Evening journal., 1919-05-12
Big LEAGUES SHY
ON PLAYING TALENT
Managers. in Need Of New
Blood. Forced to Do With
Mediocre Material
MINORS UNABLE
TO ASSIST BIG TWO

service and with all the shlpyaris an,
steel leagIers back, the big show stil
Is lacking w0fully in talent.
Baseball is experiencing a remarka
Bile revival. The return OF peace, sun
day baseball in the east, and tho love
OF America for the sport are bound q
make big league baseball a still greater
Institution than u has been in the past
And yet there are so few real players
Even during the Federal League DAYS
few ball clubs masqueraded around IN,
country with such a wOful pitching
staff as the Philadelphia Nationa
League club now possesses, There
isn't a pitcher among them who might
be depended ON to win i5 or IS games
a season. Jacobs, Watson, Oeschger
Prendergast, Packard, Woodward, Flag
stiff-what a pitching staff
II Philadelphia were alone In such 9
situation, u would not be so bad. hui
II Is a state OF affairs that prevails
with most National League clubs with
the exception Of Brooklyn and Chicago
Others are not quite as bad as The
Phillies. Boston has one top-hner in
Nepf, PittSburg has a good man IN
Cooper and 81. Louis a promising
yOungster On Goodwin.
on the whole, the pitching situation
is better IN The American League
though the Browns have a feeble pitch
ing stan, and Connie Mack has little
in Philadelphia outside OF scott Perry
In othec departments the grade OF
players also does not run as high as II
did half a dozen years back. Take the
Boston National ouinsld. Kelly. Rig
CERT and Powell. trio Of minor
leaguers.. with little chlnce OF improve
ment. Though 10 Is a strong pennant
contender. Cleveland Is Obliged 10 play
the veteran Doc Johnston on first base
for want OF a better man, while the
81 Louis Browns can ind No better
third baseman than Bronde, a minor
leagIa vcte7an. who never will hit
more tisn .2iJ I'm the big leagues, II
ha hits that.
Even in the old days. no minor league
tam would come 20 town with such
battery material as the Philies now
possess or an outAeld like tho Brave
trio.
Baseball managers will tell you Their,
IS no remedy for the situation. Stall
lIngs will tell you he Is playing the
best ouifeldcrs he could get. II YOU
can get ms a better player than any
have, and he doesn't have 20 hit
much 20 heat Kelly, III make YOU a
nice present" said George Siallinss last
week.
Coombs will tell you the same about
his pitchers. "Can you give me the I'D
dress Of any able bodied pitchers that
are not Otherwise employed" cOnilded
Jack, discussing his problem.
There Is no place that the majors
can 80 10 pluck a fairly good man
who might Nh in an emergency. In
the halcyon days OF the international
American Association and Pacific Coast
League you could get a man like Cr1-
Vath. Aluzer, knight or even some
pretty fair pitchers for amounts rang
ing from $500 90 $1,000 After beng
a flyyer in the Americln League. Cra-
vaih remained in the American Asso-
citation three years before The Phi.lics
picked him up at the age OF 70 foi
$500
But where is a manager 10 get ma
terial like that nOwadays2 OF the three
class IA minor ,oagues, the Pacific
Coast Is about the strongest. However,
like the American Association, 10 has
a host Of players who are absolute has
beens. men like Jay klrke, who tiled
% play first base for The Giants last
year after lIolke had jumped TO a ship
league.
The International League, formerly
more or less Of a feeder to the Eastern
majors as was the American Association
TO the west. is struggling TO set back
on its feet, with an array OF players OF
shout the calibre Of The old New York
State League. Many OF them are boys.
or old time minor league veterans. Few
are anywhere near big league form.
The two years OF war, as well as the
unsettled baseball conditions before
Uncle sam threw his hat into the big
ring, practically wiped out the farms for
ball players. Occasionally you could
set a start like COOmbs or Plank, who
could jump into the game with only
college training, but such cases are the
exception. There are few players that
are ripe for The big leagues without a
certain amount OF valuable minor
league training.
Following the period OF depression
after the Federal League, salaries
started to come down and few col
legians came into baseball. The game
no longer paid great salaries, and prom
Using college ball players drought 10
over very carefully before they accept
ed an offer TO sign with big league
club. They knew If they didn't land
with the big league team there was lit
tle chance Of getting any money in The
minors.
Business conditions were good, there
were many fine openings for bright
young men, and the class Of collegians
like Coombs. Collins. Harry Lord,
Barry, Ray Collins. NIathevson and Bin
minghsm who formerly went. into
baseball started their life work in other
fields.
There had been many predictions that
the army would produce a lot OF base
ban stars. But so far no service star
VINO was not In The leagues before the
war has shown anything in fast COM
psny. Take a player like Frank Polan,
WHO caught for Camp Sherman last
summer and was recommended to The
Giants by Benny kauff
We had a crack team and beat
pretty near everybody we played. but
Polan was the only one on the team
that showed any possibilities Of being
a Dig leaeuer." said kauf.
Yet at his best. Polan Is class B
leaguer who needs a lot OF development
before he could land a major league job.