Omaha daily bee., 1915-04-18
WHAT ARE CHANCES
OF THE ROURKES?
Will This New Team Do as Of Old
or Forge Ahead and Play Good
Base Ball9
ALL IS READY FOR OPENING


with a new manager at the helm and
practically q new team to support him.
the Rourkes will once more face the
barrier In the Western league race next
Friday. rearing 20 go and make a fight
for Rourke and Rourkeville. As usual
the season opens with Omaha playing
away from home Magnates around the
Western loop ell have propensity
toward opening day They beg for IT,
plead for II and fight for 1t and It never
happens that Rourkes doesn't tell 'em to
take t.
This year Il will be In st. Joseph. There
win be plenty doing in st Joseph that
day. Parades, band concerts, smoker In
the evening and several other events sup
Elementary 20 the ball game. Mayor
Marshall win chuck the first pill and
Mayor Dahlman has been invited to at
tend and catch II.
There will be much celebrating all over
! the circuit according to reports. To the
average person perhaps Il was thought
Sioux City Is the only village which has
any particular cause for rejoicing, but
the base ball bug is peculiar and he cele-
brates anyhow Thus the doings IN st.
Joseph and elsewhere.
Have ROurkes q ChRncef
But enough OF openings and celebrations
and 10 more serious subjects. Where
/ will the Rourkes finish this year Ia the
/ question which is pounding hard within
the gray matter OF every Omaha fan.
IT'S been since 1907 now since the Rourkes
were at the top at the close OF the year.
Every spring &c was the Same old CUES
ton. where will they flnish7 Always the
Rourkes looked pretty good in spring on
paper. Then the machinery slipped
cog. a player here and player there
failed to deliver even though his work
In the spring bordered on the sensational.
II was ever the old story, the players
who twinkled brightly In spring flunked
and flunked badly In June and July.
But this year things are brighter This
sounds like the old chatter, but there Is
a difference about that Rourke squad.
II doesn't look like the spring teams OF
old Nobody has appeared TO be sensa-
ton, there isn't a star in the bunch. But
they play ball
A Good, steady Team.
II looks like q good steady team which
will plod right along up near the top rung
OF the ladder all the year through, play
ing good ball all OF the time and never
the erratic. in-and-out style OF previous
battles against the teams played In ex-
hibltion games. They won and they lost.
but they always played good ball and
that Is what counts. The results OF
ante-season games 10 for little, IT'S the
character Of bali played
Probably the Rourkes look strongest
in the box. With Crabb and Willis of
last years team 20 act az a basis.
mighty neat quintet OF hurlers should be
built from Closman, Blodgett. Everdon
and johnson.
Good Catching staff.
! Rrug couldn't be better fortified behind
the bat. Frank Kafora and Ernie
Kruger will neither one bow 10 peer
In this circuit That battery team will
iinqucstionably prove the class OF the
league.
on first Schliebner's ability IL known.
He PLAYED. in flashes last year during
his brief career here, but he is a kid yet
and should settle down this year. espe-
cially with an old fox like Dick Breen
playing next to him.
Breen looks like big Improvement at
second Half a dozen athletes pastimed
around that sack last year. but none
showed anything to be proud OF. Brecn
Is a veteran with a wise old head. He
Is good fielder. a good batter. but above
all a wise ball player and Krug made a
successful move when he appointed Brecn
field captain.
whalen at short Ia as good a fielder al
Freddie Thomas and that is going some
He Is not as strong at the bat as he fails
TO sting the ball 80 hard, but he is q
fair batter and is pretty dependable in
the pinches. He should make as good q
l.N.z l. A..
Payne IL n Question.
Payne at third is an enigma Doc Ia
a bail player, he knows how to play ball
but in the past he has played In flashes
Last fall he appeared to have overcome
that fault. which was probably the result
OF timidity. and in the practice games
this spring. He even steps into south
paw slant, which he never used to do
II he continues to show during the sea.
- son as he did last fall and this spring
he viii make good without doubt or
third.
Marty Krug and Artie Thomson are
two OF the best outfielders in the league
That is known by every fan. Huelsman
the new sun gardener is a big fellow
u something like Congalton. He la a pow.
erful hitter but is not much Of a fielder
IA His knowledge of the game and how q
"a play batters however, overcome his lacl
~ OF speed considerably in this respect.
When the bell rings for the opening a
st. Joseph the teams will probably linz
: up as follows:
- OMAHA. ST. JOSEPH
NJ Payne. Third ............. Brfttol
IL Breen. .,.......,. second ............. O'Dal
n Krug..,.....,.... Lett ..,............. Brow
:, Huelsman,....., Right ...............,. Fol
Thomason...,,.C Center .,,....... William
~ Schliebner,.. First ...,,....,. Patterson
he lWhalen,......... Short ..,,.......,.. Henri!
N kafofa, ......,... eaten .............. AgneN
10 IClosman......... Pitch ............ Lamber
OF -
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