- CARDINALS’ RAPID IMPROVEMENT DUE TO GOOD PITCHING
- SNYDER A BIG HELP
- Recruit Catcher’s Sterling Work Reinforces Team’s Battery Strength.
May 18, 1914 Age 23
By W. J. O’Connor. St Louis Post Dispatch
In eight days, since Sunday, May 10, the Cardinals have won five games, tied one in 13 innings and lost one, an extra inning affair. They have crowded their best playing of the season into a brief span of one week and the sudden rejuvenation of Huggins’ men reflected its value in the gate receipts Sunday, when a crowd upwards of 13,000 paid to see the “Climbers” conquer the Superbas.
Good pitching has been the secret of the Cardinals’ success since Sunday a week ago, when Harry Sallee inaugurated the winning streak by taking a 2-1 duel from Rube Benton. Including: the extra-inning bouts, the Cardinals have played eight full games, with the enemy averaging but seven hits per game off the local pitchers. The one defeat, a sad 14-inning victory for the Phillies, was charged to Hank Robinson, the clever southpaw, who got revenge at the expense of the Superbas Sunday.
Sallee, Robinson, Doak, Griner and Perritt have pitched championship ball, while Huggins still has Hageman, Steele. Niehaus and Williams to be heard from. Frank Snyder has been catching better and throwing better than any catcher seen here this season, and among those who called were Archer, Dooin. Bresnahan, Killifer and Miller, reputed to be the flower of the National League flock. Indeed the battery work at Robison Field has been airtight for some time.
Hard Luck for Butler.
Poor hitting on the part of Butler, Wilson, Miller and Magee has been the one fault. Now, though, Magee and Wilson have found their stride, while Butler was just getting on edge when he met with an accident Sunday that will shelve him for at least a week. Butler’s nose was broken and he has been advised by physicians to let the injury mend before he gets back in harness.
Jack Miller has trained his eye on the ball, hitting hard, but at the fielders in the past few games. He hasn’t been getting the breaks, but once his shots start falling between the fielders Jack should boost his baiting average with alacrity. Miller is a better hitter than the averages now indicate.
Magee Coming Along.
There has been a vast improvement in Lee Magee’s playing. Flash is finding himself, of late, getting on with more regularity and showing more life than any of his associates on the sacks. Magee was a bit stale, when the season opened, because of his trip abroad with McGraw: but Lee learned a few new tricks during his association with the New York leader and he should profit by experience, once he gains his batting stride. Magee is the sort of player who looks better in a slump than .most players do on the stride.
There still is room for improvement in the Cardinal hitting. The players all have been in a slump, but with a few victories as a nerve tonic they should all round to speedily. There are symptoms of a vast improvement noted just at present.
Some fans Sunday were disappointed because the Sallee-Rucker duel was not staged as expected, and it is worth the notice here that Manager Huggins isn’t to blame for the failure of the famed southpaws to hook up. Hug Intended to use Sallee if Rucker went to the hill for the enemy and. in fact, used the “Old Master” in batting practice.
However, Rucker has not fully recovered from an attack of tonsillitis and Manager Wilbert Robinson decided to save him for a later game. Once Huggins learned that Rucker was not carded to work, he switched from Sallee to Robinson.
More Notes On The Cardinals…
Headline: Other Teams Than the Browns Might Show Animation if They Had a Rickey
Saving Time by L. C. Davis
- THERE was a man in our town,
- Whose name was Willie Doak;
- He was a pitcher of renown.
- But such a batting joke,.
- That when it came his turn to bat,
- The manager agreed
- To have the “ump” declare him out
- And let the game proceed.