New Britain herald., 1916-06-10
The Case of the Braves,

But will F. Welsh fight again?
 The Case of the Braves
 In 1914 when StaIlings won the \ pennant his club was away to one of ' the worst starts on record. The Braves that year won only three out of the first eighteen games and were still bad last in July.
 In 1915 Stallings expected to get away to flying start, when Ever's injury and Bill James defection again threw him by the wayside, so far back that his late season rally fell short
 This spring when we saw Stallings down South he was full of confidence that his Braves at last would get the desired and long delayed flying start. The Miracle Citizen believed that he had met every emergency and that he had the stuff to travel with
 We happen to know that the Giants, Phillies and Dodgers all figure the Braves as the one club to beat. Yet here June is flying along and the Braves are still struggling back in the old rut, unable, for some reason, to hit the clip which they expected to show. Stallings is getting good pitch ing but his club isn't batting. It is now registered only a notch above .23O, which isn't husky enough to get very far Yet the material Is there and it is merely a question once again as to when the Braves will open their flag campaign.
 The New Arrivals.
 This has been a fairly tough season fer the two present kings of the mound Both Johnson and Alexander have been unable to keep pace with two youngsters who are now setting a merry clip. Johnson has been forced to follow behind Guy Morton Of Cleveland, while Alexander has dropped in back of Al Mamaux of Pittsburgh.
 Both Morton and Mamaux pitched we'll enough last season to prove they are we'll beyond the huke stage. If their ball clubs hold up they have TOW better than an even chance to beat the two big stars to the final wire.
 At Home and Abroad
 There was a day in baseball when few clubs could win on the road and when it was considered something akin to a disgrace to lose many games at home.
 Apparently the epoch is past. The Western clubs in the National League have all been doing better in the East than they did at home. And the Giants have found it far easier to achieve glory on the road. At pres ent McGraw's club has a road per ocntage around ITO. You might figure that a ball club good enough to win twenty out of twenty-six games on the road would have strength enough to be dozen lenths to the good But while playing at a ITO pace abroad, the Giant home record is still below 200. We hope that you don't ask for an answer to this queer, quaint shift for we din't happen to have it in stock.
 In Reply.
 You ask me wanly why it is The Braves and White Sox slip away, Why they no longer rise and whizz Amid the forefront of the fray; I'll let it fly, waist high, old pot, In no sense padded out or stuffed And if miss it will not be
 The first sofe chance that I have
 muffed.
 They have the class and all of that They have the head and arm and
 eye;
 They know best how to wield bat And how to trap the buzzling fly; They have the stuff to romp along, Tn endless ways they have the call, Put other pop-eyed clubs, outclassed, Are merely playing better ball.
 Cubs vs. Giants.
 It has been a good many years since the Giants and Cubs were pen nant rivals where each was gnaw- ing at the others throat Not since l 1911, anyway.
 Yet such is tradition. From 1905 tC 1911 these two clubs were general 1 ly neck and neck in the days when l Christy Mathewson was accustomed l t. give battle to Miner Brown. That | tradition has still held and when the ] Cubs and Giant meet much of the old l pep is still at hand. Early this spring Tinker looked to have one of the l worst clubs in the league. But the l once star shortstop has worked long l and hard and at last he has a ma i chine that no rival is taking lightly. | The fact that Heine Zimmerman is 1 having one of his best years with the 1 big mace has helped more than a i t1it1e while Schulte, who fell away last l st mmer, is back again at a higher 1 plane than he has known for several |