The Chronicle
June 1872
Edition 2.7
Belief In Philadelphia
One Game Seperates A's From Top Spot
No one going into the season is expecting anyone from the American League to take the pennant away from the mighty Washington Olympics. Washington is doing what they are suppose to going 16-5 with the likes of Ross Barnes hitting .475 and Bobby Mathews going 15-4.
As the Olympics dash through the season however they will be suprised to find another club that is basically keeping exact pace with them. The Philadelphia Athletics won only 13 games last season but as the calender turns to July, the team has already won 22.
Manager Dick McBride has looked steady as pitcher/manager for the team going 13-7 with a 2.73 ERA but has also gotten some relief pitching from Joe McDermott who has started in 17 games. The trend for successful teams has been to have at least two quality starters on the roster. McDermott is also hitting .387 and has driven in 30 runs while George Hall and Nat Hicks have their averages around .350. The team .321 batting average is the highest in the league, and nobody thought that any club could have better numbers then Washington.
The teams have split their two matchups thus far but its the Athletics who due to the schedule have played 14 more games. The Athletics just may be more rested by the end of the season with many more days off then the defending champs.
Beyond all of this, there is a real excitement in the city of Philadelphia as there is belief that this team has what it takes to bring the unlikely pennant home. The club is 11-5 at Jefferson Street Grounds thus far.
The Art Of The Steal
McGeary Setting Standard For Baserunning
As the second season of established baseball continues, trends and styles of winning baseball continue to emerge. Running the bases has often been a station to station venture through the history of the game with base stealing seen as risky and often unsportsmanlike.
Times are changing and one man is making the ability to swipe bases into a popular art form. Mike McGeary of the Troy Haymakers is one of the most improved players in the entire league this season. McGeary hit only .265 as a 20 year old rookie last season and thus far this year he has his average up to a very impressive .421. McGeary has also stolen 21 bases in only 25 games and has turned most of them into runs having crossed the plate 28 times.
The third baseman has perfected the ability to catch pitchers off guard and put the pressure on the catcher to throw him out. McGeary stole 15 bases all of last year and was not caught one single time, this year with more risk he still has only been caught 4 times.
Troy as a club are only 12-13 but McGeary just may steal over 50 bases this season bringing a whole new element to the league and the game overall.