Evening star., 1917-12-02
Must Act Quickly.

Must Act Quickly.
A manager Is constantly up against
such conditions Often he Is forced to
Ing a most important bearing on the
game. There Is no set line Of reasoning
he can follow. Few situations are alike
IN base ball; as rule each one de-
The manager must make up his mind
quickly and then sink or swim with
his Judgment.
AS I have said before, in q short So
rfes q single blunder may be most
fatal. In the regular campaign q SINH
lar blunder is soon forgotten. provided
the team goes out and wins i've or six
games. SIS
Manager McGraw of the New York
Giants is conceded to be one Of tho
greatest managers in the business.
There is no doubt about that Per-
sonally, I have the greatest respect for
manager. His record in the MAJORS is
perhaps the best testimonial that could
be offered as to his efficiency. His
teams are always there or thereabouts
in the National League race. He is al
of color. a club that is a drawing card
all over the circuit. and q gold mine
at home. Players who, becarfse Of their
eccentricities, not their playing ability.
are discarded by other managers. come
regime-another fair testimonial to
Mr.. McGraw's ability as a leader of
men.
McGraw Taken to Task.
Despite his acknowledged ability, I
doubt II any manager who has ever
participated in a big series has had
his moves taken to task as seriously
as was his in the 1917 event 1 will
not try to sanction any of the mana
gerial moves made by McGraw, be-
cause my opinion is merely that Of
Perhaps McGraw did err in some Of
the things he did. No one actually
knows or ever will. !, simply want
to go on record as being of the be-
things coming to him that were passed
his way. Briefly, I shall try to illus
trate my point of view.
Most OF the criticism heaped upon
McGraw. came as the result of his los
ing the fifth game. after having a s
to 2 lead at the finish Of the first half
Of the seventh inning. At that stage
It looked like cinch for the Giants.
in the field. had shown all kinds Of
ginger. had hit opportunely. and the
veteran Sallee. although in trouble sew
eral times. always managed to pitch
himself out of the hole in mastery
In the last half of that seventh in
ming Chicago made three runs and tied
up the game. For what happened in
that inning and the next McGraw Is
sure to be the topic Of much conversa-
tfon this winter. After the always
dangerous Eddie Collins had been re-
tired Jackson and Felsch hit safely
Then Chick Gandil hit a ball to right
center that 1t seemed Robertson would
catch. While in pursuit of the ball
Robertson temporarily lost it in the
sun-Just long enough to prevent his
making the catch. The ball fell safely
at his feet. Jackson and Fe1sch scor-
ing. while Gandil reached second.
The Sox needed only one run to tie
up the game. The crowd was in an up-
roar. 1t was a situation that needed a
master pitcher, a veteran who would not
waver, because everything was seeming
ly at stake on the outcome of this par
ticular game. Surely Sallee could not be
blamed because Robertson lost the ball
In the sun. preventing him from making
a catch on a drive that was turned into
a double and scored two runs Weaver
next went out on an infield tap and
Gandfl moved to third. While not pur-
posely passing Schalk. Sallee made 1t a
point to give him nothing good, preferring
to walk him, unless he could trick Schalk
into hitting at a bad ball Sallee realized
IL Rowland sent in pinch hitter it
would mean the coming into the game
Of the already hard-worked Faber.
scha1k Surprises Giants.
With two strikes On Lynn. the substi-
tute batter. Schalk, on first, pulled the