Evening star., 1908-01-26
.PENNANT. WINNING
HURTS PITCHERS
Stars 'BaCk Up" After Land
ing Trophy for Their
Clubs.
BY GEORGE T.. MoRELAND.


| dieting great things of him during the
season of 1908 His work during the sea-
son of 1907. when he won twenty-five out
of twenty-nne games. a percentage OF
| s62, of course. gives them plenty of lati-
| tude to base their claims on. However,
| should this sterling twirler duplicate his
| work OF the year just passed, he Will
prove the reverse TO any other pitcher who
| has had to carry the burden of work that
was put upon his shoulders.
| Have the fans in Detroit and other
| cities stopped to think of what happened
| To other stars who did the bulk OF work
| for the teams that have had a part in the
worlds championship games since the
modern worlds championship games be-
gan in 1868?
| ! doubt very much if this grand pitcher
will come anywhere near winning the
| games this season he did last, even
| should the Tigers win the pennant i
base my opinion on the result OF ,he pa =. -,
| / have gone over the records OF the
| work of Philippe, Young and Dlneell,
| who did the majority OF Work In 1915
| lnd that of Nathewson. CoakleS, Plank
and Bender OF 1900. and the results s,o' OF
| Walsh rock. White and Brown OF l.h6.
| Let us 80 back to the beginning of the
| latter worlds championship games be-
| tween Boston and Pittsburs in 1903.
During the season prior to the games
| which resulted in Boston winning 1--WE out
| of eight from Pttsburg, who captured
| the National League championship ana
| what was the result
| Deacon" Philippe, the grand tWirier OF
the Pirates had no trouble winning TWEEN
| ty-four out of thirty-three games, giving
| a percentage of .t2i.
| 'Cy" Young of the BostonS won t"eh-
| ty-nine and lost eight while Dlneen won
| twenty-one and lost thirteen, giving them
L of nd
| What was the result, dear fans, the fol-
| lowing year?
| Philippe who reported in the best pos
| sible condition, managed to win but half
| his games out of the twenty he pitched
| Young won twenty-six against twenty
| nine the year Boston captured the world
/ championship. and lost sixteen, just twice
| as many as he did in 1903. His percentage
Of winning games was .6l9, against .'oi IN
/ 1903
| Bill Dineen was more fortunate than
Young. for he was able to win twenty
| three games and lose fourteen in 1904, as
| against twenty-one won and thirteen lost
| in 1903. But 1t must be remembered that
| Young pitched in over half of the games,
| consequently his work proved much
| harder. The strain was that much more
| than that imposed upon Dineen.
| The latter pitcher, though, has since
| gone back from the work imposed upon
| MIN, while, after years rest, Young
| has regained his form. Look at Philippe,
| one of the grandeSt pitchers in the coun-
| try prior to these series of games. He
has been practically out of the running
| ever since. Philippe has shown flashes
| of his brilliancy In several games, but he
| has never been the same old reliable Phil
| since the Boston-Pittsburg series.
New York VS.. Athletics.
Where could better quartet of pitchers
| be found than Mathewson Coakley Plank
and Bender. the pitchers who did the bulk
Of the twirllng in the memorable series?
| Mathewson, who was inyincible in the
series, shutting out the Athletics three
| times. look at his work the following sea-
\ son, when he was able to win % and lose
| u, as against 81 won and lost in 1905.
/ Many will say his 1908 record was a
! good one. grant that point. but it was not
| has not been the great pitcher since. as
| his work during the past two years Will
prove. In 1905. the season he did such
| grand pitching against the National
1 League clubs, as well against the Ath-
| letics, when he won .775 per cent. of his
games from the other teams in the league
| and 1000 per cent against the American
League champions. His record for the fol-
lowing year shows .647 per cent wins, a
| drop of 123 points.
| What was the result in the camp Of the
| Athletics? Coakley. who did so much to
| win the pennant for Connie Mack. win
| ming II out of 25 games in 1905, a per-
| centage of $50, as against won and 8
| lost, a percentage of .467 in 1906. a loss of
213 points.
| Bender, another star of the American
| League, who won is and lost IL games,
| could not win over 10 out of 25 the follow
ing season. Plank. who took part in two
games being shutout both times. was the
| exception to the general rule as he had a
| better percentage of victories in 1906 than
he had the year before. although he won
| but 10 games against "A. still he lost but
| q against II. This is why he had a better
| percentage of victories. He could not,
however. win as many games in 1905 as
| he did in 1905.
Sox VS.. Cubs.
Here is a series that will give a good
example of my argument as TO a pitcher
not being as good after working in a
worlds championship series as he was
prior to it.
The Sox had in Altrock and Walsh. two
| of the best exponents OF left-handed
twirling and the spit-ball in the business.
| Have either been the same since they de-
feated Chance and his Cubs? Not SO you
4 can notice it,
Altrock was the cause Of the Sox not
4 being the contenders against the Cubs
4 last fan instead of the Tigers. Had this
Il left-hander not outpitched himself during
the series of 1906 he would have been able
to take his turn on the rubber and win
i games the same he did in 1906 In that
| year his record shows 70 victories and Il
| defeats, a percentage of .666 What did We
| find him doing last year? Why, finishing
the season with a measly percentage OF
| 400 a loss of 2D6 points.
| Altrock worked in but twenty games in
| 1907 of which he won but eight, and II
| was not his pitching that defeated the
other team by long shot. Edward
Walsh. the great spit artist, was win
ner last year, despite his hard work
during the fail previous. but he, like AL
trock, had a grand team behind him that
could win from almost any team. His
| wins were mainly during the first part OF
the season, for he won eighteen out of
twenty-five by the end of July. After
that he was not able to go the distance,
which shows that he was at last caught
by the strain of 1906.
Miner Brown, who was the sensation OF
1908, was not the pitcher last year by a
great deal that he was the season before.
He won twcnty-six out Of thirty-two in
1906. while last season he won twenty out
| Of twenty-sx, Il loss of forty-three points.
| His good showing. however. should be
credited TO the work of the team, for al
most any person could have won games
| with that bunch last season.
| Brown. like Walsh. did his best work
in the early part OF the season before the
strain began to tell. Brown won eighteen