Evening journal., 1916-07-14
finn Will TWIRL
FOR NIDDLETOWt
Down County Ball Fans See
Clean Sweep With
Lefty"
REGARD HIM AS
A PITCHING FIND

Special 20 THE EVENING JOURNAL. !
MlDDLETOWN. Del. July IA The
Middletown baseball fans are wild
With excitement Ne~er before in the
history Of this town has such an up
roar been caused over the national
game. Not even in the days past,
when the Holten boys we're making
baseball history here. have the fans
snown such interest Al the begin
ming 81 this season. when Hal Gull
YER thS great sou.hpaw, was striking
out Is men game, and allowing on
sn average OF two hits a game. the in
terest Of The fans and the attendance
was only mediocre. But now all has
changed. and the interest Is once
tlors renewed And why their sud-
den change? The answer can be given
In two words Lefty Fnnl
George Lefty" Finn. The IDOL o.
baseball enthusiasts of this town. has
once again decided to hold down the
sob Of winning games for the Middle
town Athletic Association. The an
nouncement thet Finn has cast his
lot with the locals, was not altogether
surprise yet Il must be said that
Il came unexpectedly Finn has been
working mere for some tine, and sew
eral Of the prominent citizens have
coaxed him into signing Since the
downfall OF the Powder Monkeys
local fans have been pulling hard f'r
Manager Stevens 20 sign Finn And
at last they are satisfied.
Finn. the pride Of Middletown. be
gan to make a name for himself last
year. when he pulled the local club
out OF a losing streak and brought
them IN at the close Of the season the
amateur champions OF Delaware. The
Middietown team was in the greatest
losing streak that II had ever eNper-
fenced Every game played toward
the close of June and in July had been
lost Attendance was falling OF and
the team was going in the hole.
Thoughts were had OF disbanding the
team and cancell'ng the remaining
games. AS a last resource Manager
Stevens scheduled a game with Odes.
ea. as the two teams were great rivals
and the attendance would be large
on the day Of the game Newman, then
the regular Middletown twirler re-
ported his arm 10 be out Of condition.
Manager Stevens az once wired to
Lefty Finn at Northeast to pitch
against Odessa
Finn consented He pitched that
game as thought his very life depend
ed on the outcome. The Odessa boys
secured one hit off him. and were de
feated. 4 to 0. BY his victory, he pull
ed the locals out Of their losing streak
and set them on the right road. From
that day he became the whole pitch
ing stan Of the locals. and won nine
straight games before he was defeat
ed. On three different occasions. big
league scouts watched him pitch an
tried to sign him after the game. He
finally signed with the New York
Yankees. but on account OF the failure
Of the Federal League, he failed "a
stick He then signed with the VIII.
mlngton Atlantic League but that
club could not last He has recently
been winning several games for
Eastlake Of the All-WpmingtoI
League.
Finn is the greatest pitcher that hai
ever occupied the mound in or nea
this town. No other pitcher in thi
section can compare with him. HI
has worlds OF speed and curves that
will BATTLE the best batters. He work
hard during the entire game, and 4
invincible when men occupy thl
bases. II is almost impossible for {
safe hit 70 be made off him. when hit
mean runs
Finn came 10 this town this season
on July 4 10 twirl in the second gam'
against Eden. After eleven hits anC
four runs had been made of the much
footed no-hit no-run Culver. Finn en-
tered the second game and proved hiI
ability by holding them TO FIVE hits
and runs. His pitching was all The
more remarkable because just three
days before he twirled against III,
same team and they collected 10 hits
from him.
Now that Finn has decided 10 twir
the remaining games for NIiddletown
the club is strengthened 100 per cent
Even Culver could not hold a candl,
10 Finn when It came to pitching II
pinch. for at such a time Finn is a.
his best II is no unusual matter fol
Finn to strike out 8 men in Succession
after having first. second and third
occupied
II is needless 10 say that attendanc
will now be on the increase. for Fin
is the greatest drawing car the local
have ever had Everyone is clad Z
welcome him back. and when he nes
enters the box. he will be given
cheer. such as no other twirler eve
received.