Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1912 — CATCHER AS MANAGER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CATCHER AS MANAGER

Problem as to Why They Make Best Leaders Unsolved. “Red” Dooin and Roger Bresnahan Do Nqt Find Duties Too Arduous to Prevent Them From t Playing In Game. Every year somebody rises to remark that' 1 the bench manager Is superior to the man who directs his club’s aflairs from the field. You can prove this by several cases. You can prove It isn’t so by just as many. Therefore, like the ancient query as to the Age of Ann, the answer is not Yet. -1.:. ■ - • But here is one line of dope you have some foundation to argue on: Catchers make good managers, whether they lead from bench or behind the bat. Of the 16 major clubs 6 of them are piloted by catchers or excatchers. Why the backstop should blossom forth as a manager Isn’t apparent, unless, perhaps, he has been so busy' bossing the pitchers that the habit grows to Include the entire dub. Two of the catcher-managers are actively engaged behind the bat and do not find their duties too laborious to prevent them from being top-notchers as participants. These two are Roger Bresnahan of the Cardinals and Red Dooin of the Phillies. Cornelius McGillicuddy, when he lugged that impossible name into the big league, was a receiver of rare worth. The only reason he quit receiving was to become head of a club. His work With the Athletics has been a great accomplishment. Frank Chance, termed the “Peerless Leader,” when the Cubs were at the hey-day of their glory, started as a catcher. Then be went to first base, because there was nobody else on hand to occupy that position. Harry Davis also was a catcher, but gave ft up to play at the initial station. It is certain the 1 catcher-manager who can warm up his own pitchers is going to have the inside track in se-

lecting the box artist. When one works with a pitcher day In and day out he comes to know the occasions when he has the “stuff.” The catcher realizes If his pitcher’s ball isn’t breaking right or if the fast ball hasn’t the hop. Of course, a lot of flingers are slaughtered on their best days, but that is part of the game. In the long run ft works out that the ptlcher who is right on a certain day does'better than a fellow who hasn’t his best assortment of foolers. No ball club ever went very far without a star catcher, with the possible exception of the Detroit Tigers, and they possessed such an unusual array of hitting talent that they were exceptions to the rule. Lucky indeed is the club that has the manager in the strategic position behind the batter and able to do sterling yeoman duty day in and day out As a demonstration of what intelligent catching means, look what happened to the Cardinals when Roger Bresnahan quit working last autumn. ' Johnny Kling, who was taken over from the Cubs by Boston and handed the managerial reins after Fred Tenny has failed, will get a chance to show his worth this season. Kling is certainly one of the best catchers in the game, but just how he will work with the manager’s troubles will be seen the coming campaign. Fred Tenney himself broke into baseball as a catcher.

“Red” Dooin.