The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-01-02

Plays and situations come up
that no manager can foresee, or
prepare for. The brainy ball player
gets the right flash and goes
through. The mechanical type Is
Just as likely to do the wrong
thing as the right. There you have
the explanation of what the boys
call the bonehead plays. Merely
the failure OF an athlete to respond
properly, when flash judgment was
needed.
No one but q player naturally
Fitted with baseball gray matter,
like Johnny Evers surely was,
would ever have noticed Merhle's
famous slip. Once In ten thou
sand times, before that particular
incident made it notorious, it
might have been caught. We were
Just lucky to have Johnny there.
1t takes real heart and headWork
to pluck victory out of q situation
apparently as desperate as that.
But / win say more Of that later.
For the 1906 campaign, made
q deal that perfected the ball
team. / got Pat Moran to act as
necOnd-string catcher to Johnny
King. That gave me the great
ent back-0f-the-bat combination I'm
the world. Pat would have been
. regular on any team, but with
1ohnny present, ne had to be the
super.
But, believe me, he was useful.
Moran as player, was never given
sufficient credit. But he was as
never known anybody who knew as
much about pitching, from a teach
ere standpoint, as he.
From the moment he arrived he
took charge Of the hurlers, and
really rounded that staff into a CO.
ordinate whole. He would spend
hours in the morning working on
little things that most other catch
efs would hardly think of or bother
with. He was a tireless task mas
ter, and when he told you pitcher
was ready, you could bank on it.
Pat was smart as q whip. He
could pick out opposing weaknesses
at the bat in splendid fashion. He
was our detective, the man behind
q lot OF the trick stuff, and really
made the team dangerous.
He has come into his own since
he has been managing, though. He
took a team last year, rated close
10 -1ailender; and finished second
TO the Giants. He has similar
miracles back of him.
And he does IL because he
knows the game thoroughly, can
ret his pitchers into the bet pos
able shape and keep them there,
and along with that inspire the
respect of his own gang. He can
make them give their best all the
time, which Is the real secret OF
successful managing.
Do not think from this, though,
that / am belittling King. A
better man back Of the bat never
was. He could throw like a rifle,
was smart and keen, knew how to
hold up batters with anybody and,
above all, never was hurt.
couldn't understand why he
didn't get it there, back of the
plate, but he never did. He was
able to play every day, and take 1T
from me, that's a real asset in a
good catcher. Star pitchers. get
used to one bird, and aren't at
their best when he isn't on the job.
We won that pennant in 1905,
with Overall and Brown showing
some Of the most consistent pitch
ing the game mas kHO"Hs we were
beaten by the White Sox in the
worlds series, but we gave them
regular battle. They were a
team of smooth, clever veterans.
We were a younger aggregation,
with still something to learn about
the intricate end Of the game.
We were coming strong, though.
and the lessons collected in that
campaign were put to very good
use in the next two years, when
we sailed through the league, after
great races and then polished things
off by winning a pair OF world
series clashes from Detroit.
But this is all baseball history,
known to the old-timers, available
: Tor the youngsters in the record
books. From now on. / will con-
fine myself to stories Of the players
OF. the games that stick out in.
memory through the stretch OF the
rvI~