Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1912 — GAME HAS GONE BACK [ARTICLE]

GAME HAS GONE BACK

Anson Says Baseball Not Up to Standard of Otd Days. So Many Leagues Requiring Player* That There Are Not Enough Stars to Go Around —Gives Names of Old Players.

“You can state it as emphatically a* you desire as coming from me, that the article of ball being furnished in the major leagues today is not up to the standard of play when I was in the game,” was the statement made by Captain Adrian C. Anson, one. of the grand old men of the game. Pop added:

“There is a reason for this. The National League was organized in 1876, and the cream of all the players in the country were gathered together in the eight clubs. The National League had full sway for about ten years. Each season we skimmed off the stars and brought them into the ranks. Then the old American Association was launched and more players were needed. The skimming of players continued. American League started off by grabbing all of the stars of the National League, Other leagues grew up and the demand was greater than the supply. At the start the American League furnished a better article of ball than the National, because the ranks of the latter had been raided. The parent organization had to go out for new blood. It takes years to develop a ball player, even after his natural ability has been demonstrated. The National League has Improved until today it is a toss up whether It or the American League is playing the better ball. --

“The game is fast getting back to where it was when I quit. It may take a few years, but it is bound to get there. Ask a fan of the present generation to pick stars, who compare with the old ones, and he will probably name Cobb, Wagner and Collins and stop there. Not so in my time. The equal of Buck Ewing as a catcher has never been known to the game. They try to tell me that Johnny Kling was the equal of Buck, but he never was in his class. I can name quite a few catchers who were equal, if not better, than Kling. It is the same down the line, McCormick, Clarkson, Radbourne, Keefe, Welsh, Ferguson and Rusie were better pitchers than they have today. No one was ever in King Kelly’s class as a base stealer. For hitters look over this bunch and see how they compare with the swat artists of today; Brouthers, Connors, O’Rourke, Delahanty, White, Rowe, Richardson. Thompson. Many others could be named. “The great trouble with the major league teams today is the fact that they are forced to pick players before they are ripe for fast company to fill the ranks. In a few years these youngsters will develop into stars, and then they will give a good account of themYoung men are beginning to realize the great field which is open to them in baseball, and they are learning to play the game, which is bound to get better and stronger in the years to come.”