Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-01-22
YOUNG bACkSTOP
FILLS BIC NEED
Of NJ GRAW CLAN
Fullerton Believes Giant Slump
Last Season Caused by Bad
Catching, Discouraging the
Clubs TwirIerS, +.
BY Hugh Fullerton.

bS huSn fuiitIpOH.
McGraw, it seems to me has made
the first big gain of the year in actual
baseball in securing Catcher Earl
Smith from Rochester. The fact that
McGraw gave almost an entire tall
club, including Without. who still is a
big Lacquer, to get the youngster,
shows the value placed on his serv-
ices, but beyond his individual value
is the fact that Smith seems to be the
one vital element which has been miss
ing from the Giant team.
Smith was the prize which AT least
seven major league clubs were striv-
ing to land last summer, but because
he was in the draft and certain to be
called within short time they dared
not bid high, and the moment the
Icungster was released from the
army the Giants grabbed him, proba-
bly, on an option. He worked out ON
the Polo grounds last fall just before
joining the ARM, and he is the
sweetest looking young catcher / have
Son ~ years, not ,bar;in" Schalk. He
can hit, he can run and throw, and is
1. ,orhIng backstop, handling himself
tuSiipp anu bt itihhS Inv MAUI II
catcher. The International league
nlavers told me last summer that the
boy works we'll with pitchers-and il
he does the Giants can tie counted
noon right now as a big element in
the pennant race.
All sorts of reasons were advanced
fcr the disastrous slump of the Giants
after their tremendous early season
lead last year. Most of the reasons
given were ccntributary causes to the
disaster, but the chief element was the
weakening of the pitching staff, That
all the pitchers should break rs they
did is not natural, and long before the
season was over I watched day after
day ard became convinced that the
fault was not so much bad pitching
as bad catching-that is, the catchers
were not working well with the pitch
ers The catching last year was care
less sloppy and far below major
league standard, and it was small
wonder that after time the y tchers
became discouraged, and scarcely APP
peared to put any heart into their eff
forte. ,ttvHf
II is scarcely fan. to any player to
Judge him on his performances of last
season. The expectancy of being
e''r'mored TO the army the knoWl-
edge that many of the fans blamed
them for not being already in the
ranks got on the pervce Of the n'a"-
org. 1t was hard for them to keep
keyed up to the right interest in the
game that is necessary to make them
play their best. But the fact is the
catchnr was bad. The cetchers were
not working with the pitchers, think
more games were lost by careless
catching in tight places than / ever
sew.
Such catching will break airy pitch
ing staff, As an instance--the Chica-
20 Cub pitchers in 1917 looked like
Jokes. 1t was evident to many that
the flaw was in catching rather than
in pitching Killifer Joined the team
and the same pitching staff, working
with him, won a championship in
ruraway style.
The Giant fans arc bowling for
pitchers, whereas the big thing need
ed was a catcher who can work with
pitchers II Smith is anywhere near
as good as he seems to he McGraw' S
pitching staff will be formidable
again even without new men.
The Chicago White SoX made a
pri2e haul also, securing one of the
highest touted young fellows devci-
oped in the war service. He is Bill
Stewart. who was a corking pitcher
at college, and who enlisted and be-
came a yeoman in the naval service.
Last summer, pitching against the
crack naval shipyards and canton
ment teams all through the east. he
won eighteen out of nineteen games.