Omaha daily bee., 1917-03-25
CAST OFF BY MACK,
NOW CALLED STARS
Sam Crane and Billy Kopf Her
aided as World. Beaters by
Grif and Matty.
FAILED WITH ATHLETICS

Connie Mack for the last two years
is supposed to have had the worst
ball teams that ever took the field in
a major league, and yet-and this
looks like one of the upsets OF base
ball-two players who were not good
enough for the worst team in the
ma ajors are expected to be high-class
performers this season with other ma
jor league clubs. Reference is made
to Billy kopf BRADY, who will be
with Cincinnati, and Sam Crane, who
will be with Washington.
Kopf and Crane are shortstops.
From 1910 until last season Manager
Mack experimental with several short
stops in the hope that one of them
would fill the bill in case anything
happened to Jack Parry. Among these
players were Claude Derrick, Billy
Orr, Sam Crane and Billy Kopf None
of them could fill the bill. Three of
them were sent to the Baltimore club
OF the International league, and the
other, Orr, to the Sacramento club.
Orr and Derrick are still playing in
the minor leagues, but Crane and Kopf
have fought their way out of the
trenches and back to the big leagues.
Crane was twice tried out by Mana
ger Mack. Connie thought that he had
a coming star in Sam, and lot Of
time was spent in tutoring him in the
fine points OF the shortstop position,
after he was brought on from the Ra-
leigh club, which was managed by
Comics son, Earl. Both times that
Crane got try-outs he was sick and
failed to show the class that was ex-
pected of him.
Where both Crane and Kopf fell
down hard was in hitting. Connie GER
tainly does love the player who can
lay the wood to the horsehide.
Crane did excellent work for Balti-
more last year, and recently Manager
Griffith of the Washington club
turned three players over to Manager
Dunn OF Baltimore for Sam. Griffith
is confident that Crane will be able to
jump into the place so long capably
filled by George Mcbride.
Groh Boosts Kopf.
Kopf was secured from Baltimore
last summer by the Cincinnati Reds
He showed a lot Of improvement
from the time that he left the Ath-
letics and his work made hit with
Manager Mathewson. 1t also i'm
pressed Heine Groh, the second
sacker of the Reds, who says of Kopf:
BILLY Kopf is destined to fill that
shortstop place so beautifully that the
Cincinnati fans will not miss Her
zog. During the twelve games that
Kopf played for us last fall, I was
on second and working with him.
That little set of games was all l
needed to convince me that we had
at last found Herzog's successor.
kopf was digging them up to the
right and left, and he was coming
over to the base to do team plays
with me just as though he had been
there for seasons, He never hesi.
.ated or stood with the ball in his
hand, as too many youngsters do for
a second or so while making up their
minds what they ought to start, or
which base needs the ball the most,
Neither did he commit the opposite
mistake; make hurried plays or rush
i'll the wrong direction. He can hit
and isn't snail on bases, and, as |
have remarked, he is thinking in
fielder"
Connie Mack will pull for both
Kopf and Crane to make good, but
the Athletics manager will continue
to believe that he has picked the right
man in Lawton Witt.