Omaha daily bee., 1914-07-05
~'.7 s'
Judgments

" OE BENZ aspires to becoming 800
hitter, (which commendss Joe to US
more than ever and reminds us that
every pitcher ought to have sim
liar aspirations. It's all buncombe
and mighty disgusting buncombe, at that,
this thing of a great hulk of a pitcher
simply lying down at the bat. Why, 1t
never occurs to the average pitcher in
major or minor league that batting Is any.
important. part OF his work. He doesn't
exert himself to hit the ball or get on
base and <if he-happens. to- land. stands
there at first grinning like fool. Very
often II he connects his Bat with the ball,
he lumbers on down the base line as II he
had no notion of getting to first, or as
II he felt himself imposed on for being
put in a position where he had to run.
1t is a wonder to us-it always has been
that managers and owners do not protest.
OF course, there are SOME pitchers who
hit and who, like Benz, take an interest
in trying to hit, but they are not as
numerous as those who deliberately loaf
al the bat. The offense is all the worse
when we remember the large vstatfs OF
pitchers now maintained as compared with
those carried in former years. As we have
often pointed out, the famous st. Louis
Browns, the Four-Time Winners, went
along with two and three pitchers. Take,
for example, one year when BoDDy
Caruthers and Dave Foutz were in their
prime, pitching the team on to another
remnant, they both batted away up near
the top, with averages well above 800
Nor did they quit at pitching and bait
ting and base running; they frequently
alternated in the box and right field. The
wears ago
when Caruthers was umpiring in the
Western league, he resented exclusion
from the so-called famous slippery six
-those great base runners of the old
Browns. We named them off thus:
Latham, Ccmiskey, Nicol WEIGH, Robin
son and Gleason, and Bobby instantly
took exceptions. What are you taking
about? was one of the slippery Six
And at that, he was. after little Nlcol
left, But there was old Toad Ramsay one
of the heaviest OF hitters, and many
others, Nowadays it often takes from
two to four pitchers to finish game &no
each team carriers from six TO ten ana
vet they refuse to try to bat. IL Is al
wrong. Grant that more emphasis Is con-
stantly placed on the effort OF pitcnlhs'
ond that this years American league has
what probably amounts to the pest seO
of pitchers any league ever had we nap
pen TO observe in another league nearer
home an awful lot Of rotten pitching by
Young gentlemen who are equally as
worthless at the bat. Why, we ask do the
men behind the payrolls stand for itF
The Sporting News calls attention 10 the
mistake Manager Clarke made when ne
threw in" Art Butler on a famous Fltts-
burgh-St. Louis trade. Butler was not
given much of chance at Plttspursn,
while at st. Louis he has revealed himseu
as a rhainstay. Clarke is great man.
ager iu spite of his mistakes, ike Moses
and a few who have gone before. II we
areleoing to recount Clarke's mistakes
though, we may find them numerous
along this line. 1t was Clarke who long
ago passed up Jack Pfeister. because he
was too wild, and Jack later had his days
as the famous Giant killer. Perhaps the
OToole- Kelly deal might be mentioned
conditionally. Then there comes the trade
of Tommy Leach for Artie Holman
Tommy never had better days than since
he left Pittsburgh. And Bert Niehoff wai
once the property of Pittsburgh AS We
say, Clarke is great despite his mistakes
rs a hoss trader.