The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1914-02-27
Two Tigers Years Ago Prevent
ed jennings and MeGraw
n From Meeting
DUBUC BEAT NEW YORK
ONCE; COVE THRICE
New Tiger Says It Wasn't Strain
Of Three Games That Put
Him In Minors
Nv RALPH Z. YoNKER

0ulfport. Miss, Feb. 27.---ln 1908
Jean Dubuc and Harry Coveleskie col
Elaborated In beating the New York dt
ants out of National league pcnnant
( and thereby prevented Manager
Huehie Jennings from meeting one OF
his best personal friends and one OF
his most illustrious baseball and his
trionic rivals, John McGraw, In
worlds series. Fer, Il will be remem.
bered. In 1908 the Tigers won an
American league pennant and battled
with the Chicago Cubs for the worlds
title.
All this was In 1908. Five years
the same club, the Detroit aggregation.
hoping to put Detroit In position 70
dispute outsiders claims to worlds
championship honors.
i Such are the eccentricities OF base
ball Dubuc Was with Cincinnati In
1908. He left there some time later.
went to Buffalo for short time. where
he failed to make good. and then de-
parted FOR Montreal, where he burned
up what was then known 40 the East
ern league. now the International. De-
troit drafted him from Montreal after
failing in its efforts to buy him for o
big price.
Coveleskie. picked up from some IT.
tie club in New Jersey. was Of little
value to Philadelphia In 1909. and was
sent to Cincinnati. He. too, was let
10 from that club. He reappeared In
the higher class leagues in 1918, when
his nne work for Chattanooga brought
him to the fore. Inasmuch a. Detroit
had an option on the choice Of the
4 Chattanooga outfit 1t chose the great
i left-hander.
The failure OF Merkle to touch Sec
ond base Is generally given as the rea-
son that Chicago won the pennant
from the Giants after nose-aud-nose
battle with them. But the real base
n ball reason was the great pitching OF
Dubuc and Co!sleskie against New
York.
II II had not been for the great
lwirling OF these two youngsters 1t
critical times, New York would have
bad the pennant cinched long before
the Merkle incident.
Towards the last Of the season Of
1905, New York. Chicago and Philadei-
phia were neck-and-neck. Cincinnati
and Boston were rated ~ easy meat
I for the Giants when they were to nm
4 ish up the season with them. In spite
of q tie game with the Cubs. the al.
ANTS believed they could sail to the
pennant through Cincy, Philadelphia
and Boston.
But at Cincinnati they struck o
.Snag In Jean Dubuc. then mere
youngster. who stood the Giants on
and beat them badly. Then they went
on to Philadelphia.
There they met and were defeated
II three times In Ave days by Harry Cow
se1eslxie, a green kid just out Of the
4 bushes. These four defeats robbed
Them OF = pennant.
Coveleskie gets credit for more than
soutpitching Mathewson and Wiltse In
sthe final game Of the trio that he won.
4 On ice with q single that scored Doom
HON third afteF- his clean tr!plo~ 49,
At the end OF 26 innings of pitching
against the Giants. Covle was put to
the acid test. With the score stand
ing ct 81, Herxog started the ninth
Inning for the Giants with single
and took second on an error. Then
Titus fumbled Moose McCormick's
drive and let Herxog score and Nc
Cormick 80 to third with the run that
would tie the score, with nobody out.
Hut COVE never wavered. He made.
Nike DonIfn, the next man up, pop
out, holding Mccormick on third. Sey.
mour hit to Knabe. who caught NC
4 Cormick trying tc score. Coyie famed
the last man to face him, Devlin.
.ttr =.
Coveleskie himself says that It
wasn't the strain Of those three games
De won from the Giants that caused
him TO 90 back &c the minor leagues
via Cincinnati. II was the strain
caused by poor handling and overwork
aIl through his career with Philadel-
phia that made him 90 back.
The tendency to work their good
pitchers to death 10 not confined to
the minor leagues by long ways. &C
cording to Covie. At Philadelphia ne
.Was underworkec 1t times. oyerwork-
ed ct other times. and generally hand
led badly.
Harry believes that n he had been
allowed to work more sensibly he
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