, 1923-04-08
MAJOR LEAGUE
COACHING VITAL
PART OF SUCCESS
Strategy Board Necessary
for Winning Nine.
BY HUGH


Baseball. in the major leagues, is
becoming more and more complicated
The brain department of the big league
teams has developed to an extent the
public does not realize The days
when any sub who was ~loafing took
the job of coaching on the base lines
have passed and now coaching. espe-
cially at third base. has become one OF
the vital parts of team work.
The Experts figure that a bad third
base coach will lose more games for
a team in a season than a bad third
baseman would do. and in this era OF
complicated signaling, quickness OF
eye. %quickness of decision and perfect
knowledge OF the game and the stages
are necessary.
Some of the teams carry an entire
board of strategy. and perhaps none
has gone so far as the st. Louis Car
dinals, with Rickey's daily blackboard
drills. and brain tests, analysis of
plays and such work.
Browns Have Smart Coaches
The St Louis Browns, with Bobby
Quinn. Lee Foil. Lefty Lelheld. the
famous old pitcher. and Bob Connory
hlNAA5 IL surf VI II LOE inc players,
and Analysing every play and the work
OF every player. arc only a short dis
lance behind the Cards in the work OF
strategy.
Branch Hickey is largely his own
board of control, but in Pfener, his
lieutenant and Sunday manager as
well as pitcher, he has an able Is
sistant.
The Chicago Cubs have gone In
tensively into the coaching OF players
and having the youngest team in
major league history TO handle. Kill
lefer has surrounded himself with a
strong stan Of assistants. Jack Doyle.
the famous old timer. is a big aid, but
after the training seaso Doyle has
little to do with the actual playing of
the game, his duties being to scout,
while Bobby Wallace. one of the great
est infelders the game has ever known.
and Oscar Dugey handle the coach
ing.
The New York Giants. needing one
of the quickest eyed and fastest think
ing coaching STATS to handle the Nc
Graw system of signal transmitting.
have Hughie Jennings. former mana
ger OF Detroit and Cozy Dolan. as
coaches.
"Chlck" Fraser with Pirates.
The Pirates are wonderfully well
fixed with Chick " Fraser, than whom
few pitchers were ever smarter. and
Bill Hinchman to aid McKechnie. The
Pills have Pa Rason. former pitcher
n a clever fellow. and Boston relies
upon Dick Rudolph. hero OF one
worlds series and one of the smartest
pitchers In baseball history.
Robinson has a great aid at Brook
Ign in Nap Rucker. who. according to
President Ebbetts. vas the greatest
left handler of them all and who, Eb-
belts says, always will be with Brook
lyn.
Cincinnati. alone OF the National
league clubs. lacks a coach Pat
Moran believes In one head and wants
no assistance. although he gets plenty
OF 1t from the owners and fans.
In the American league all the teams
have gone in for the coach idea. Wash
ington. for instance, has George Glib
son. the great old catcher and former
manager of the Pirates, Nick Altrock
and Al Schacht.
Frank Roth at Cleveland.
Cleveland has annexed Frank Roth,
former catcher. a magnificent infu-
ence in a team and a great aid to
1lN1hNAs &AANdbo NAlS 6tiSOn Is try
ing Big Ed Walsh as Gleason's as
sistant. The Athletics cling to Harry
Davis. Mack's old reliable, and the
Yankees have Charlie O'Leary as act
I've coach to aid Higgins. with a COM
petent brain department aided by Ed
Barrow.
Detroit has placed George Cutshew,
one of the greatest of all brainy IN
nelders on the sentative list, using
him as coach but able to fill In at
second when needed. Bill Carisch, tho
old Cleveland catcher. Is also assistant.
Frank Chance has one of the smartest
STATS OF assistants. with Jimmy Burke.
former manager. and Jack Ryan, tho
famous old time catcher.
The managers turn largely to vet.
eran catchers for their assistants, six
OF them being catchers while the ma
Jority Of the others are pitchers.
Some Dispute Value.
While the value of assistant mana
gers has been disputed by some of
the owners there is no doubt but they
are OF immense use in the spring
training season. With the huge squads
OF recruits that are taken south IL is
practically impossible for the manager
to study each one closely and by as
signing the coaches to watch and to
teach tho recruits the managers get
everything possible out OF the squad
n avoid turning loose valuable, II
undeveloped, prospects.
The scientific part OF the game Is
improvlng-nnd at the same time the
coaching system provides employment
for many deserving veteran players
and acts as a school for training new
manager5.
Canadians Re.ocS A-o-.-