New-York tribune., 1922-02-05
M l v41>4eyaN

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+ "old fcllers' persist in telling US. Par
ticuia,y when John Burdock went ts
second and Morrill, and Wrirht wer.
Sh1l yea TO flrst and short respectively
Stiii strineing along with the old
timers the glory Of the "Windy Ciw'
Mner defense composed Of Ansor
Pieffer, etc, must he conceded even
by those whose baseball recollection.
40 not go back that fay. il may be
sufhclcnt to say that the Chicago team
: OF 5hat era, which was wears before
/ tney We're known Is the Cubs. capturet
l'iSt place III 1850, 81, s.. second place
IN 80 and first again in 80 and sc
I'VE hrsts IN seven years is the proud
o0As' of that aggregation.
Tinker TO E,crs to Chance
L@ta in the '9os the coming Of
FRED IenNy and jimmy Collins along
with Tommy Tucker and Herman Lone
gave Boston Il great "stone vail +hat
played the infcld with the hest. Bill.
Nash and Bobby Lowe were ra,t of
tne COMPUTATION for time. hut Tennv
ana collins SAW the Braves finish on
Top WITH high averages it 1897 and
1898 and second in 1899.
around this period and few wears
earlier McGraw and Jennings were part
OF an iniield thai captured peansnts
in 1891. 1895 and 1895, but vas brok"n en-
no with the departure o. Gleason ana
Broutnors in 1895.
hen came the Chance regime with
the CUBS, ;snd ia the opinion o. many
experts. was presented the best Of
all inteid ombinations. 'Iinker to
f'vcrs to Chance" was more than !ikely
the greatest double play machine IL
the history Of the game. Five Years
they were part CT the team that
landed first four times and twice took
the worlds title
the "million-dolla inioid" Of 1910 to
1914, and which was broken up in 1915.
accounted for four penNant winners
and, what is even more impressive
landed the big series three times What
IS more, the Athletic and Cub "stone
walls crashed. and the Mackmen
pushed over the Chicago team foul
times out Of five in 1910. 1t must be
conceded that on the face of general
results the McInniS, Collins, Barry and
Baker union produced the greatest of
infeids to date.
The Black Sox inheld is. Of course,
omitted from this reckoning. An inlcld
with Eddie Collins and Buck Weaver
(two Of the outstanding stars in their
respective POSITIONS as a nucleus, and
with Eisberg and Gandil. should have
ranked with the highest in the annals
of our national pastime,
And now, with the addition of Groh.
the new Giant infeld is @lrcadv being
rated IN class with the greatest of
inner defense combinations.
How Giants lrGeId Compares
Kelly is 2 powerful batsman, but Will
hardly suprlant Arson in the Htters
Hall OF Fame, nor is he likely to eX-
oeed Tenny in the mechanics of dia-
mond doortending. Cnancc and Mcln-
mis- also equal Kelly, with the possible
exception Of throwing ability. Kelly
has lar TO travel to reach the top in
his department.
Frsch has an excellent chance Of
becoming the greatest Of the second
tasemen, and this is taking into con-
sideration such wonder men as Collins,
Evers and Pfetfer The former Ford
ham star faces abnormal obstacles
when it comes to matching the speed
Of Collins, the brain Of Evcrs and the
natural ability Of Pfetfcr. bat Frank
apparently has q goodly percentage Of
the great qualities of each
Bancroft need concede little if any
thing to Long, Barry or other stars
in the stone-wall infield. The Giants
shortstop can think. field and hit with
any who have played the position, with
the exception of Hans Wagner, who
does not figure in this argument.
Groh is the most expensive piece Of
McGraw's inield brica nrac. As a far
corner guardian he IS The highest
priced third baseman, and is no doubt
the best that can ne had for the money
Just now But he still hes to show
that he is Jimmy Collins defensively
OF :. Frank Baker on the attack.
Greatest Keystone Combine
Summing up on stonrwall infields, it
would appear that in Bancroft and
Frsch the Giants have a keystone com
bination that is likely TO prove the
greatest of all time. When it comes
to speed in engineering double plays
and territory covered. Frank and Dave
ever teamed And the keystone union
is doubtless the foundation Of the
"stonewall.'
1t may be fairly claimed that as
combined batting. fielding and base
stealing machine the latest Of the Nc
Graw type can keep pace with the
speediest. But that it viii approach
the achievements of the Cubs and the
Athletics remains 10 be seen.
Groh for one thing. is not liable TO
90 many more seasons, as he is nov
more than thirty years old. Bancroft
IS two years younger than Eeinie, but
none too robust physically, and is not
expected 70 maintain his present speed
very much longer. frisch and Kelly,
barring accident, should be good for
quite a few years moro Of hard going.
Figuring on the pennsnt effect Of
the stonewall, infield as indicated ~
the teams of each previous decade. the
Giants promise that at least part OF
the next few worlds series will be
J ~ 4 OIL.