of his against southpaws
however that made me believe in the
idea. He was the one man on my club
who batted over three hundred las;
season, and | believe my shift which
through most of the season, brought
MN into the game strictly against
night handlers was responsible for thi:
good record
Let US see what were going to be
we advantages to the club aside from
me mere added batting strength which
Of course, was the principal factor in
chuslng me TO adopt the course. When
ieft-hsnded pitcher goes into game
ana sees Highlander after right
snahder come up against him, II begins
,e.Nesr on his nerves, especially If II
tight battle. II means that he is
not facing any spots" in the batting
sfcer, They are all tough TO "sit
aotn." The strain will usually tell
sna believe that this weakening OF
several southpaw pitchers won many
contests for us at first. As a rule, left
nsnoed twirlers are not the most re-
maple citizens in the world, anyway
sha ! figured this shift would begin tc
vow them from the start so they
~vald count US around the circuit al
hard bunch to beat with a southpav
way.
Plan Causes Many Sallies.
Most Of the other managers did not
epy'oVe OF my scheme of shifting men
sne some of the newspapers began tC
,Ao the club by saying nobody coult
eefermine the regular lineup from DAY
gay Said one writer:
The Boston club is not a team, but
yast collection of PLAYERS. Nobod,
DC where"
put have notion that some Of the
y'her managers will pay attention L
ne snlft next year because il is q
I've. way TO beat left-hander, one o,
~, pest, when he sees almost an en-.
s team marching up to the plate
sa racing him from the right side of
.se pan. Even some of the managers
~ae hinted that George Stallings waf
sans when l hrst pulled it may dc
scme experimenting with il.
was short Of right handed hitters
oseVer, and so ] started out 10 get ,
soopie. Hub" Perdae is a pitcher,
WY hne pitcher-and an excellent on
teriainer as well, for he is a GOOD s,or,