The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-04-10
By HUGH S. FULLERTON.
The Third Basemen.

WasS;npten 10s 20 sls
Yook where the Great Zim has slip
ped!
The fellow who for years led the dope
and who was the leading third oaseuaan
Of tho National has dropped to q poor
ro-rfh and the dope Of the league Is
turned around.
Groh. Of curse. L. the leader OF the
third besernen, and no tortur1nS OF
figures can take the lead away from him.
but Il + somewhat OF q surprise 70 ma
Red Smith up there ranking 50 close 10
him
In fact The dope On the third basemen
Of tho two leagues 10 al turned around
thia yea-, With individuals slumpfns ana
with tho. trades Of the winter anectaaS
this position moro than II I'D any Cd
the others.
The chief interest Is In Go grabbing
Of Witt by the Red Sox- wise move.
which rounds out an infleld which makes
the team harder than ever to beat. ana
the going Of Gardner to Cleveland. but
aside from these trades. which anec1
pennant contenders the changes In the
individual figures Of players are remark
able.
, The average position values at third
base are not high. In fact the oualits
Of third base play in both leagues mas
been falling OF steadily for several
years, In spite Of the coming along OF
such sprightly and hard-psay7nS Fellows
a. Buck Weaver and Groh. We haven't
a Jimmy Collins or Clarence Bradley.
a Steinfeldt or a Jerre Denny In either
hair fha naQr0SS apDrOACn
TO the old standard. Yet we have pretty
fairly balanced array.
I.never could understand why 50 few
great hitters and players are found at
third base. II Is the sofeest Job on a
ball club, as every player knows and
its fielding value to q team consists
moro In tho character Of the chances
than IN their number. The third base
man gets fewer chances to make plays
than any man on the rield. and many Of
Tho ahortztops regard third base as a
peostooorS Job after their arms com
u,easee to weaken. yet few great ones do
vefoo>
In tho National. Zimmerman bias dip
ned terribly. duo chiefly 10 his sudden
, slowing up. He seemed to lost last
season all the speed he ever had. and
besides that. he was cruelty roasted ~
tho fsnS, especially by the gamblers on
the Polo grounds. and It Affected his
work
I had to 30 over the figures three or
four times to discover why CIlis CMara
ranks absolutely last IN the Nationals
He 10 a fair. dependable and willing
worker. but he lacks punch and makes
errors in the most critical times. AZ
rniettnr that he has the hardest field IN
90 Y1Av fh9Yd hasa.
. even that does not explain entirely.
p1t4.oureh has advnaced for In the rat
fnru and IN fact Is picking up points al
, through the dope
az course third base figures do not ex-
1,ess any great dtfferenct between teams.
In fielding, all third basemen rank close
4opether. as the position value Is low
: hecaraa Of tho small number Of chances
Per game.
In studying these figures lot Of fans
xet the idea that they are comparisons
between the leagues. have bad dozens
Of loud kicks from fellows who misun-
aerstand that point. None Of this dope
IA comparison between either men or
leaspes A player might be worth
$1,000 to one league and under $1,000 m
another, because his value depends not
mon himself. but UPON the team be is
with and the kind Of pitching he must
face. IN other words. a man might rate
s1o, 900 as a bank clerk and about SIS
"a section hand. or vice versa The
faster the company. Of course, the less
the figure value Of any man.
In the American league. Buck Weaver
figure. at the tip Of them all, and per
haps would figure higher with McMuilen
back In the tean as his understudy. as
the figures express not only the valuc
Of the regular, but the value OF his sub
stttute. who will be in part Of the
games
Baker is b.ck IN the ranks and he al
WAYS troublS me in doping his worth to
= a team. Re had been slipping back
steadily yer after year, and last spring
did not hare high at all. because he
seemed to have lost speed and his long
driving Oility. He came back 80 sud
denly th2 he astonished the entire base
ball word.
He I'D more speed last year than
he had GOWN in Ave seasons: he gtngered
I'D. hutled. was In on top Of hunts and
he stated hitting. don't know whether
his hitting was q cause or effect but he
cortnhly spilled a lot Of figures for mo
befor July.
HI temporary holdout this spring and
hds lnnunl threat to ret3re 10 the farm
Ia OF = promising aign. nor Is the fact
tbs he 10 late IN reporting to his club
10, spring training encouraging A
rrnt deal Of tho YanhS pennant hope
caters upon Baker. for nc must lend
ID wrccktng crow again to keep them
gar the top Of the race He has a
-ondcrful ground to hit on. with the
lose right Geld stands to aim at. The
My capable substitute for him I caT,
$50 Is Wilson Fswster. a lad who Is
quite ball player. intelligent and very
promising. who may come fast II he
finally gets his big opportunity to show
what Is IN him.
Gardner also Is something Of prob
lem II he JOINS the happy family at
Cleveland IN the right mood. he Is due
, for q return Of his old-time Boston
form Of the days when he was the
rankinx third baseman Of the country
figured that he would be overjoyed to
get back with old friends, Speaker and
wood and rhe rest Of the old Red Soz
now with Cleveland, but he delayed and
worried FohI. What the trouble IS
! am unable to determine. Witt gives the