Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-02
OLD YARN BALL
GIVES EVIDENCE
AGAINST MORAN
He Did It-Learned to Play
Baseball, Says Fitch
burgers
"MATTY" PRAISES "ALEX"
rrnm the chlcaro EvenInF po.t.


Textile workers Of Fitchburg. Mass,
have unearthed an old bah OF yarn, bat
tered, ragged and torn In so many places
Il is almost unrecognizable. They are
having this relic OF a score of years ago
gilded with ls-carat gold For a native
son of Fitchburg has achieved great
ness, and this ball of yarn, say Fitch
burgers, started the native son on his
journey to fame.
The hero of Fitchburg is Patrick ].
Moran. There have been other heroes Of
Fitchburg, Governors Senators and the
like, but none like Patrick j., who has
led the Philadelphia Netional League
club out of the ashes of 80 years of buried
[ hopes into the light OF 1915 laurels
The sagacious, stern, serious minded.
refreshingly modest. wonderfully modern
\ commander of the Phillies may not re-
/ member the ball Of yarn which he tossed
about while still in his teens, but un-
( doubtedly this plaything paved the way
for the development of his baseball
acumen, which has placed him to the
| fore as a leader of men.
Moran has always been a leader. II
was he who made the ball Of yarn which
first interested the youngsters of Fitch
burg. IL was he who organized the first
kid" nine of the same town, and II was
he who collected enough nickels to sub
stltute a horsehide-covered, regulation
ball for the yarn plaything.
NIathewsOn, In New York American.
''Did feel the strain in the 1906 worlds
series?' queried Christy Mathewson.
why. / was a young fellow then.
Physical strain. your grandmother! Twen-
ty-fve years old and feeling a physical
strain? / never thought of such thing.
In those days I thought I could pitch
from noon until night and never feel any
particular strain.
Alexander is only little older now
than / was then, and he is fully as
strong as I was. Moreover, he is in the
very flower of his usefulness; he Is pitch
ing the best ball of his career right now.
II is his first worlds series, and he ought
to have all that early enthusiasm that
fires a fellow under such circumstances.
That's why l say 1 think he can pitch
three games without difficulty.
He is a grand pitcher, Alexander"
mused Matty. about as good as I've
ever seen. L don't think there's the
slightest doubt Of him meeting the big
test successfully. 1 only hope the Phils
can get him a few runs early In that
first game.
"The Red Sox must have a grand crew
of pitchers. I've been watching their
scores and notice that the opposition
makes few hits off Carrigan's pitchers
and a pitcher has to be pretty good TO
be constantly keeping the base hits down.
'In my first worlds series game de-
pended largely on my fast ball. had
good one then, I'm told. After that
used plenty Of curves. Alexander Is
great fast-ball pitcher, but then he has
an unusually good assortment of curves
He has that old round-house boy, and
Ill. WI.,NE ENnR RlWa
very sharp. He pitches with good con-
troll and with excellent judgment, and IL
the Sox beat him they beat a real pitcher.
"The Sox have a batch of dangerous
left-handed hitters, but Alex is pretty ef-
fective against left handlers. His game in
Boston Wednesday, when he carried his
club through to the pennant, shows that
he is in wonderful physical condition and
that he has suffered no loss of effective
ness during the last stages of the cam
paign."
From the Pittsburgh Leader.
Manager Fred Clarke, of the Pitts
burgh Pirates, had this to say of the
worlds series games today:
I'm short series the pitching is the
keystone of both offense and defense,
and one man can generally pull his team
through If he is in form. Alexander, to
my mind, is by far the best pitcher in
the country today, and II Pat Moran can
AFFORD to rest him up for a week before
the series begins without letting him get
stale, he will come across with a victory
every other day. / believe Mayer will
bother the Red Sox. Although am not
in a position to say much about the
American League champions, I believe
that Luderus and Cravath will bat as
well as Speaker. Hooper and Lewis. and
Moran's pitchers will measure up with
Carrigan's moundmen.
II look for Philly to win by close
margin"
From the Brooklyn Daily Times.
Pat Moran's Phillies won something
besides a pennant at Boston. They won
lot of supporters who heretofore have
considered the Quaker aggregation joke
champion and one that would be utterly
at sea outside the box-like Philadelphia
park
The game in which Grover Cleveland
Alexander drove his 31st spike in the
pennant pole was the acid test in a way.
II was played against a team that GER
tainly has as much fght as the Red sox.
and on the field on which the Quakers
will attempt TO grab the worlds title.
The game proved a lot of things, not
the least of which was that Cactus
Cravath can hit homers In any lot. Red
sox partisans have been crying that old
Cactus would find 1t wasn't as easy 10
make the circuit on a solitary smash In
the Braves park as 1t was I'm the Philly
lot with its short fences. Cravath flung
the lie in BoHtons very teeth by cracking
homer and a double. scoring two runs
himself and driving in two more.
The game also gave fandom a chance
10 size up Alexander working under a
tension. The big Philly star held the
Braves 10 one lonely single and issued
but one base on balls. No cracking
under the Strain" there. And this Is the
guy that the Red Sox probably will have
70 beat three times TO grab the cham
bionship.