Evening journal., 1910-11-30
HOW CAN PITCHERS
GET REAL CREDIT
Many Theories Advanced, But
Nest Contain Flaws
Which Puzzle
PRESENT SYSTEM IS
FAULTY, MANAGERS BELIEVE

One subject OF discussion during the
off season of every year Is the ques-
tion Of giving proper credit to the
pitchers, saws w. A. Phelan. Sug-
gestions and schemes for so arrang-
ing the figures that they will actually
show whether the slabman have done
we'll or I'll are always multitudinous.
Some of these ideas are halfway SEN
sible; some are marvels of elaborate
jackassity. and all Of them have seri-
GUS flaws when closely analyzed.
Ranking the pitchers by percentage
Of games won gives the credit, Of
course, to the stars OF the first divi-
sion teams. which gave their pitchers
the support needed to win the games.
Even the pitchers Of the topnotch
teams do not get the credit duly ap-
portioned, for many a manager sends
one man against the weaker clubs,
from which he gathers a raft of VIC
tories, while the real pitching star of
the team Is sent against the hardest
propositions, from which IL Is impos-
sible TO get much better than an even
break.
The number Of hits per game and
per inning recorded against each
pitcher'i is suggested as a basis Of COM
parison. There. again, the fellows on
the topnotch teams would get the
best of it. as they would receive keen
er support than those of the losing
clubs. and fewer hits would shoot past
the fielders.
Another suggestion is the revival Of
the earned run. That would hardly
do. either, both because every scorer
would have his own idea Of an earned
run, and because the same question
of good or bad support would have
to be considered.
The number of runs made per game
would show the efficiency of many
pitchers. An inspection of records
made I'm past years will show that
some pitchers who worked for losing
teams we're successful I'm holding their
opponents to fewer runs per battle
than some of the men who were on
clubs, and that these
clever hurlers, therefore, were beaten
only because their outfits did not bat
behind them. The same drawback of
inferior support would spoil the rec
Niao VI AAaAA1 NAiAAfArn MAAAl0 Ul AHN
same time II will be freely admitted
that the man who could hold his op-
ponents to three runs per game while
pitching for a losing team would have
a far more impressive record than the
fellow who allowed four runs per
game while working for the champ
ions
There is, as a plain fact, no way
IN which to average up the pitchers
IN cold, hard figures-no way In which
every circumstance of merit or de-
merit can be shown. A tabulation
that would conclusively demonstrate
pitching skill would have to be SO
long, so complex and so far-reachine
in its ramifications that the fans
would give It up as an impossibility
before they had read halfway through
No, brothers. There isn't any way
In which figures can actually tell the
worth Of a pitcher Keep the figures
as they are-theyll show how hard a
man can hit, how many games he won,
how many he famed and how many he
ticketed to first, but the Judgment of
fans and fellow-players is about the
only actual criterion of the value Of
a pitcher. That will have to remain
the standard Of comparison for years
TO come.