The Washington herald., 1917-07-12
TWO OUTSIDERS ARE
Making GOOD PILOTS
Mathewson and Mitchell Have Made
Good as Big League Managers.

With the major league baseball
campaigns approaching the halfway
mark, it Is becoming daily more ap-
parent that Christy Mathewson and
Fred Mitchell, managers of the Gin
cinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, re-
spectively, have proved their ability
to lead National League clubs, writes
Hyatt Daab, in the New York Even
ing Telegram.
Neither has had a galaxy of stars
like McGray and other managers
who have had unlimited financial
resources on which to draw. but they
have more than made good with
teams that were failures under other
men.
1t is a comparatively simple task
for baseball managers backed by
big money to gather thousands of
dollars worth of top-nOtch talent
with which to strengthen their teams.
Any player in the pa5time may be
obtained IL the purchaser offers the
necessary amount of money. But it
is entirely different when a manager
unsupported by wealth endeavors to
construct winning aggregation
He cannot go out into the baseball
mart with a fistful of dollars and
buy up all the stars. He has to rely
solely upon his judgment of new
talent and must probe into the
bushes for youthful players who give
promise of future development. 1t
is the manager without money who
must build his team.
Neither Mathewson nor Mitchell
has been overturned with coin.
Matty was left the remnants of the
club over which Charley Herzog held
sway, while Mitchell was willed the
disOrSapized array of Joe Tinker.
Each team had finished in the second
division in 1916, and neither looked
like a first division prospect this
year. But Matty and Mitchell, by
exerting baseball brains," for which
each is noted, have so improved their
clubs that many critics have picked
them to finish among the first four.
Matty and Mitchell have arrived"
as major league managers.
Today finds the Reds and Cubs tied
for fourth place, with a percentage of
.513. The Reds have won Al games and
lost 50, while the Cubs have won 40
and lost IS. And the playing of both
teams in the games with the Eastern
teams thus far gives promise OF even
greater achievements in the days that
lie ahead.
Matty has worked wonders in de-
velopins the offensive play Of the
Reds. Today his team leads the Ma
uonal League in batting. with an
average of 81, and in base steal
ing, having stolen an aggregate of
81 bases.
Early in the season, despite their
fieetness on the bases, the Reds ran
the sacks with faulty judgment and
mental errors in this phase of their
play proved a big handicap. But Matty
has taught his charges how to run
the bags judiciously.
OF course. the Reds and the Cubs
may suddenly run afOul a reef in the
shape of a breakdown of the pitching
staff or injuries to some of the star
players, but the fact remains that
Matty and Mitchell have made good.
They have shown that managers with
brains can succeed without big money
to spend for stars. II there were
more managers of their type the game
would be in sounder condition than
it is today.
Neither is an umpire batter. Yet
they are aggressive and keep their
players keyed up to the proper fight
ing spirit. They have the ability to
imbue their players with the desire to
put every ounce of energy into the
effort to play the game rather than
wasting a lot of it riding" the UNI
pires
When they took charge Of the Reds
and Cubs it was everywhere conceded
they were pretty much nondescrpt
outfits. but Matty and Mitchell ap-
parently have laid a solid foundation
on which to begin building.