The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-02-22

often. And there are few who have these unusual qualities that are give
 It was my fortune to be Mathew sons manager during the years of his
 greatness, and I was In a better po- sition to observe his development, perhaps, than any other man. To my mind, Matty's reputation will live as long as baseball lives.
 In addition to physical ability. Mathewson had the perfect tempera- ment for a great ball player. Always he sought to learn something new.
 and ne never forgot what he had learned in the past. He had every thing-strength, intelligence, courage and willingness.
 Early in his career Matty saw the
 necessity of control and change of pace. Then he originated the fade away curve and other deliveries that
 were equally puzzling and effective.
 To his ability I give a large share of the credit for my success with the Giants, especially in the earlier days. Mathewson's record is so well known that I need not go into details. John McMahon, Sadie" he was nicknamed, was with me on the old Baltimore Orioles. We had & great string of victories to our credit and
 to McMahon is due a large share of
 the credit. He was one of the gamest boxmen that I ever knew. He had practically everything that a good pitcher needs, but his one great quality was nerve. In the most critical moments he was as cool as
 cucumber. The harder the fight the
 more effective he grew. never knew him to weaken.
 John Clarkson, the third pitcher of
 my All-American staff, was with the
 Chicago club for years under Cap Anson. Clarkson was easily the most
 brilliant pitcher of his day. There is no doubt in my mind about his right
 to a place on the list.
 Amos Rusie Wonder
 Amos Rusie, the Hoosier Cyclone, as he was called, was the best pitcher the Giants ever had up to the time of Mathewson. His tremendous speed accounts for the nickname of Hoosier Cyclone. He came from Indiana. While great speed is usually associ- ated with a fast ball rather than with curve, Rusie's particular greatness was the great force he could put behind the curve Even with the count two and three Rusie would not hesitate to shoot a curve
 over the plate with the speed of a
 bullet. Later he developed slow
 ball, and this proved a perfect foil for the smoke" he could use if necessary. Owing to trouble that
 arose between the Hoosier Cyclone and Andrew Freedman, owner of the Giants at that time, this great speed artists engagement with New York was curtailed. His one years ab sence from baseball proved very in-
 furious to Rusie's rare effectiveness and he soon retired from the game. Amos is now employed at the Polo Grounds in New York As I have
 mentioned before, it was the work of Rusie and Jouett Meekin that beat the Orioles in the first Temple cup series. They pitched all the games. Whats more, they pitched all the games the last month of the season. Walter Johnson of the Washington | club is pitching star whose reputa-
 ton for speed challenges that of | Rusie. It is to be regretted that Johnson never had the good fortune
 to be on a championship club His | fame would have been greatly en- | hanced. There have been few greater
 pitchers in all the history of base ball than Walter Johnson. I shall
 never forget when we went to Wash
 ington to play an exhibition game with the Senators and Josh Devore, for the | first time, saw the great Johnson There had been much talk among the players as to whether Walter
 really had so much smoke or if it
 was just talk.
 Walter Has It.
 Devore. a whimsical little fellow, | wake up to the bat and set himself
 Immediately Johnson whized one by Tim so fast that he didn't even see the ball. He looked around sort of | 6azed and as he did so Johnson | whipped over another. By this time Devore was staring in wonder. Then Johnson popped one into the catch
 CTS hands so quickly that Devore
 didn't ges a chance to draw back his bat.
 "Say,'' he said, coming back to
 the bench, shaking his head, you
 NI.ow, that's so what them fellows we
 been saying about that guy. He's got it."
 In addition to his smoke ball John
 son had wonderful curve Also he
 knew how to pitch. He belongs on any All-American team.
 Addie Joss was another of the star
 pitchers of the American league
 along with Johnson. He Was what