Evening star., 1905-08-20
espondeDce Of The Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Star.
BOSTON. August 49, 1905
While base ball is the topic of the hour
1t might be well to rehearse the fact that
a year ago there was a fercer fight on for
the first position than there Is this year.
New York and Chicago were tied
twelve month past and Boston in
third position twelve points behind the
leaders and six points ahead of the Ath-
letics who were twenty-five points ahead
OF the Clevelands. Washington was -3s2
points behind the leaders. Washington has
rsade a grand showing compared with that
of last season and is by no means the
least dangerous team there is in the Ameri-
can League today. The club has made the
finest showing it has made for years since
II returned home from it's last trip, and
there is every reason to believe 1t will
make Il good showing on the road on its
present trip. AT any rate 1t ought to be
able to hold se"ontn position without any
trouble al all There is very little differ
Cnce in the percentage between the lead
ing club of 'o4 anl 05. The Athletics
have gained somewhat over last season. as
has Chicago, and so has Cleveland, with all
the run of hard luck that has been its
share The gripping Jf its team has told
more upon the New YcIks this year than it
did last and that club will scarcely be
it did last. Detroit f.as managed to hold
its own. while ST. Louis has fallen away
appreciably-
Boston may not land the flag. but will
assuredly be there a the finish. The club
is now going for all that it is worth. The
pitchers are in Al Condition and the bat
ting is better than it was. The club Is
considerably in arrears OF its percentage of
a year ago and that despite the fact that
the CLUB has suffered less in mishaps than
any in the American League The infield
has been practically intact all season the
pitchers are in fine condition and the club
is in far better shape in the catching de-
partmcnt.
1t goes without saying that Jess Burlett
Will not be with Boston next season. The
veteran has not made good with the bat
and his work in the field has not been up to
the standard expected of him. A fast
youngster will have his place next season.
Young blood tells. Men of the Stone order
wanted and while it is not to be eN-
peCted that such as he WILL be readily
found, there are plenty to be had who will
play ball for all they are worth all the
time play their prettiest at every possible
occasion, make the most of every oppor-
tunity offered, run out every hit and back
up on every play.
It will not be surprising either to find
a new first baseman in the team. While
Buck" Freeman is a good, earnest. hard
working ball player doubtless as good a
man as can be found just now, he is not an
ideal first baseman, assuredly not in the
class of Harry Davis, who ranks so high in
all departments of the game. The New
York Highlanders have developed just such
ball player in Hal Chase. who was with
Los Angeles last season This young man
did not fulfill expectations at the start, but
he has been improving all the time, and
the keen observer of the game could easily
see that he had that with him that was
bound TO make a tirst-Class ball tosser if
he had the opportunity. and today he can
simply distance Cancel a ball tosser,
for CANCEL wa simply grand fielder,
never a first-class batsman or good base
runner.
Competition gets keener each season and
must be met and the club that is at
standstiu and neglects to replace old blood
with freh is in a good way to be left.
Clubs cling most tenaciously to old
terial for the reason that it is such diff
cult matter to excel some of the veterans.
The Boston Americans are a veteran team,
the Athletics while the ClcvelanGs
have number of veterans, but Cleveland has
made move in the proper direction and in
jackson. Bay and Turner has secured some
very fine talent. st. Louis dug deep and
applied the knife freely, but results have
been lacking and the club is winner
With some Of the best pitching talent to be
desired 1t is conundrum indeed If better
results can be accomplished with this COM
bination in another season. Cleveland went
down this season owing to the Gripping of
its best man. and that seemed to be like
kT oCking the king pin out of The
club can scarcely recover from that blow.
The White SoX, too, had their share of
troubles and for weeks and weeks some of
the men were the crippled list. This
team is one of the best in the country,
however. The men are fast and they play
every point for all they worth all the
time. No manager works any harder for
results than does Fielder Jones and, consid-
ering that this is his first year in that ca
pacity, he deserves deal of credit. 1t is
no easy task for a man to hold his own
against veterans and Jones must be cred
ited with signal success.
The work the locals have done has shown
there no excuse at all for fault-findng,
with which they were beset, for n club that
made the showing the champions did at