Omaha daily bee., 1916-07-09
RUBE'S CAREER is
STRANGE ROMANCE
From q ''Beauty" to q Lemon"
and Then Back Again Is
History Of southpaw.
Is AN Inland. OUTER NOW
By FRANK @. MENKE.


form one Of the strangest chapters
in the history OF base bali. As long
40 the game lasts Marquard will be
remembered because Of his eccentric
work during the years that he was a
big lacquer.
The port.wheeler has risen to
greater heights than most pitchers
and dropped to depths lower. Upon
occasions he has been the idol Of fan
dom; 1t 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 fin on the .greensward.
Marquard was o sensation with the
Indianapolis team in the American
association circuit in 1908, Jumping
into national prominence in the fan,
when the Giants secured him for the
then huge sum Of $1,000.
Much was expected Of Rubc as q
Giant-but for nearly three years he
was useless. He had great speed
and wonderful curves, but he didn't
have control, nor did he have the
noodle" Gotham fans despaired
OF his ever blossoming forth as ma
jor league flower. = He became the
$1,000 lemon. His name was scoffed
at whenever mentioned; he had be-
come the target for jeers. /
Heroized Ia 1911
And then in 1911 he came from un-
der cover Of .Wilbert ..Robinson's
wing. and flashed his biggest year.
He won twenty-four out Of thirty-one
games, for an average. of .774, prat-
ticaiiy pitched the Giants into PEN
nant, and was wcYshiped, by. the
fans Of New York. In 1912 Mar,
guard started off atg aYwhirlwindN
clip and. to the. amazemcnt OF base
ball.. won nineteen straight games,
tying the modern record for consec-
utive wins. His praises were sung
from, one end Of the land to the
other; he was called . world-beater,
the most remarkable pitcher Of his
age. His face pcered out from every
sporting page in the land; his name
cluttered up the columhs.. He was
base balls lionized performer.
And from these dizzy heights Mar
guard has fallen--and the descent
was fast and sheer Jimmy Lavender
of the Cubs beat him when he tried
to win his twentieth straight game,
and that defeat seemed to take the
heart out Of E.ube.s He Immediately
began to skid and the skidding was
IN awful sight to, see. His pitching
from that time on until the end OF
. the season was weird. Aided BY 2.
start Of nineteen straight victories,
he was able to finish the season with
! showing Of only twenty-six games
wor, and eleven lost, for An, average
Of JOS After Lavender. ended his
string Marquard won only seven out
Of eighteen Gaihea+-and many OF
these seven vict6ries were OF the
fluksly variety. IN gsts '"8E '' H
Failed Missrabiy IN 1874; @
In 1918 the Rube continued to
pitch--a Ia star. He won twkhty-
three out Of thirty-three battles, for
an average : Of 500. He finished
StfonR anu " tuOkCu uhc =. bsN@s
year Tor him in 1914. Il was figured
that the greater experience he had
had, with the backing Of y powerfrl,
team, would enable him to zip
through to- ! new winning mark IN
But the eccentric Rube pitched the
most putrid game Of his career in
1914. Ii was his failure--and his
alone-that lost the 1914 pennant for
ne Giants. Had Rube delivered
even half Of his games 70 the winning
side Of the ledger the Giants without
4 doubt would have beaten the.
Braves to the October wire. But the
left-hander, upon whom McGraw
and the other #Gisnt players had
placed so much dependence. was
batted from the box so often that i
would. require an adding machine to
locate the total. sss.
Marquard's 1914 record shows
twelve victories and twenty-five de-
feats--averagc. 352. With one cx-
ception this was the worst showing
OF his diamond career. Coming at q
time when 1t beat the Giants out OF .
pennant, it lowered Rube so much in
the estimation OF the Gotham fans
that he was roundly cussed from one
end Of the island to the other. Every
newspaper papned him without
mercy. -.
In 1915 Rube announced that he
was coming back. He alibied his
1914 showing by claiming that his
arm had been ailing. But RUDE as a
1915 Giant HEAVIER looked no better
than in 1914. His speed seemed
gone, his curves no longer bafflcd.
Ever and anon he was derricked.
Finally McGraw lost confidence in
him and turned. the $1,000 lemon
over to the Dodgers for something
like $500. McGraw still thinks that
in so doing he sort Of cheated the
owners Of the Brooklyn club.
.In-and-o Outer" as Dodger
WiIbert Robinson, while coach for
the Giants, had developed RUDE. He
didn't lose faith in Marquard. He
. figured that Rube would do come
back in a Dodger uniform and under
( the careful nursing of his old tutor.
But Marquard finished the season as
Dodger, as he had begun it with
the Giants. His work was unsatisfac-
tory. Some days he, would be ham
mered out OF the box without cere-
mony. Rube's 1915 record showed II
victories against 10 defeats.
And now we are in lol6--and Rube
still is moving along in his weird
fashion. Early in the season some
Of the clubs hammered him out Of
the box, only to find themselves help.
less before his pitching in his next