El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-08

T.
Nj performances OF Rube Marquard
- y form one Of the strangest chap
tiers in the history Of baseball As long
as the game lasts. 8iarquard will be re-
membered-because OF his eccentric
work during the years that he was
big Lacquer.
The port wheeler has risen to greater
heights than most pitchers and dropped
10 depths lower. Upon occasions he has
been the idol Of fandom; at others. he
has been the most abused hurler the
frolic has ever known His pitching
has been the most inconsistent Of any
man that ever Tipped a fin on the
greensward-
Marquard was a sensation with the
Indianapolis team in the American as
ISOLATION circuit in 1903. jumping into
national prominence in the fall when
the Giants secured him for the then
Much was expected OF Rube as a
Eiant-but for nearly three years he
was useless He had speed and won
derful curves but he didn't have con-
troll nor did he have the noodle
Gotham fans despaired Of his ever
blossoming forth as a major league
flower. He became the S1l,O0 lemon
His name was scoffed at whenever
HerOi1ed in 1911 and 1912.
And then in 1911 he came from under
cover of WiIbert RObertsons wing AMI
flashed his biggest year He won q
out OF 81 games. for an average OF ia,
practically pitched the Giants into a
pennant, and was worshipped by the
fans Of New York In 1913.
wind clip and. TO the amaze
1nent Of baseball won 1s straight
games, tying the modern record for
Consecutive wins His praises Were
sung from one end Of the land to the
ether; he was called a world beater;
the most remarkable pitcher Of the age
His face peered out from every sport
ing page in the land; his name ciut-
balls HOnized performer.
And from these dizzy heights Mar !
guard has fallen-and the descent was Z
fast and sheer Jimmy Lavender, OF l
the Cubs, beat him when he tried TO I
win MS goth straight game, and that 1
defeat seemed to take the heart out o. I
Rube. He imediately began TO skid. /
and the sl1idding was an awful sight 10 I
see. His pitching from that time on |
until the end Of the season was weird I
Aided by a start Of 19 straight VIC /
tories he was able 70 finish the season /
with a showing Of only % games won =
and II lost, for an average OF .703. /
After Lavender ended his string, Mar /
guard won only seven out OF is games I
Z
were Of the flukey variety
Failed NnserabIy in 1914.
In 1913 the Rube continued to pitch !
"a IA star he won % out of 80 bat
ties, for an average of .6s6. BE finished !
strong and II looked like a great year
for him in 1914 It was figuerd thai
the greater experience he had, with the
backing OF a powerful team, would en-
able him 10 zip through TO new win
ming mark in 1914.
But the eccentric Rube pitched the
worst game OF his career in 1914 1t
was his failure-and his alOne-thR-
lost the 1914 pennant for the Giants.
Had RUDE delivered even half Of his
games TO the winning side Of the
ledger the Giants, without a doubt,
would have beaten the Braves to the
October wire But the lefthander, upon
whom MCGraw and the other Giant
players had placed so much depend
ence, was batted from the box SO often
that II would require an adding ma
chine to locate the total
Marquard's 1914 record shows u vic !
tories and p defeats-aVerage -352 I
With one exception this was the worst
showing Of his diamond career Com
ing at the time when IL beat the Gil !
ants out OF a pennant. Il lowered Rube
so much in the estimation Of the
Gotham fans that he was roundly Z
cussed from one end OF the island 10 {
the other. Every newspaper ''panned7 /
him without mercy.
In 1915 Rube announced that he was 4
coming back. He alibied his 1914 /
showing by claiming that his arm had
been ailing. But Rube, as a 1915 Gil /
ant HEAVIER, looked no better than in
1914 His speed seemed gone, his |
curves no longer baffled- Ever and I
anon he was derricked. Finally Nc /
Graw lost confidence in him and turned !
the $1,000 lemon" over 10 the Dodg- /
ers for something like $500 McGraw 4
still thinks in so doing he sort Of 1
cheated the owenrs Of the Brooklyn /
club.
GRANDMOTHER AZ DOdger.
Wibert Robinson, while coach for
the Giants, Lad developed Rube He
didn't lose faith in Marquard. He fig