Matty Staggers Through Winner, As Sal Wobbles
Giants At Last Break Losing Streak

July 12, 1914          Age 23

W. J. O’Connor                    St Louis Post Dispatch

BOTTLE throwers who infest the left field bleachers at Robison Field played an important part in yesterday’s slug-fest. They helped to win the game for the Giants, if we care to view the situation from a psychological angle.

In the seventh inning after Cozy Dolan shot a home run to the center field gate, scoring behind Magee, a shower of “dead” bottles suddenly fell from a clear sky and completely submerged the left field foul line. There was a delay of fully five minutes and in that time Mr. Mathewson recovered his composure and proceeded to fool the Cardinals.

Harking back to Charles Lincoln Herzog’s favorite commandment, to-wit: “When you get a guy down choke him to death,” we are led to believe that the Cardinals were denied a chance of strangling Matty in this round by the shower of pop bottles. Every well regulated manager knows that It is well to keep pounding a pitcher once you have him on the ropes. Not a second should be wasted. His pals are under a strain and an error may be made on an easy chance, but during the wait while the bottles were being gathered up, Matty and his mates recovered. For this reason, if for none other, we earnestly favor capital punishment for those who heave a bottle.