Evening star., 1939-01-11
Christy Great After
Passing Prime, Says
His Old Catcher
Thinks Diz Dean, Grove
Nearest to Mutchino
Satellites Of Post
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

ago, but not forgotten-to the years
when McGraw was king of tho
bench and Mathewson was king of
the mound. 1t belongs to Chief
Meyers, the Giants famous Indian
catcher of 80 years ago.
I ran across the Chief, broad
shouldered, sun-tanned to a deeper
red, in the best of health. He was
one of the head directors of an
Indian Igloo settlement, the result
OF an oil strike on Indian property.
l hadn't seen him for 25 years,
but we wasted no time bridging the
span back to the days with the
Giants.
Meyers came in as an understudy
to Roger Bresnahan, classed by Nc
GraW as the great catcher of all
time-a brilliant, scrappy catcher,
hard hitter, lead-off man, and one
OF the best base runners of his day.
The Chief and I got to talking
about the great pitchers of his time
and these were the great pitchers
OF all time-Christy Mathewson,
Grover Cleveland Alexander, Walter
johnson, Rube Marquard whom the
Chief handled when the Rube won
10 straight.
'The greatest" Chief Meyers said.
was MatheWson. johnson had the
greatest arm, Mathewson had the
greatest head with Alexander close.
Brain Replaces Brawn.
I'll tell you about Matty," the
Chief said. The big fellow was at
his top physical peak from around
1902 through 1907. Those were the
days when he was known as The
Man With Everything" He had
| blazing speed then. Just imagine
pitching three World Series as he
did in 1905, in which no one even
threatened to score and only one
or two men even reached third base.
L handled Matty when he had
lost at least part of that speed.
When he had to call on his head
above his arm. If it were a close
game Matty was almost unhittable.
But II We got three or four runs
Matty would ease up. He'd tell me,
Now, Ill put that infeld and out
field to work.
And Matty would. He'd almost
lob that ball up. can see McGraw
now moving up and down the bench,
worried. ready to take Matty out.
But when the big spot came Mattv
would choke them off. He knew he
was expected to win from 30 to 35
games. And maybe save 10 more.
How many pitchers are around
today who can win over 80 games
and still do a lot of bull-pen work
and come in for relief? Give me
their names. They think today any
one who can win 20 games in a wear
Is hero. The test back in my time
was 80 games. Matty and Alexander
won over 80 games three times. Ed
Walsh won 40 games or more and
saved 10 or IL others. johnson was
better than 30-game pitcher with
weak-hitting club. One year he
lost six or eight 1-to-0 games and
still beat the 80 mark. That's pitch
ing.
Matty Strongest in Pinch.
"Matty was at his best in pinch.
With the winning run on base he'd
cut the corner of that plate by an
inch or two. He always felt he had
Home Run Baker struck out Just
before Baker hit that famous home
run. I agree with Matty. The third
strike cut the plate by or inches
and they called it ball.
In my opinion, there was only
one Matty. johnson had a better
arm, and after Walter lost his speed
proved to be smart pitcher. He
never had to be smart with that rifle
ne was using in the box. Alexander
was one of the hardest men to hit
I ever faced, and I was somewhere
above 300 every year. He was smart.
and he had plenty on the side. in
Guiding puzzling side-arm delivery.
MY pitching staff? I'd like to
catch Mathewson, Alexander, john
son and Walsh. You know how
many games we'd win with that
bunch? Around 130 a year.
Il guess Dizzy Dean and Bob
Grove have been the closest to that
old bunch. At least they got up to
80 victories once with a livelier ball.
I'll admit pitching is tougher today
much tougher-with this new ball.
Just one smack can break up ball
game now. But imagine that Alex
ander pitching 16 shutouts in one
season, most of the time in that
Philadelphia bandbox he worked in.
Sixteen shutouts-today 16 wins is
a big season.
Would Like Wagner.
I want another entry" Chief
Meyers said. Il want that fellow
Wagner on my team. I still remem-
Der how Matty and I used to scheme
around when he came to bat. He
never had weakness. Honus could
hit any ball he could reach. Inside
or outside were just the same to
him as over the plate. High or low
meant nothing. He was just a great
hitter with the greatest pair of
hands that baseball ever knew.
Matty worked harder on Wagner
than any one else"
What about Matty's trouble with
Joe Tinker?" I asked.
Most of that was a little before
my time" the Chief said. But Joe
always felt he could hit Matty. It
was one Of those mental or phycho-
logical things. On the other hand,
Matty knew just how Joe felt. 1t
worked both ways-for Tinker and
against Matty. Don't forget. that
psychology is big factor In sport
bigger than most people ever know.
Give my best to the old guard"
the Chief said. Tell them hack
East I'm still on the map and that
I've never forgotten those old cam