The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-09-17
5 l ALKING
1T OVER
WITH JOE WILLIAMS
New York. Sept. Il.


A FTER fifteen years Cornelius
"A McGillicuddy again. has come
upon the golden fleece. For the
first time since 1914 he has an en-
try in the world series. 1T is great
10 be with a winner" commented
McGillicuddy when the decisive blow
vas struck. This sensation must be
particularly pleasant to the priestly
old man Of the dugout. No other
manager has tried more patiently or
earnestly TO contrive winning COM
bination in the past decade and
hall than the gaunt leader Of the
Athletics. He has gone about the
reconstruction of his team with all
the zeal and care of a scientist
working out a laboratory problem.
Mack had had winning teams in the
past; he knew that In time he would
600 players have come to him and gone
since he dismantled his famous machine
in 1914 Failure followed failure, disap-
pointment crowded disappointment and
disllusion iostled disillusionment, but not
once did the fine old gentleman rue his
luck condemn the fates or groWl'
DON'T SUPPOSE IT IS TOO FANTAs-
TlCAL TO SAY THAT HE HAS BEEN
SOMETHING OF A MORAL LESSON TO
AZ IMdPETUQUIs E 5!4( ~, RASH I,c GEN
sTREssEs THE VIRTUE or TWO FAIR
LY GOOD QUALITIES IN MEN AND
BUSINESS PATIENCE AND SYSTEM.
q
AGnLICUDDY built his team
1F1 along the lines he figured best
suited to the demands Of the mo-
ment, and ne builded slowly and
securely. In more ways than one
has he proven his right to manage
rial greatness. Baseball has changed
sharply in character in the past fiji
teen years. No longer is it game
of subtle stratagems, speed and
mental daring. Today the resonant
wallop and the bullying bicep rule.
McGmieuddy. oldest manager in the
game. has kept stride with the shifting
pattern. His winning team today is typi-
cal Of modern baseball, and quite natural
Iy. as different from his old winning
pioneering times from the transcontinentai
planes.
FUSES TO MAKE A COMPARISON BE
TWEEN THIS TEAM AND HIS OLD
TEAMS. THEY BOTH PLAYED Ed We'll VEL
SAY SAY pr PERHRPs THIS IS ENOUGH. OBJ
VIOUSLY THE 1929 TEAM HAD ALL THE
POWER IT NEEDED T7 TO DOMINATE q IN IL A fIs
WOULD HAVE DONE UNDER THE
CHANGED CONDITIONS OF PLAY is
MERELY A GUESS
MOST of the experts agree the |
WI old teams man for man were
superior to the present champions,
and very likely they were. 1t is also
quite probable that the old teams
could have adapted themselves to
the strong arm tactics of today !
without any great effort and pros
pered equally as well.
In the matter of individual stars the
1929 team does not compare with the
machines which rode so gloriously over
the major league fields in seasons gone by. |
But as McGillicuddy says, it is great
enough and surely il is the greatest in
what has proved Il second rate American
league field.
MGuLICUDDY'S OTHER CHAMPIONS
WON BECAUSE THEY HAD FINE PITCH
ING. FINE FIELDING. SUFF1OIENCY OF |
FINE HITTERS AND A GREAT DEAL OF
MENTAL ALERTNESS. THIS MENTAL |
ALERTNESS WAS AN OUTSTANDING
INDEED THEY WERE PROBABLY THE
SMARTEST OF ALL THE SMART TEAMS
THAT WERE PLAYING THE GAME FROM
1910 TO 1914.
CTOUT pitching and stout hitting
- have been the pre-eminent at
tributes Of the new champions. Few
would care to say the McGillicuddy
pitching staff of today with the
possible exceptions of Earnshaw and
Grove can compare with the staff
that included CoombS. Bender and
Plank. Among the remainder Of the
cast McGillicuddy looks upon only
two great ball players where, in
other days. he looked upon at least
half a dozen. In his present outfit
he finds a touch of genius in Mickey
Cochrane, easily the best catcher
the Athletics ever carried, and an
equal touch in Al Simmons, better
outfielder than McGillicuddy ever
carried back in the golden era.
Foxx who led the league in hitting for
several months. is 4 fine hitter but he is
only an average fielder and il is a recorded
fact that MIR. Einstein has been able to
evolve several of his theories without the
mental assistance Of the young athlete
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