Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-19

from the Hartford club Wilson held On
for couple of seasons, pitching occa-
sionally. but he didn't prove the man
wanted. Vaughn was dug up in the south,
allowed to stay down there a year or two
for the proper seasoning, until he bios
somed forth hish-class left-hander, and
by all odds the. best the New York club
ever has had.
During all this time the New York club
had right-handers in droves, and it is in
terestinS to scan the right-hand-
lsft-handers. Before the present COM
petent staff. consisting of Ford. Vaughn.
Quinn, Frill, Warhop. Manning and
Hughes. was formed the following right
hand pitchers came and went: Wolfe
Griffith. Chesbro. Deering. Tom Hughes.
Ciarkson, Leroy, Keefe. Bliss. Goode,
Glade, Garvin, Kitson, Moore. Lake.
Brockett and Doyle. The list gives some
idea of the number of men who have to
be tried out to get together a real pitch
ing staff.
There are several pitchers among the
stars whose averages may not show them
TO be at III hefty with the stick, but who
are factors to be reckoned with when A
hit is needed badly, pitchers who likely as
not will break up game. Such one is
Crandall Of the Giants When this fellow
get: hold he drives the bail hard and far.
Opposing pitchers don't feel any too Sc
cure when he comes up, knowing that
there is a chance of sufficient size not to
be trifed with of his slamming the pall
out of reach. Like several other pitchers
of the same tendency. he might not be a
consistent batter were he In the game all
the time. but he is one of those twirlers
who increase their teams batting strength
ewhen they are pitching.
Quinn Of the Highlanders Is another
pitcher who as pinch hitter is above the
average Of box men. He lands with
force, doesn't strike out often, is Of the
slugger type and is likely to make his
hits when they count most. Joe Lake
is a natural hitter and has a good aver
age. So has Mathewson, who usually
has a high average at the bat among the
pitchers. though not as timely a hitter
as some. Walsh doesn't make many hits,
but gets a goodly share of them when
they count. Mullin is a dangerous batter
with men on bases and SO Is CoOmbs or
the Athletics. Still there aren't any Jack
Stivettses among the present day pitch
ers, nor, for that matter, any Al Orths
or Bobby Carrutherses.
An evening paper the other day printed
a piece on the comparative strength OF
the National and. American leagues In
which the opinion was advanced that this
ball of the two. While opinions will
differ on the point, there is reason why
the opinion expressed in favor of the
American hit the nail on the head 1t Is
simply the result of a natural evolution;
simply nature asserting herself. AS one
league finds its veterans slowing up it
goes out and digs up younger ones. AS
soon as experience makes the younger
players At for their company their speed
tells. The old must give way to the
young Alternating of superior speed be-
tween the two leagues is a condition like
ly to continue as long as two big leagues
continue First one then the other will
have the edge on it's rival.
There isn't any doubt that last year
and two or three years prior to that the
National League played faster ball than
the American: played with more vim ana
fought it's battles out harder. This year
q change has come over the oroer OF
things The American League Is playing
faster and more determined ball than for
several years, more up-to-date and re-
sourceful ball. Not all of the clubs are
doing it. but more of theno than before,
and the whole league feels the effect.
The young teams built up, or being built
up, by New York, Philadelphia. Boston
and Chicago are setting fast pace.
The fact of one league or another win
ming a worlds championship in series
of seven games is no PROOF of the supe-
riority of the league represented by the
winner, though it Is altogether probable
that the Cubs. Pirates and Giants In the
years they won the worlds series could
nave won the penndHt III lilc <Ahici iSo :.
League They had the speed and
strength to do SO and in years when
their league as whole was playing the
faster ball. The point. however, Is sim
ply this: In the due course Of events the
American League has had to put aside
veterans and recruit younger and faster
men. A few years back it was the turn
of the National League to do so, and the
result of getting younger and more ambi-
tious players was a speedier game. The
whirligig of time finds the American
League supplanting veterans with young
sters on a big scale this year and a con-
seuuent increase in speed.
The balance of speed between the two
leagues never is great. but what there is
is likely to continue to swing back and
forth as players come and go. Both
leagues are fast enough, but the several
teams in the American League have hit
up their speed more over last year than
any National League team has done, and
while the dyed-in-the-wool National
Leagues partisan may not admit that the
American has teams playing the faster
ball he must concede' that those teams
are playing faster than last year.