The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-10

was a fair hitter and an iron man for work. He was a good man for pitchers. They all liked to work with him. When a team was in a rut I never knew a better man for getting 1t out than Gibson. He knew the weakness of every hitter in the league and was clever at out guessing base runners. Another big thing in his favor was the way he got along with the umpires The catcher, you know, can save many a bad situation by talking quietly with the umpire who stands near him. Wilbert Robinson was also great at that.
 Crippled Hand Makes Curve.
 Miner Brown is one pitcher I'd cer- tainly have to use. He knew all the tricks of the trade. He had terrific speed for man his size and had was a puzzler. That old curve, be- lieve. was due to> his having but three fingers. The curve was diff ferent from that of anybody else. He was wonderful fielder also, and good hitter and base runner Brown was very tricky and kept his oppo- nents guessing all the time. He was willing to pitch any time and par ticularly liked to be stacked against the star pitcher of the opposition. He was very aggressive. It was Miner Brown who was called to the rescue and saved that play-off game be- tween the Giants and Cubs for the pennant in 1908.
 r Charles (Deacon) Phillippi was an- other great pitcher, who always wanted to be sent in against the star of the opposing team. He revelled in hard fight His greatest quail ity was that he never in his life complained about errors being made back of him. He took 1t all as part of the game. He was ready to pitch in any kind of weather and was al ways anxious to be selected. Philippi had everything that a pitcher ought to have and he used the Mathewson system of pitching to his fielders. That is. he would figure to make batter hit in certain direction and let the outfield do the big share of the work until he got into a tight pinch. He was star in the worlds series between the Pirates and the Boston Red SoX.
 Babe Adams was the best pitcher I ever saw to bring his club out of losing rut. He had terrific speed. a jump on his fast one, good curves everything. There Is no doubt about Adams being one of the greatest pitchers in the world. He won three games In the worlds series between Pittsburg and Detroit. shutting them out to o in the deciding game. He Never Got His Due.
 Jake Daubert, my first baseman, is better man than he ever got credit for being. He is a wonder on shift ing his feet when forced to catch wild throws. Handling the feet is more important in first baseman than his hands. Most anybody can catch the ball. The feet must put him in position to do so and also to get him out of the way of the base runner. Jake is very good on low throws.
 Hughey Jennings was one of the smartest shortstops that ever lived. He was always inventng new plays and was the first shortstop to take throw from the catcher and tag the base runner while on the run. At the bat he was a good hitter and was very smart in getting on base by being hit with a pitched ball if = was necessary. Hughey was won derful fielder and great student of the game.
 Jesse Burkett was a great hitter, fielder, and base runner. He was the greatest in control of bunting when the catcher used to play back. Jesse could make the ball stop not more than foot in front of the plate. He wAss so tricky at this that all the catchers in the, league had to take every ball off the bat when he was up. The third baseman played In halfway, Burkett liked to play; lived and talked baseball.
 There Is no use for me to speak of Willie Keeler. He has been on nearly every aIl-American and all- National team ever picked. He was simply a little wizard. Poor little Keeler is gone now. I take my hat off to him. There was never another like him. He invented most of the batting and outfield tricks that other ball players are still trying to learn. Tomorrow: Famous Fans in Base ball History