The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
LEADERS BASEBALL RECORDS.
WORK OF VARIOUS STARS IN THE
LAST SIX YEARS.
Present Era Of National Game Finds LaJole
the MOat Proficient Performer With the
Bat-wagner an Able All Around Man
-Tenney's Flint First Base work.

-Tenney's FIN First Base Work.
Figures do not lie. and while the figures
OF baseball averages do not always give'a
true idea OF a players worth. research
among the records brings to light figures
which do give a correct idea OF the value
and ability Of high class players. Because
one man has a better fielding average does
not necessarily mean that he is a better
or more valuable player. 1t frequently
happens that the men who do the most
work, who get over the most ground and
get into the most plays have the most
errors, but when the official averages year
after year show certain players TO be
hustlers and TO be doing more than their
fellows IL Is a pretty good sign OF those
players worth. The man who season after
season accepts more chances than other
men does so az much because he creates
the chances as because they happen TO
come his way. 1t is not luck but skill
that makes a man a leading batter year
after year.
There Ia more in the baseball records
than mere averages far more. Averages
are a truer measure Of batting than OF
fielding strength. The man with the good
batting average at the end OF q season
has earned his place. He may not be as
timely and consequently not as valuable
a hitter as some below him, but the aver
age represents accurately his relative
strength in making base hits. Such is
not always the case with the fielding aver
ages. The faster a man is in hustling and
the more chances he takes to make plays
In the field the more errors he will have.
H---- l.. r,nYV 10 1naN In tho nNnrnnn1
yet the best player in his particular position.
On the other hand, the man with the best
average may be less valuable.
The present era Of baseball-that seems
10 be the hest way 10 put it-begins with the
season Of 1901, for it was then that the
American Lea que entered the arena. For
the last six years there have been two big
leagues-not a new condition in baseball,
hut one that did not exist in the period Of
ten years Immediately preceding 1901.
Who then have been the leading players
In the various de partments of the game in
this present era of six years? The official
averages will go a long way TOWARD help
ing to arrive at a conclusion, even if they
will not settle the question positively or
make pinions unanimous.
Fine batters are more prominent in the
baseball eye than fine felders, and among
mighty wielders of the stick in the six years
from 1901 to 1903 inclusive none shines Sc
UNANIMOUSLY as the great Lajoie. A phenom-
email sticker this, and the figures sustain
his reputation. Lajoie has the best bat
ting record in the period named-this
review deals only with this period-than
any other player in either league. He
hated .422 in 1901. No 9th or player in
National or American league has a per-
centage above 400.
Laioie made his .t22 batting average
when the foul strike rule was not in vogue
in the American League. The best Ma
tional League batting average is 1892, made
by Jesse Burkett and under the foul strike
rule, too. Nevertheless Laioie ia the best
batter under the foul strike rule. His
1855 per cent. made in 1905. is the best on
record under the rule. Take him all in all.
year in and year out. he is the best batter
the national game has produced.
In stolen bases Topsy Hartsel of the
Athletics heads the American League list.
Topsy stole 81 bases in 1902, which is the
American League record. The National
League has lone better. Frank Chance
and Jimmy Sheckard of the Chicagos stole
" q bdbbo dpI'NC III W hllN iAnIls NllVl
VI the Clevelands, now coach at Yale and
incidentally one Of the best thrower that
ever adorned the outfeld. did far and away
the best work in making sacrifice hits. He
tapped the ball for 81 of them in 1908. eleven
more thar the best National League record,
made by Kid Gleason in 1905. What a man
does in sacrificing depends largely on his
position in the batting order. but it also
rucans not a little skill and willingness TO
suhmerge salf in team interest.
The home run record for the l8Ol-l9OR
ora is held conformity by Ralph Seybold
and Sam Crawford. Seybold made six
teen home runs in 1902; Crawford made
sixteen in 1901, he being with the Cincinnati
team that year. L~ajoie-you always will
run across his name where there are things
doing with the bat-leads in three baggers,
with r.. while Sam Crawford leads the
National League with %. Lajoie has the
record for the most doubles in one season
so Hans Wagner has the National League
record for doubles-i4.
The most base hits in any one season
we're made by Burkett in 1901. Burkett was
in the National League at that time. Iajoie
made 2iA base hits in the American League in
ipn6. Burkett's total was 29S. In 1904 Lajoie
made iii hits. To Larry goes the credit Of
leading in runs scored. lie crossed the plate
J "a times in 1901. Burkett crossed il 1870 times
The same year. These men made the most
runs. though there may have been those
who we're better run Gctters in proportion
10 the times they reached first base. In
Justice 10 Burkctt, II II but fair to say
that he made his 22s hits and 1870 runs in
a season when the schedule did not in