Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-06-25
BIZ cHRlsTY MATHEWsoN.

]
only few days ago. when the Giants
were playing the st. Louis Cardinals
at the polo grounds. that | had
strong inclination to begin it, for the
old soupbone felt dead when ] went
out there into the box. II felt deader
after the Cards had collected four
runs off my delivery in the first in
ming That obituary is piece have
no desire to write .....
Ny arm has not been right all sea-
son and is not right yet, but 1 have
changed my mind about the obituary.
believe little warm weather will
fix it. We have had nothing but cold
and rain and rain and cold, and when
an arm gets to be as old as the one
have been using since entered the
big leagues ii must receive little
consideration from the weather. ..
Cardinals His Old Hoodoo. ....:
1t Is a tough feeling to go, nut to
that box with your whip hanging on
your shoulder as IL it were made of
wood with no sap in it. And / can't
say that the ST. Louis club has ever
been exactly my dish any time it came
to pitching against it, Even in the
days when ! used to be able to give
most of the teams in the league bat
tie. on occasions the Cardinals would
wallop me. I'll
] have o-.en tried to figure out the
psychology of this thing-the fact that
could trim the Cincinnati Reds,
while the st. Louis club tears into me
so hard. believe 1t is because the
Cardinal batters became imbued with
the idea they could beat me, and the
idea naturally was big asset for
them. AS soon as man Joined the
St Louis team, he thought, "0h, well,
this club beats Mathewson. I'll get
my hits now" And he did.
There was the case of Rube Ellis,
the California undertaker. and, later,
ontfielder of the Cardinals. The first
day he played on the st. Louis team
against the Giants The got four safe
ones from my delivery. After the
game i1e.remarked IN the usual clus-
ter of clubhouse conversation: "
Gee, l wish they was all Mathew
sons in this leagueR N,gg ~.
Worked Herd for Ellis. ~
AS a kind of postscript, as sort of
salve to my pride, might, add that
Ellis did not bat me so hard after the
first day. not quite. In fact, / think
he got only one more from me that
season. Some one told me of his re.
mark in the clubhouse. and gave
him all there was in the gun each
time he flashed his classic pan at the
plate.
Marsans was another who thought
he could hit the pitching of a 14-inch
gun if it happened to be in the box,
but / had the edge on him when he
broke in, for he was playing with the
Cincinnati Reds, always mys meat in
the old days. / have seen players
who could wallop the tar out of me
when on the Cardinals go to the Reds
and make things soft for me when
ever they came to the plate. The
same old psychology! .E
Now, this Marsans Boasted he could
hit any pitching outside of Cuba as
hard as he hit the sort they exllaled
on the island. The gossips brought
the word back to me, and I always
tried to make it warm for him. The
fact that Marsans gas with the Gin.
cinnati club also served to make it
tough for him, for whenever went to
the box against the Reds two or three
years ago | felt confident | would
win. and the Reds acted as if they
felt just as confident that they would
lose.
Now it is a different story with the
Reds. They sting me as hard as other
clubs at times and don't seem to have
any respect for the old man at all.
Change Helps Bob Bescher.
Some time ago | predicted that Bob
Bescher would leave the Giants and
look like cyclone on the st. Louis
club. Ball players always do that
when they depart from New York.
That cyclone in the outfield when the
Cardinals were with US recently was
Mr.. Bescher. The change of venue
appears to have helped him greatly.
Too much seemed to be expected of
him in New York and Bescher realized
this.
No man ever tried harder to make
good then Bob did with the Giants
He was anxious to stick, very anxious,
but he is the sort of player who likes
to go along at his own game at his
own private gait This is impossible
for any man to do on McGraw's club,
and think Bescher fretted under the
restraint. He could not steal base
until Mac shot him away with the of.
fee. Unless Bescher sees those stolen
bases pfling up behind him in season
he worries about the game he is play.
ing and whether he can hold the lob.
recall the day last spring McGraw
told Bob he was to go to ST. Louis for
Poll Perritt. He is a German any.
way. and | thought we would have to
watch him going over bridges and be
careful about the gas, he felt so bad.
ly. Every ball player hates to leave
New York, yet most Of them do better
away from the town.
But. MAJ" he protested, q don't
want to go to the minors" r. .
You're not" answered McGraw.
You are going to st. Louis"