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But the Irish can't be kept silent for long, and Bill Sweeney, captain and second baseman of the Braves, busts into the limelight. If Bill was with a good team he would be noticed more. It is well known that a man plays better ball when with a" winner, because of. the interest he feels, and the winners are also watched more closely than the losers. For these few reasons Sweeney is not getting his share of attention. Give him to the Giants and he would be the equal of Larry Doyle, possibly having the edge in fielding. He would be a star with the Phillies, would just about make the Pirates pennant winners and would be eager ly snapped up by any manager in the business. The Irishman is an aggres sive ballplayer, in the fight all the time, a crack defensive player and a batsman of the slugging type. For three years he has been in the first flight of National League batters and last season gave Heinie Zim a tough battle for the head of the procession. His judgment is good. When Man ager Stallings is away from the team Sweeney takes the helm,, and, while he is not as successful a's the chief, he has fair luck with what material is at hand. Sweeney is liable to create some stir within a year. Stallings is grad ually getting together a ball team, and it is being built around-Sweeney and a pitcher or two. If the gang ever does hit a winning stride Cap'n Bill Sweeney will be riding on the crest of the wave, and will be given some of the recognition that is due him as a star ballplayer. Tomorrow the Giants come to the West Side for a four-game series, but there is not the same warm interest in the battles that has featured those of former years. In the past the Cubs and Giants were usually contending for the pennant, and the resting place of the flag might hinge on any one of the games. Now it is something else again. The Cubs are sixteen games behind the Giants for first place and there is small chance of cutting down the gap. McGraw has his team . going strong, and Evers will be put to it' to get an even break on the series. Mathewson is apparently as good as ever and Rube Marquard has started another consecutive-win record. The addition of Burns and Shaf er and the uncovering of Demaree, a young pitcher, has given McGraw about the best team he has bossed in the past three years. It is a much faster team than was licked in the last two world's series tilts with the American League. Bill Lathrop, the Notre Dame pitcher secured by President Comis key of the White Sox after John Mc Graw had made a futile effort to re tain him, worked out in batting prac tice in Boston yesterday and made a good showing, according to reports. The husky right-hander is compara tively inexperienced, but he has lots of smoke and a neat curve ball. Wild ness is his main fault and he admits it. This is something, as he will nat urally work to remedy the defect. If he was sent home to train with Billy Sullivan, who is doing daily stunts at the South Side park with Ed Walsh, the youngster might learn faster than with the team. There is no veteran catcher with Callahan on the present trip. Schalk, Easterly and Kuhn are good receivers, but they are not in the class of Sullivan when it comes to teaching the young idea to shoot, and shoot straight McGraw had Lathrop for a week, and during that time the recruit did some pitching to Wilbert Robinson, who is some baseball tutor for green pitchers. Even this short association did Lathrop a world of good, and if he is turned over to Sully he could be pointed along faster. The contemplated shift in the in and out fields, blocked by rain In Boston yesterday, will be carried out by Manager Callahan today. He is .after batting strength, which has