Big League Managers Who Are
HARRY WOLVERTON.
Br MOJfTV.
NEW YORK, Aug. 1-The base ball
. Mason of 1912 Is more than half gone,
'fans, more than half gone. Seems a Ht
I tie early still, maybe, to speculate late
upon next year, but such is hardly - the
fact. The situation already has shaped
Itself so that a number of things can
be foreseen, and not the least apparent
of; these Is the shaking up of the man
agerial personnel in the two big leagues.
No less than half a dozen pilots seem
due . to pass from their present posts of
authority by tho - getaway time in 1913.
By W. J. MACBETH.
NEW YORK, August 3,-Let me intro
duce James R. McAleer, president of the
Boston-Americans. He Is remarkable
, because he appreciates ' the honorable
dignity of his position as few magnates
do. He keeps his
hands enltrely free
from the playing
-nd of the Red
Sox' and thereby
sets an example
that ; would profit
about nine-tenths
of the club presi
dents of the major
leagues. '
There is nat
urally great temp
tation fur club
owners to trii'lu.
They say quit
' rightly, "It's' my
JIMMY WALEER.
money and I'm going - to have my
say." More than three-quarters of
the major league base bail leaders
are ' handcuffed and manacled ' before
they assume a leadership. Club presi
dents and big stockholders are the
real managers. Those credited with the
title are simply decoys.' The one man
tn the big show perfectly' qualified to
offer advice to his manager Is Jimmy
McAleer,, president of the pace-making
Boston Speed Boys.- Yet he has1 never
so much as batted an eyelash in the di
rection of Jake Siahl. McAleer went to
Boston as head of the American league
'club, an experienced manager. Previous
to his long managerial connections with
ithe Browns and the Senators he had
tliown for many years as one of the most
remarkable outfielders of any time. Mc
Aleer knows base ball from every angle
(backwards.' But In knowing that a
president's position is a truly executive
'one. be holds the whlphand over his
distanced rivals. No one in the American
'league Is better qualified to Interfere In
the management of a club, yet McAleer
(always keeps In the background and lets
;8tahl really, manage and reap whatever
glory lies la success. ..'..'
The Boston Red Sox are the great base
Iball surprise of 1912. Nobody df earned
.that when the campaign opened that the
Hub had the ghost of -a sh"owlwiththe
world's champion Athletics,1 nor' did they
Kinder old conditions.' John L Taylor.', the
Uttlred presidentalways,had -"butted. In"
ion his managers. He figured, to do so
aln this season, for he' still owns half
ot the stock. McAleer wished Jake Stahl
las a first baseman. He had to i of fer
the management to wean . J. j Garland
from the banking business -Mn , Chicago.
Then on the side Jake demanded a chance
tu buy in a nice block of stock' tor him
self. ".' .. " V -
The complication that "that, sort, fa
combination' held in store -w ere. foreseen
universally. Every - sharp - predicted
civil war in Boston circles -that would
np a pennant possibility '-right.-up the
back. No one could see how the broth
could possibly come" out .wholesome; with
half a doeen brawling cooks. " ,
Why didn't the expected storm break T",
James R. McAleer Is- the- answers He's
the buffer that stands - between 'Jake
Etahl and Interference, vandJake, 'a
practically inexperienced man at the bust
ness, baa made good , with a rush. Jtke
Is a great player " and a wise head.
Put it la a SO to l'bet tliat he wouldn't
, have delivered the goods under former
Boston conditions, lucky . as the Hub ws
In drawing a real pitching staff for the
first time since 130&.. ; r ' - .;
With McAleers case. so strikingly-be
fore, them, doesn't It seem 'a .wopder
that the. rest of the America! .league
. 'magnatea do not' get onto themselves?
They simply must meddle, or . let Baa
Johnson meddle for" them. Perhaps .Mc
Aleer would have -felt differently himself
' had not presidential interference' made
bis long experience In St Lculs one of
Kail and wormwood. Experience is tho
s:--t teacher, and all club presidents
it. nut the brains or ability to get Into
Jimmy McAleer is Crafty
Three of them are in the National league
and , three in the American. With the
six berths vacated, six opportunities will
await the proper ones, and a promising
lot there seems to be ready to jump in
and handle the helm.' '
The probability of the unseating of
Frank Chance of the Chicago Cubs and
Huglicy Jennings of the Detroit Tigers
is one of the noteworthy developments
of the season to date. Jennings' part In
the strike of the Tigers over Cobb's sus
pension will cause him to be ousted from
the American League, as now is generally
the kindergarten of that old school from
which McAleer was graduated.
Probably a few examples might set the
fussy magnates thinking If they could
only spare time from the managements
of their clubs to listen Just once in his
life did. John McOraw let John T.
Brutfh manage the team and Mr. Brush
got such a burn therefrom that he has
scarcely recovered. Brush lnulsted upon
McOraw pitching "Rube" Marquard In
a big game in 1903, Bhortly after the
champion $11,000 beauty reported. New
York not only lost the game and the
pennant, but two years' service of the
southpaw In the country not to mention
the thousands upon thousands of dollars
gate money that hung upon that blunder.
Connie Mack owns a quarter of the
Athletics and he Is the one big noise in
the ' management. Connie, has been suc
cessful because he lias no general staff
of advisers. The same holds good for
Frank Chance and Fred Clarke. Presi
dent Frank Navin. did not like the way
Hugh Jennings was - running a three
tlmo champion team. He insisted upon
passing out advice, and now the wonderful
Tiger machine has disintegrated Into a
joke combination. They had the crepe out
for Clark Griffith till he really got a
chance In, Washington. You see what he
has already done with a team that
didn't figure better than seventh posi
tion. In New York and Cincinnati the
Old Fox's hands were tied. You see he
is the largest 'individual stockholder In
Washington.
McAleer figures 1 less prominently in
the base ball firmament this year than at
any time since he broke Into the profes
sion. But his light is not hidden under a
bushel. And It is' doubtful if he ever
heard money tumbling Into his coffers
one-fourth as fast. Past failures aro
redeemed by present success and McAleer
will live in history as one of the wisest
guys of the national pastime. He knows
when to keep his mouth shut.
Heady, Players May
1 Last1 Long Time in
L " J Base Ball Circles
NEW, YORK, Aug. S. Men who play
with f their heads as well as their hands
have proven that It' is possible" to tav
long 'time In professional base ball. There
are severer men still very much In the
game who may yet break or at least equal
Cy; Young's record.' They are not, how
ever, pltchers.; , James Tllden Sheckard
is one of : the 'veterans In whom the base
balK public s. Is very much lntnrentori
Jimmy broke into the game as far back
as 1895, when he played with the Marietta
and Lancaster) semi-professional teams.
Thence be , moved to Portsmouth, Va.,
going in the following year to Brockton,
in New England. t
V, Brooklyn coralled him next, and after
one year with. Baltimore he went back
across the bridge again. With the rest
of. his base ball career, every small boy
Is familiar, especially the. small boy of
Brooklyn, where James was popular. To
ward 'the-close', of his term with the
Brooklyn team Sheckard's work fell off,
and there were those who said that he
was shirking.. He-spruced up promptly
when be went r to Chicago. Sheckard was
never very happy in Brooklyn and was
glad to, get away.
v There Is a great deal of. good base ball
left In Sheckard and it would not be sur
prising if he were to stay In the lists as
long as Young and Willie Keeler. Sheck
ard knpwt' "inside base ball" as well as
me next man ana snoum be credited with
some of (he Chlcagoisms that have here
tofore been attributed - to more famous
members of the Cuba. Johnny Evers has
bad'moet Of the limelight and it has been
the custom -to attribute most of the clever
moves to him.
. Plttsbarah Draws Berord C'roird.
Pittsburgh's - blgxest crowa sim-o th
world's scries of 1909 turned out on Jul
18, at the double-header with the Giants
It numbered almost 26,000.
accepted as a fact among baseball fol
lowers. Chance's physical condition will
compel him to Kive up the game, even
the managing end of it, by the end of
this season. Numerous pelts on the bean
by fast pitchers while be was an active
gladiator of the diamond have en
gendered a peculiar sort of trouble in the
peerless one's brain, which causes him
to suffer severe attacks of vertigo when
under stress of excitement. He has an
nounced to friends that he contemplates
retiring altogether at the end of the
season.
While the latter half of the season may
change the complexion of things to some
extent, It seems certain that the six men
referred to are bound to go, no matter
what can happen before reckoning time.
Accordingly the owners of the clubs in
question have their weather eyes peeled
and wax out of their ears, primed to
recognize the proper man when the avail
able ones come within hailing distance.
Already more names have been mentioned
as being In line for managerial jobs than
there have been jobs mentioned.
Joe Ganzel, who has his Rochester
Bronchos galloping along at a furious
pace in the lead of the International
league race, seems one of the most
likely candidates. His rival in the same
league, George Stallings of Buffalo, who
once held the rein of the Yankees, is
another discussed one. Vie is not doing
so well with Buffalo just now, but is
suffering from lack of material on hand,
rather than from lack of ability on his
own part.
Fred Lake, who now Is acting as a
'scout for the St. Louis Browns, Is
another man of managerial caliber, and
nobody would be surprised to see him
drift back Into the charmed circle. His
work at the wheel of the Red Sox a
"NOISY"
DAY OF BIG PURSES WANES
One Fiasco Follows Another in Too
Rapid Succession. ,
JACK CURLEY HAS HAD ENOUGH
Tendency of the Times Is to Insist
on the Pegs Workluar on a Per-,
rentage Basle Instead of "
Lamp Sam.
NEW YORK, Aug. 3.-There are Indica
tions out on the horizon of Fistlana that
the day of the J30,000 purse for flights
Is waning. If In fact the sun has not al
ready set on it With one fiasco follow
ing upon another and . the channels of
currency considerably gummed up
through the high cost "of living, etc,
promoters have become churlish, not to
mention timid . and backward, about
hanging up small fortunes for flights
that the public does uot take particularly
kindly to.
Jack Curley's experience at Las Vegas-
has practically put him out of the pro
moting line as far as big purses are con
cerned. Not that he . would- hesitate to
stage another big bout, but , he would
Ukely want to see the fighters working
on a percentage basis . and willing to
gamble with him.
One of the pertinent reasons why big
purses will be conspiclous by their ab
sence In the future Is that In the heavy
weight class at. least there Is a lack of
material that will make up a card cal
culated to draw1 at the. gate the money
the promoters would have to pay out to
the ' principals. ' The ' ' recent ; offer of
JlOO.bno for a series of battles was con
sidered mythical in the most optimistic
estimate. Then,' too, one has to consider
that Tex Rtckard, who was probably
the biggest promoter In the country, has
hied himself off . to South America to
dabble with a few hundred thousand
acre 'of paying ' land tn preference to
Antic investments.
The tendency of the day, Is to have
fighters work on a percentage basis.
Jack Johnson, for one, can't see the per
centage Idea with a telescope. Jack Is
a fighter, pure and simple, and lays no
claim to being a gambler even to the ex
tent of placing contidencu In his ability
'o draw at the gate. However, he wants
to n.eet a few of the white hopes who
'lav been aspiring for his crown before
e sheds the gloves for all time, and tn
V;.vJef f VScN;
Booked
I wSSs45gtfv
0', -VS'isi. '-K -4"- !?' ' -'-
, :t S vy ? . ,A v
HARRY DAVIS.
JOHN KLING.
order ;( to-gratify-his ambition to clean
'up 'the white hope crop before retiring
he wlirhave to consider the percenge
basis -unless he is willing to fight for
a purse considerably less than $30,000, the
sum that seems to be to his particular
liking.,
And while on the Johnson strain, it is
notable that while he has expressed a
desire to wade into the line of aspirants
he .maintains a discreet biltjice at the
mention of Joe Jeannette.
This, attitude is causing many close
followers of boxing to believe that the
champion discovered during his bout with
Flynn that he no longer possesses the
necessary stamina for a hard fight Out
elde of this reason It is. hard to account
for his refusal to take on Jeannette In
a ten-round no decision affair. Other
champions think llttlo ' of engaging In
these bouts where no decision is given
to endanger their titles. There would be
small danger of a knockout,' for such a
thing has never occurred to a champion
in this city during the present law..; It
Is figured that! the . worst v that could
happen to' Johnson would-be to have it
proved beyond doubt-that he , Is 'not 'the
man of old. Even should this happen it
would work to the champion's advantage,
for he would then have little difficulty
tn getting, on a match with one of '.the
various , white-hopes he Is so anxious to
meet ' ' ' ' . ; "
Evidently Billy Papke Is not ; an ? ad
mirer of Frank Klause. He steadfastly
refuses to' meet the ' Plttshurgher . in the
ring. Papke does not-Intend .to 'take a
chance Of being defeated by boxing again
until ihe . meets George .Carpenter- In
October at" Paris.- The Kewanee middle
weight' stilt maintains that Klause -was
being beaten by the . Frenchman I up to
the time the . latter was i disqualified.
Carpentler' Is a sure- enough wonder,'. de
clares, Papke; but lh the same breath he
modestly "admits that he. can beat him.
Papke .says, there is no 'doubt that he
has recovered his best-form and will be
in fine - shape ; to' tackle - the Frenchman
In the fall. ." '',...'-
JOHNSTON," 60LF PR0. WILL
ATTEND U. S. GOLF TOURNEY
Charlie ! Johnston, ' golf '. professional at
the Happy Hollow club, expects to attend
the national amateur, golf tournament
which will be'held under the auspices of
the United States Golf association over
the eighteen-bole course of the Chicago
Country club at Wheaton, HI., September
2 to 7. H. H.' Hilton of Liverpool, present
national champion of America, will ' be
on hand to defend bis title at. the big
meet
to Retire at End of This Season
few years' ago has not been forgotten,
and the foundation which he built has
proved the making of Jake Stahl this
year. Or, should we say the making of
Jimmy McAleer, who as president of the
club has butted In over Stahl's head and
done most of the important things in
the administration of the American league
leaders?
Two men who loom up for leaders
honors are now in the ranks of the clubs
that they may take hold of next year.
Mordecat Brown of the Cubs, and Willie
Keeler of Brooklyn are the men. Jen
nings seems the most formidable candi
date for the Brooklyn job when he is
turned loose by Detroit, but, if Ebbets
falls to land him, Keeler Is the next best
to be found. Brown should make a
good manager if he gets the honor with
the Cubs. He knows Chance's ideas
thoroughly and without doubt would ad
here to the same tactics.
The other men who seem sure to go
will be doomed simply because of failure
to come up to what was expected of
them. Without doubt the most colossal
failure of the year is Harry Wolverton,
of the New York Yankees. Everybody,,
even the rival teams In the American
league and expected the Yankees to
stand well up in the first division, many
even granting them an outsider's chance
for the pennant. But- they are fighting
for last place with the lowly St. Louis
Browns, with the odds favoring the New
York entry's lodging in the cellar when
the curtain drops. Wolverton Is game.
You have to hand him that much. But
there is little else to be said in exten
uation of his plea. There are plenty of
men in the world who are plucky fighters
but know little about base ball. Wol
verton does know base ball, but he does
not grasp' the manager's duties as he
should. He has made a wreck of what
looked like a powerful machine three
months ago. He is sure to pass out of
the big leagues forever when his one
year contract runs Its course.
Bill Dahlen of Brooklyn, Is another
dismal disappointment and is certain U
get the gate. And the same may be said
of Johnny. Kllng, catcher extraordinary
of other days and present driver of the
Boston Nationals. The sixth man on the
bounce list is Harry ' Davis, who has
been trying to manage the Clevelands,
but has not succeeded. Taking a real
team left him by the upbuilding of
George Stovall last year, he has let It
run down and 'it Is nothing but the scin
tillating of 'a few stars, Joe Jackson in
particular, that has kept the team in the
fight with Detroit for leadership of the
second division.
While the latter half of the season may
By W. W. NAUGHTOPT,
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 3.-A11 things
considered, Champion Ad Wolgast may
consider himself a lucky fellow. He
showed conclusively in his four rounds
with Willie Ritchie in San Francisco that
his stamina had been impaired by his
appendicitis operation, and if he had lis
tened to the advice of some of his best
friends he would have postponed his
affair with Rivers at Los Angeles. The
fact tliat he refused to hearken to coun
sel given him suggests that Wolgast had
Rivers slsed up pretty well. The cham
pion had seen Rivers In most of his
fights, , and had watched the - Mexican
training many a time and oft.
He felt probably that even if he was not
as good as formerly, he could account
for Rivers, and the result proved that his
diagnosis was correct But at that he
ran quite a risk.
Wolgast Is free to confess now that
he needs more building up and he may
thank his stars that he is not in the
position of the ' man who locked the
stabie door after the steed had been
stolen. He has gone to his farm near
CaHHac to lead the simple life for a few
months, and Just what the future holds
for him in the fighting line is prob
lematical.' There is room for doubt as
to whether he will ; ever be as sturdy
as he was before he became a subject
for the surgeon's knife. If he decides
to hold aloof from the activities of the
ring for the balance of bis days, th
lightweight championship question will
be in as bad a tangle as the heavyweight
premiership, would be In the event of
Jack Johnson retiring. There Is not a
thinking man who . could say offhand
which pugilist ts entitled to step Into
Wolgast's shoes.
Of a certainty Rivers has no claim on
the lightweight 'crown. The only thing
that Justified the Wolgast-Rivers match
was the suspicion that Wolgast had
retrograded through no fault of his own
-and the fight if it did . nothing else,
proved that the suspicion was. well
founded. But even though Wolgast was
far from being the Wolgast who trounced
Battling Nelson, he was a match for
Rivers; but this should stand as testi
mony that Rivers does not belong In the
best-lightweight company .
This is not a one-man view of the mat
ter by any means. The newspaper ex
perts reported that the Fourth of
July fight In Los Angeles differed
"BAD BILL" DAHLEN.
change the complexion of things to some
extent, It seems certain that the six men
referred to are bound to go, no matter
what can happen before reckoning time
Accordingly the owners of the clubs In
question have their weather eyes peeled
and wax out 5 of their ears primed to
recognize the proper man when the avail
able ones , come, within hailing distance.
Already more names have been mentioned
as. being in'line for'managerial jobs than
there have, been Jobs mentioned.
The American association advances a
many essentials, but there was one point
on which there was a striking unanimity
of opinion. The majority of the scribes
said that for many rounds before the
finish, Wolgast was outpunching Rivers,
and wearing him down.
Away from Los Angeles there Is dif
ference of opinion as to who really
directs the fistic fortunes of 'the' Mexi
can, but whoever he Is, Rivers is well
advised. Willie Ritchie, probably San
Francisco's premier lightweight at pres
ent, has claimed many times during the
last few months that he is as well en
titled to a bout with Wolgast as the
next man. When doubt arose in regard
to Wolgast's readiness to continue boxing,
Ritchie went to Los Angeles with an ex
ceedingly fair proposal. He asked ,for a
match with Rivers with the understand
ing that the winner was to have the privi
lege of boxing the champion when the
latter decided he had recuperated suf
ficiently to re-enter the ring.
The Ritchie proposition was turned
down, and Jack Mandot of New Orleans
was signed up to be Rivers' next oppo
nent at Los Angeles on Labor day. It is
a safer match for Rivers probably, but
so far as lightweight development Is con
cerned it will not mean a great deal, as
Ritchie a short' time ago defeated Mandot
signally in the latter's home town.
The fact that Rivers has given him
the cold shoulder will not mean so much
Ad Wolgat a Lucky Guy
' I .AD WOLGAST. - J
0ET KID OF KilEOi 5ATISM
Rubbing with liniments, blistering the affected parts, plasters,' etc., are
usually helpful in relieving the pains and aches of Rheumatism, but such
treatment does not get rid of the disease, .because it does not reach its
source. Rheumatism comes from an excess of uric acid in the blood. This
(SSS)
painful muscles and joints and filters out every particle of irritating uric
acid from the system. Book on Rheumatism and any medical advice frw '
THE SWIFT SFEOFIC & Amm'
X I
formidable . candidate '.In little Tops
Hartsel, the former star outfielder ot the
Athletics. Topsy', has been doing better
with Toledo than' anybody has expected
and deserves .greater things. Charley
Hemphill is acquitting hhnself with credit
in the Southern' league, where he has
been handlingAtlarita in good shape.
The Crackers are playing the same style
of game that Hemphill used to put up
himself while shining in the field for the
old' St. ' Louis '.Browns and the Yankees
of a. few years "past
of a bar to progress In Ritchie's case, as
Rivers is by no means the pivot on
which the lightweight swings. It will
be easy enough for the San Francisco
sapling to make his way in the light
weight world if he has the necessary
fighting qualifications, and can do the
weight
Right here it may be stated, there is
grave doubt as to whether nature in
tended Ritchie for a simon-pure 133
pounder. He says he is one, but fight
ers, you know, are notoriously unre
liable In the declarations of poundage;
and Ritchie's friends fear that he is a
second Packey McFarland and that ho
cannot conform to the weight requir
ments of the class of which Wolgast is
king without weakening himself.
t As a matter of fact genuine 133 pound
ers . are as scarce as hen's teeth; and
such , being the case, Johnny KUbane's
announcement that he Is going to try
for lightweight laurels bears more sig
nificance that it ordinarily would.
It will not- do to pooh-pooh KUbane's--pretensions,
. either, for he has already
knocked, out Rivers, who considers him
self a rival of Wolgast, and has defeated
Abe Attell, who declares , Wolgast Is
afraid to meet him. '.. ,
Ball Player a Pugilist.'
Midget Mensor, Pittsburgh's acquisition
from Portland, was a pugilist In Oakland
before he took up-base -ball. He is no
bigger than a drop of water In uniform,
but strips, as a lightweight
ana urcmaung inrougn tne system acts as an irritant
to the nerves, muscles and joints, and produces the in
flammation and swelling, and sharp cutting pains
characteristic of the trouble. Then Rheumatism be
comes chronic and not only a painful but a dangerous
disease. S. S. S., the greatest vegetable remedy, goes
into the circulation, neutralizes and removes the uric
acid, and by building up the thin, sour blood, safely
and surely cures the disease. S. S. S.makes rich, nour
ishing blood, which cuiets excited nerves mom