The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-25
RTS BarOnS Drop Double Bill to Vols
FOOD FOR RANDOM
By FRED soDEkER

It simply can't be done. After get ting a running start on the tribe or Vols, we dropped the series after all, and it now appears to be settled fact that the Barons will not be the conduerors of the Vols in single series this season. There's no doubt about it. Ellam and his bunch have the Barons' number in bold type.
 That double defeat yesterday cer- tainly does come hard. It goes fur- ther to prove that the pitching stair of the Barons offers one of the most puzzling situations that has con fronted the scribes about Dixieiano for the past several years. on one day tke Baron fingers show enough form to beat a major league ciuo' while on their next trip to the hlli' they are pounded freely.
 if is a case where not single member of the Barons' flinging corps can he relied upon or called depend ent. One week, some of the pitcn- CTS go good, while the next week they suffer considerable embarrass- >ment by being driven from the mound or else defeated by big score The situation is a complex one, and IL is beyond the scribes and fans in the city to unravel It's a cinch that when the pitchers hit their stride IL won't take the Moleys long to pull into the first division.
 Moley took his clan over to Mem phis last night and will open a three game series there today with the Chicks. Elmer Ponder will hurl the first battle. with Burleigh Grimes and Karl Black in turn for the other two games of the series, provided no rescue work is necessary. The ChicKs are another tribe that have the best of every series with the Barons this season, and few more defeats VIII not cause surprise.
 Following the series with the Chicks, the Barons move over 10 Little Rock, where the made-over Travellers will be the next opponents. Here we expect to encounter less op- position and consequently 1e" Vic- tories would be in order.
 It is expected that Dick Kerr, the little southpaw, who has defeated the Barons at every opportunity tnls season. will be the moundsman the Barons have to face today. Fans' be on the watchout for a close game If luck is with the locals, whlcn would be out of the ordinary, win is liable to be the final verdict.
 John MoGraw thinks. or. rather gives 1t as his opinion, that the r Cubs are slipping. He bases the assertion on the fact that Tinker and his crowd gathered IS hits on of the Giants pitchers on one oay and the following afternoon could get hold of only IF hits. This IS the surest sign they are slippins. Poor old John. since coming on the road with those "17 straight in his market basket, fate has handed hlm several wallops, or enough to take the glamor from the boasted per- formance referred to.
 wonder whether Brooklyn, after so many years of waiting, viii cop q ronfalon for Colonel Ebbetts? A fellow can't always tell. Didn't the Philadelphia players wait years and wears before they cashed? Bows who used to sit in the bleach CTS and root and pray fer them 10 win realized the desire after fhey had grown to manhood with long gray whiskers protruding from the chinlets. You know the old adage' "Everything comes to him wno waits" However. remember tnis ia June and the old bunting IS
 winds blow cold. your thoughts turn to overcoats and you ask yourself: "What have I done with my sum- mer salary?'
 Have you allowed your glins to wander over the batting averages of the once formidable $100,Ooo infield of Connie Mack? None or them are hitting at better :nan .250 clip and two of them are pe- low the .150 with the willow Yet only few years back tnis crowo was the hardest hitting infielc ever gathered on a single team. Tho low position of the Athletics can easily be accounted for when this fact Is considered. Compare the hitting averages of the members of the famous infleld when Stuffy Mo Innis was on the initial bag, Eddie Collins on second, Jimmy Barry on short and Home Run Baker on third with ( bunch of recruits and youngsters now. Quiet a differ ence. isn't it?
 The Phillies, last years National league champions, arc hitting way below par so far this season, yet are scoring more runs in compari- son to the hits they get than any other team in the circuit. The se- cret of this is the manner in which Manager Moran has perfected the bunting game" or known letter as the "squeeze play. The fact that it proved so successful With the Phillies has caused other teams to adopt the practice but i. has failed to materialize for thcc1 as vet with as much effectiveness as 1t has for Sir Pat.
 We read in an exchange where "girlies will play baseball in hath ing suits" After diligent search, we are forced to report that the story fails to state where and when. Hope it is in travelling dis tance of Birmingham. just for con- venience.
 Out of respect for the memory of Johnny Dodge, every player on the Nashville team wore crepe on their sleeves during the Cracker-Vol se- ries Johnny. once a Vol. was ex- tremely popular with many men on