The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-08-13

league leaders.
Once again the
dominating per- Toe Williams
sonality of the JUG
man they call the Little Napoleon
is driving the team forward.
It wasn't so long ago that it
!, looked as if he was through as a
leader and a driver. The front Of
}fice trades Rogers FIornsby over
his head, and little later on the
same swivel chair commanders took
one of his best pitchers, Burleigh
Grimes, and sent him to Pittsburgh
lin exchange for Vic Aldridge.
+
Z Mr.. McGraw didn't have any
more to do with either of those
transactions. than your favOrite
chiropodist, and don't let anybody
tell you different.
TT~HIs should have been enough
to crush anybody's spirit. The
wonder was that the old gladiator
stood for it. There are times, OF
, cc.,rse, when you have TO stand
for lot of things. And possibly
there we're certain circumstances
no. known to your noble CORE
! srcndent which made both the
! FoInsby and the Grimes deals ad-
visable.
Still, the chances are there
weren't or the front office would
have seen THAT the gentlemen OF
the press received the full details.
This is a policy typical of most
front offices.
= With an old-fashioned laborer's
gesture John rolled up his sleeves,
gritted his teeth, and said, wen
have a ball club before the season
is over" 1t seems he spoke the
truth.
AS matters turned cut the
Hornsby deal didn't hurt him.
Fer all anyone can say it might
have helped him. Shanty Hogan,
the big catcher, is the most valu-
able man at the position in the
league today. He is hitting around
$50, driving in runs in the rallies,
and is a vastly improved catcher
over his form of a month ago.
Jimmy WELSH the "dime dozen
outfielder," as the boys called
him. when he came along with
Hogan, has developed into valu-
able man. He is a ball hawk and
has been hitting with men on,
without Welsh the club would have
been in a bad way after the injury
to Ed Roush.
Roush is about ready to play
again, but the odds are against his
getting back into the lineup. Welsh
is playing better ball than Roush
did at any time since the veteran
came here from the Reds In eX-
change for George Kelly.
Grimes of course is sorely missed
and the deal which sent him to
Pittsburgh was a stupid plunder:
At last reports he had won only 10
more games for the PennsylvanlanS
than Aldridge had won for the
Metropolitans.
II the Giants fail in their
frenzied rush to Overtake the
Cardinals you can trace the fault
to two things ~. To the Grimes
misdeaI and (2). To the injury
which kept MIR. McGraw on the
sidelines for a month.
TTERE was where Hornsby was
IL missed most of all. He's a
leader and a driver, as he proved
last wear when he took hold of the
club and did even better with it than
Mr.. McGraw himself had been dong
This year there was no substitute
for the real article and the high
tension and lively spirit that are
so necessarily part of the NC
Erawian success disappeared, IL
didn't return until Mr.. McGraw
came back; once more to demon
strate that the most vital cog IN
anv Giant team is his own per-
sonality, perseverance and power.
I don't see how you can tlgure
the Giants any other way. 1t takes
an unusual character to inf1ame a
team with the spirit of the crusader
and Mr.. McGraw has done this SO
often with teams that were not truly
great that it should not sound eX-
travaeant to set him down or up as
the greatest manager of the times
y y
This is his twenty-sixth year as
manager of the Giants, which is
a long time to hold on to man
ageriaI job. He has won ten cham
pionships, which is the record for.
the stretch of time over which
they were won. Only twice have
the Giants under his leadership
been in the second division. On
ten other occasions they were
runners-up in second place.