El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-12
MATHEWSON MAY CONE BACK
AS DID THE VETERAN CY YOUNG
Mattys Start This Year, After Slump Which Was Be
lieved Due To Age, Indicates He May Retrieve His
Recent Bad Record the Same AS Young Raj
lied When People Thought He Was Through
By FRANK G. AIENKE.


60 on forever" they declared. Fur
thermore, Cy is 80 years old-an age
far beyond the athletic prime"
/ When Young turned in his 1905 av-
| erage II was found that he has won
/ only IS OF the 81 combats in which he
1 had figured YOung's showing for
7. 1905 was even worse. He won only
! - out of "a games and didn't seem
able to go the route. He finished the
! season with an average Of .382-the
| worst he ever amassed. That con-
{ WINGED the bulk Of the fans that Cy
4, was through
Was Kept on Payroll.
] But the Red Sox manager wouldn't
can" Cy. He figured that his great
work for the Red Sox in the other
years merited his keeping him for an
other season, even If Cy did nothing
. but coaching duty.
And so Cy. then go years old. was
kept on the Red SoN roster. while the
fans clamored for his Punishment 10
the Old Mems home. That probably
peeved him a bit. because, after hav-
ing his arm tinkered here and there,
he begged for a chance to display his
wares in 1907. He did-and won p
out Of 81 combats. for a pitching av-
erage Of .5s5. The next season-19Os
average of $50. which is quite a healthy
showing for q Il year old hurler. on
June 80, 1908. he shut out the Yankees
without a hit, only one man reaching
first.
Retired In 1911.
In 1903 he went back to the Cleve-
land club and won l9 out Of - games.
The following year. 1910, ne figured
in Il games and won 10. In 1911 he
took unto himself a job with the Bos-
ton Braves and won four out Of nine
starts He decided then that he was
getting a bit too old TO pitch, being /
a years old at the time, and he re- ]
tired from the frolic.
Reviewing Young's record from ehe I
end Of the 1906 campaign " hen he was I
considered all through" until the I
time he actually quit, we find that he 4
won 7S and lost only Sc games Civ 1
the five years from 1907 to 1911 in
elusive
The Case of Mafhevson.
Now let US consider he case Of Ma
theWson.
Marty Joined the Giants in 1900. /
end Of the 1914 season. the big blond :
hurler was the king pin Of the Giant
pitching staff. But late in the 1914 Z
season he contracted "armitis." as "a !
Young at the end OF his 18th year.
In 1915 Matty, then in his 18th year
as a major performer, was of no real (
value to his club. IS arm seemed
gone. He won only eight out of his p
were of the flUke order Before the
season ended. the wise ones" de-
clared that Matty was about through
He's been pitching for Is years and
no matter how great a man is he can't
90 on forever" they said. repes ting
what their associate members said
about Cy Young back in 1906 The
loiks pointed out also that Matty was
quite an elderly person, as basebaIlers I
o. then approaching his 36th BIRTH
day.
But AIatty in 1916 seems to be dupli-
ealng what Young did in 1907. He
p ]
arm trouble seems gone. In his first
tryout OF the year, Big Six" didn't
LOOK overly good That IS because
workout But since then he has bee1
pItcning real baseball. He hasn't the !
oId speed OF bygOne years. but he is (
using a splitter and his brain, and by
mixing up his delivery he is breezine- l
along In a way that makes II seem as
y ne sun has number of years Of
MAJOR league usefulness in his sys-
asked:
How. much superior is a major
league ball club to a top notch semi
professional team
, Gut IN Cleveland a short time ago.
me quiz was answered. And the re I
Ply must silence forever a lot Of those !
persons who bSye declared that some !
semi pr otessional clubs are almost as (
sooo as some Of the second division /
major leaguers
Heinie Berger. a pitching person. is
ne instance Some six or seven years I
go, HeInie pitched for the Cleveland I
Naps. his work was poor. He was {
sIVen numerous chances TO make good .
but ne couldn't His best was far
'elow the major league standard. and I
10 he was pushed into the high class
minors
As time went on. Heinie's work there
luIIed OH Age was coming on and /
us arm began 10 weaken Soon he Z .
'7S Si---oed of to the love- erade /