Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1914 — THREE GREAT PLAYERS [ARTICLE]

THREE GREAT PLAYERS

BALTIMORE TRIO PICKED AS BEST BY ONE CRITIC. Keeler, Kelley and Brodie Were Hard Hitters and Clever Fielders —Davy Jones Spoiled Chances-of Detroit for There have been so many good outfields in the history of the diamond that to pick out one and name it as the best would be sure to start an argument It may be difficult for present day fans to acknowledge a trio better than Speaker, Hooper and Lewis, the Red Sox wonders of 1912; or Oldring, Walsh and Murphy. But fans, .recalling stars of other days, will voice the opinion that there were outfielders In the past able to throw dust in the eyes of the greatest of today, says a baseball writer. In 1879 or 1880 Providence boasted am outfield composed of Jim O’Rourke, Paul Hines and Tom York. They hit collectively about .340, hut were not high class fielders. Recently five outfields have been named as the best in the game. These, according to rank, were the trios of Baltimore hr 1894, of Brooklyn ip 1900, of Boston in 1897, of the Red Sox in 1912, and Detroit in 1909. Just as the Athletic Jnfield has been praised, have Speaker, Lewis and Hooper been lauded to the skies, but are they the equal of Keeler, Kelley and Brodie, of the Orioles, or Keeler, Fielder Jones and Sheckard of Brooklyn? Keeler was the cleverest mam in baseball. In 1894, with Baltimore, he batted .367, and in 1900 he batted .366 for Brooklyn. This brings the Superiority of either of these outfields down to four men. Brodie and Keeler, Jones and Sheckard, for Keeler was equally good with both teauns. Barring Keeler, Walter Brodie was the most uncanny judge of a fly ball that ever spoiled a base hit. He owned a fine arm and batted .369, compared to Sheckard’s .305, hut Shock offset the difference by working pitchers for bases on balls frequently. - Joe Kelley was a terrific hitter, batting close to .400, and often for extra bases. Opposed to him, Fielder Jones was one of the craftiest men In the game, and, while nowhere near Kelley’s equal as a batter, he harrowed the margin by his cunning. But first place must go to Kelley. Had Davy Jones been a .300-batter, Detroit’s 1909 outfield would have ranked with those of Baltimore and Brooklyn, but despite the brilliancy of Cobb and tbe slugging, of Sam Crawford, Davy’s failure as a reliable batter prevented the trio from becoming Immortal. No two men, not If they were both Cobbs, can overcome the weakness of a mediocre player, because the Ideal outfield must be a smooth working machine, with every man capable of doing what the others are capable of, to maintain the balance. Clarke, Beaumont and Sebring of Pittsburgh, were a wonderful outfield, hard hitting, fast fielding, although Sebring’s inconsistency caused him to fall below the other two.