Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 219, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1916 — MEYERS MAKES A HIT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MEYERS MAKES A HIT

Indian Catcher Doing Real ComeBack With Brooklyn.

Not Only Hat Chief Improved in Batting, but Work Behind Bat Haa Been Revelation—Timely Hita Have Helped Win Games.

Chief Meyers has come Into his own. Discarded by John McUraw as “through,” looked upon by Polo Grounds fans as a once great catcher who had slipped back immeasurably, the chief has accomplished a wonderful comeback and is an idol in Brooklyn. It is an admitted fact that a player, grown stale, will often stage a startling change in form when he dons the uniform of another team, and this is exactly what has happened in the case of John Tories Meyers, the collegebred aborigine. The chief has had a' rather picturesque career. A graduate of Dartmouth, he took a three-year post-grad-uate course In baseball in the minor leagues and came to the Giants from St. Paul in 1908, costing the club $6,000. At Marlin in the spring of 1909 he jumped, into the limelight as a long-distance hitter and was received by the New York fans with open arms. Personality, a quality in which so many players are lacking, stuck out all over the chief, and for six years he was one of the most popular players who ever wore a Giant uniform. It was last year that Meyers gave the first indication that he was slipping, and there were few regrets on the part of the fans when the Indian was sent to Brooklyn and Bill Karlden was signed to take his place. In 110 games last year he hit the ball for an average of exactly .232, and it appeared that he was about ripe for the minors. Then came the transformation, not only in his batting, but in his catch-

lng. Meyers loomed up In great form behind the bat when the Robins opened the present season, and he has maintained a steady pace ever since. The result is that he ranks second only to Uncle Robbie in the affection of the fans across the bridge. He looks like a different man today, and his timely hits have broken up more than one game for the league leaders. Just now he Is -suffering from a bad cold, but it hasn’t affected his playing to any noticeable extent.

Chief Meyers.