Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-07-15
MAJOR LEAGUE RACE
P|vOTSONC ATCHERS
SAYS GEO. CHADWICK
Old Players Think BackstOp
Most Important Player
on the Team.
BY GEORGE CHADWICK.
Special Correspondent Of Great Falls Tribuns
Tnpvri9ht. 1922 by The Great Falls Tribune

Copyright. 1922. by The Great Falls Tribune
New York, July 14-Players in major
leagues are quicker to sense the weak
ness of teams against which they COM
pete than managers or owners. They
discuss among themselves the short
comings of other players. but very
rarely will they talk to outsiders.
For the definition of outsiders. in
clude the public generally and baseball
critics. However, to some writer's.
plays-certain of them-tell every
thing they know in the most straight
forward manner. That is the result
of personal friendship.
In 1919 a Washington club PLAYER of
experience said Chicago would win the
American league pennant. "Schalk,"
he said. has got the pitchers or that
team so they can scalp the Indian on
a copper penny. Never saw such plac-
ing of pitching in my life"
Perhaps that is what Schalk is do
ing now. He is back again with the
Sox and playing ball as well as he
ever did. At least the players will
tell you so. Ask those who have faced
the Chicago team since the White Sox
began to climb who is responsible for
it. If there is some old chap who has
been in the league for some time who
will concede my opinion. it is fair
enough to venture that he will tell
you that Schalk has done it with his
way of making pitchers find the mark.
Mechanically there are catchers in
baseball as good as Schalk. but they
can't influence pitchers as Schalk can.
The harmony chord between pitcher
and nnfab1r &c ~ ~ tEn odd tIs,~r
about baseball that anyone has no..
explained. Waddell was probably the
most erratic left hand pitcher who
ever lived. Some of the catchers Of
the country tried to handle him and
couldn't. Give him Schreckenghost, a
catcher who was fully as cranky as
Waddell. and the left handed rube
could pitch anything and no one could
hit him.
C%atchers, according to some of the
ball players of the American league,
are going to decide the race in that
league. That's a new angle and it is
not half bad. Most of the fans have
been told that it is pitchers or the bat
ters who are going to win pennants.
Two old grizzle tops on the Boston
Americans-grizzled in a baseball way
venture the belief that it is the
catchers. A wise and ancient infielder
on the Athletics says it is the catchers
who are going to do it. Keen old ball
players those. They have been through
the mill and have been on some champ
ionship teams themselves and know
what catchers can do. Yet at that it
is a radical departure to hear ball
players come out in meeting and vote
the catcher the blue ribbon. One Bos-
ron nlavpr Uhn \ he n ,o1nOa
himself in the future said recently:
The Yankees better hurry up and
get Schang back. If he were out for
the remainder of the season they
could take their our million dollar
pitching staff and junk it. Let that
particular team go without good catch
ing and it won't win pennants.
The fight for the American league
race is between SEVERED of st. Louis,
Bassler of Detroit, Schalk of Chicago
and Schang of New York, and every
one of them is a catcher. Cy Perkins
of the Athletics would be in it if the
Athletics had a little speed. They are
running into charley horses on that
team. The old fellows are about play
ed out with what they have had to
date and the kids aren't as fast is
they should be. Our catchers never
are going to put us in and they couldn't
because they need more to work with.
Picinich does pretty well in Washing
ton, but he won't be in the fight at the
finish, and Steve O'Neill of Cleveland
would surely be in it if they could in
jet some wornout arm cure into those
Cleveland pitchers. He's got a lot of
smart pitchers. but they are too old.
When Schang went out of the game
you notice the Yankees began to back
up didn't you? Maybe they were back
ing up before, but they backed up
worse. He can steady that team. Put
a kid catcher in there and that smart
bunch of Yankee pitchers will do as
they all fired please. They don't
think a kid knows anything. Even the
kiddest kid of ZEN ALL" young Hoyt,
has to take an awful hold on himself
to do what Schang tells him to do.
This Schalk has got Faber doing
better than at any time this season
and he is the best pitcher Chicago has.
He's got this Schupp so he's lasting
pretty nearly a whole game and il
Schupp gets back to his nine inning
status again, none of them will beat
him, and he is making a winner Of
young Leveresse, who has already put
over five or six victories. Johnny
Bassler of Detroit has been doing the
same thing. If Cobb would let him
alone he'd do better. SEVERED il no
.1o,,ck With c. Y~.: