Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-25

TNHE Baseball Writer that day went to
| i work with feeling of heaviness and
depression. Apparently some queer change
had drifted across his philosophy, for on
this day he had the feeling that he was an
old man and that the machinery about had
run its course.
This was decidedly unusual. For base
ball writer's, whether they are 10 or 81. as
a rule work on in the morning of life. Their
heads may be gray, but the spirit OF the
game, which knows only the spirit OF YOUTH
takes good enough care of their hearts
And the heart is the measure of time
No man could follow baseball year In
and year out and ever grow old. UhIess'
possibly he had to follow the Mackmen or
| tbe Reds or the Browns as they have been
| going in the past
The Baseball Writer was beginning TO
| find that his work came harder and harder.
| He couldn't understand 1t, because physic-
| ally he felt as we'll as ever. He was stlli
under forty, and he apparently should have
| been in his prime with Is or 20 years lett
And then he began to look back over
| his career He recalled the day he broke
| into the big league, just II years ago he
was assigned to the Giants and he had
| been with them ever since. He recaiieu
too, a certain big blond youngster that hao
| was Chrlsty Mathewson, and the Basepall
| Writer remembered predicting at the time
that the Giants had landed what looked to
be q promising recruit.
No Longer Dreary Tale of Defeat
At this point the Baseball Writer began
TO recall lust how much of his copy
thro.g .gh II years that Mathewson had taken
up When the big pitcher once got going
there was no longer dreary and daily tale
of defeat to relate There was inspiration
and cheerful copy at last. He recalled how
in 1901 with a bum ball club around him.
Matty had won 20 out of 81 games. THESE
victories helped lot in she compilation
of daily lore And there was the campaign
of 1908. Pittsburgh that year had grand
ball club-a pennant winning machlne' Win
Wagner at his best-a ball club good
enough to romp in with the pennant.
Yet Matty that year beat the dreaded
Pirates seven times out of seven starts,
rolling them back with ease. Those were
all great games TO write. He was doing
much better work because Mathewson's sue
cess was making his copy easy and was
giving him big feature to handle about
twice a week Matty that year won 80
games and lost but 49, That meant at
least 80 stories that he took great pleasure
in giving his paper.
And the next year, 1904, Matty won
SO games and lost only. IL, and by his
great pitching gave the Giants their nrSt
pennant in over decade. That was the
year the Baseball Writer fairly reveled in
his copy, because he always had hero to
lead the drama and who was more than
making good.
Athletic Hitters Bafied
And then came 1905. That year Matty
won 81 out of 40 games, and the Giants
were sent against the hard-hitting Ath-
letlcs, with Sox Seybold, Ossie Schreck.
Harry Davis. Lave Cross. Topsy Hartzel
and others who could hit. But the Base
ball Writer had no fear of the result.
'9datty," he recalls writing at the time.
will make them look sick" There still
remained IN his memory those three games
that Matty worked the fast ball. the fade
away. the perfect control-the final word
in perfect pitching.
Twenty-seven innings through three
| games and not a run Twenty-seven in
| nings against a hard-hitting club, with
nothing like a tally He could have written