The day book. [volume], April 27, 1915, LAST EDITION, Image 11

About The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
to third by a pretty slide. This en
abled FeTsch, who had also kept his
head up, to race.down to second. Both
scored. a moment later on John. Col
lins' single.
It was a fine example of heady
baserunning. All three players
grasped their opportunity, worked
harmoniously and made the most
of it
Another good play came in the sec
and when John Collins on third .and
Schalk at bat worked the squeeze.
Schalk's tap was so perfect that he
beat it for a hit, Collins scoring.
Five straight wins have brought
about a revival of spirit among Sox
athletes. They are playing with their
headsjn the air and are going about
their work competently and confi
dently. Joe Birmingham's Cleveland team
looks ever worse than the aggrega
tion which represented he Ohio city
.last summer. He has weeded out
many of the veterans, but the young
sters do not look impressive. They
acted listjessly, even when the Sox
had jonly a five-run lead, and tossed
the ball around aimlessly. Graney in
the outfield and Chapman at short
are good ballplayers. Joe Jackson
does not seem to have the same en
ergy that possessed him a year ago.
The Cleveland pitching staff, also,, is
nota very nifty looking combination.
Pitchers attached to Joe Tinker's
Whale team can give three rousing
cheers. No longer will their work, be
so difficult each afternoon. There-are
times, of course, when they will be
able to win only by halting the oppo
sition with a run or two, but these
occasions will be less frequent than
in the first two weeks of the season.
Tinker's people are getting their
eyes on .the balL The. outfield has
struck its real stride ancLis peeling
the onion. Mann, Hanford and Z wil
ling knocked six hits between them
yesterday, each registering a triple.
Wickland is also beginning to con
nect solidly, and Max Flack-wiU bat
j-egularly around ,260 and dazzle the
assembled multitude with his speed
in the field and on the bases.
Possibly Manager Bresnahan re
grets letting Pitcher George McCon
nell get away from the Cubs. The
long fellow has done some good work
for the Whales and stacks up better
than several of the heavers drawing
salaries froni the local National
league club. He is not being dropped
into any soft spots in the Federal
league, but manages to get away with
his assignments.
Some years before the original
working of the hidden ball trick a
wise person gave vent to the axiom
that bricks cannot be made without
straw. If this philosopher should get
a sight of the Cubs playing a so-called
game of baseball he would recon
struct his saying to the effect that
you can't make a ball team without
pitchers.
In every other department the
Cubs class up with this year's Nation
al league flight Back of the bat, in
the infield and through the gardens
jthey have the material for active com
petition. To help out this talent is
one pitcher, Jim Vaughn.
A group of pitchers who can't win
a ball game with 12 runs need no
comment. And it also speaks well
for the spirit and determination of
the other members of the Cub staff
that they overcame a ten-run lead,
to which weak pitching had staked
the Reds, put themselves a tally
ahead, and then saw this wiped out
when Jim Vaughn, overworked, was
busted for a pair of tallies subse
quently. A team that makes eight runs in
one inning after the enemy has
counted seven in a single frame is
liable to grow discouraged when such
a mastodonic rally goes for naught
Good pitching must be had before a
proper showing can De made. If the
material isn't present now it is a- cer
tainty that Bresnahan will try to se
cure it, but at this late date his task
is large,
Adams apparently won't do. Five
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