Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-15
Yesterdays National League Games.

Pittsburg. D; BrOoklyn, l.
The 300 list in the American League mas
dwindled down to a paltry eleven, that IS
when only those who have played five games
or more are considered. OF those that have
played less than five games there are six or
seven that have acquired averages better
than 300. but as some of them have been
to bat only once or twice or three times, 1t
would be scarcely right to count them. OF
the regulars, Eddie Mcfarland. the Cleve-
land boy catching for Chicago and Koehler,
the new center fielder of the Browns, lead
with the average of .356 Koehler was only
a substitute at the start of the season. but
Van Zandt's weakness with the stick gave
the former Atlanta man a chance to shine.
The strangest part of 1t is that he did not
distinguish himself with the bat in the
Southern League last season. Bill Coughlin
of the Detroits is third, and then come
Harry Bemis and Jimmy Jackson, with av-
erages of .353 and $50. respectively. Wee
Willie Keller is sixth. with 1888. while the
others in the select of select classes are
Schreck. Collins, Williams, Setback and
Seybold.
Manager Lajoie is nineteenth on the list,
with an average of .2SS. tied with Knoll of
the Nationals, who is our leading batsman
and Conroy of New York, Bradley and
Flick are tied for twelfth place. with .296.
Poor Showing of Hard Filters.
An unusually large number of the sup
posedly good hitters are way down the
list. For instance, Parent and Tom Jones
are below .240. while Burkett. Chick,
Stahl. George Davis and Huelsman are be-
low 80. Lave Cross and Buck Freeman
are below 30 while Jake Stahl and Frisk
who led the Pacific Coast League In bat
ting last year. are just above the 900 mark
Among those below 200 are Jimmy Gala
nan, Chase. Fielder Jones. Joe Sugden, who
LED the catchers in batting in 1904; Hobe
Ferris. Dick Padden, Charley Hickman
Qook queer to see his average only 1881
John Anderson, Van Zandt, the champion
hitter of the New England League; Vinson
the champion batsman Of the Eastern
League. and Charley Farrell. who was the
nominal leader in batting of the American
League in 1903. Then, too, Kid Elber-
field has hit only lis. while Charley Cars
mark is but .123. while "Ducky'' Holmes
is hitting only .129. What's the cause?
Foul strike and "spit ball" No use look
ing an further. You can't say that it is
case of the old batters losing their bat
ting eyes. for most of the youngsters with
reputation of being hitters are hitting poor
er than the old boys
Among the few that are hitting better
than they did in 1904 are Eddie McFar-
land, Coughlin, Bemis, Schreck, Collins
Williams. Setback. Fultz Crawford, O'Leary
and Jiggs Donohue, but then the season
is young yet and many of these will soon
begin to slump.
Two newcomers that have done fairly
well are Stone. who is hitting 30 for the
Browns. and Knight of the Athletics. The
latter although only a school boy Is hit
ting .2o4. Stones average Is no surprise
as he hit over 400 in the American Asso-
citation In fact. he is not doing as we'll as
either jackson or Schaefer, both of whom
he led in the association In 1904.
Keller and Collins lead as to the great
est number of hits, each having secured
twenty-four. Keller also leads as a run
getter, having crossed the plate seventeen
times. Other successful run getters are
Collins thirteen, SeyboId twelve, Jackson
twelve and Flick twelve.
In team batting Philadelphia leads, with
an average of 30. Cleveland is second,
with 80. and st. Louis, New York, Chi
cago, Boston, Detroit and Washington fol-
lowing in order. Queer that the Nationals,
which led the league when these figures
were compiled prior 10 Fridays games.
should be absolutely last in batting, and
with the rdiculously low average of 1873.
But none of the team passes the average.
For the season of 1894 Cleveland led the
league with team average of .26S while
the Washingtons were last then with an
average OF Do. New York leads at present
In runs with 81, While Philadelphia leads IN
hits with 162
The heaviest batting team that could be
selected, according to present averages.
would consist of the following: Kitson,
Detroit pitcher; Mcfarland. Chicago,
catcher; Davis. Philadelphia, first base:
Williams. New York. second base; Wallace,
st. Louis. shortstop; Coughln. Detroit.
third base: Jackson Cleveland left field:
KoehIer St. Louis. center field; Keller,
New York. right field.
The weakest batting team would consist
of the following: Powell. pitcher: Doran.
catcher; La Chance. first base: Lowe Sec
oud base: ElberIeld shortstop; Unglaub.
third base; Vinson, left field: Holmes. cen
ter field Callahan. right field.
The averages are as follows:
Five Games or More.
Rank-Piayer-Club. q. All H. II Ley .
l-McFarIand. Chicago. II 20 ~ 39s
Koehler, St. Louis. IL 20 10 SJe
3-Coughlin. Detroit. 10 ~ 3D.
4-Bcmis Cleveland. IA 81 lS 90
5--JacksoR. Cleveland. II 20 y "a S3t
6-Keeier New York. ID ~ IL ~ 81
= atrue >