Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-01
BY J. ED GRILLO.

The present week may be a most i'm
portant one in both of the big leagues.
Ii may be that the result of the games to
be paved will give a better line on which
teams are To do battle IN the worlds
series this fail
Interest naturally centerS in whether
the Athletics are still slumpins or wheth-
er they have regained their stride. Mack $
team opens i'm Chicago. and while the
White Sox are not necessarily trouble
SEINE, yet as they have lost four straight
to Detroit the Athletics showing there
will give a line on now the team is going,
compared to the clip the Tigers are set
ting. This is "A most important trip Tor
the leaders in the race. Should they
slump il is rot unlikely that they will
Lose their present position in the race. not
withStandinG the good lead. before they
return to their own grounds.
over in Detroit there is another impor-
tant series. for Boston must beat the Ii
gers 10 hold second place, for which the
Hub team is being pressed by New York.
Detroit has MUCH ground to make up, but
there would be no greater boost for the
Tigers than To beat Boston, one of the
teams which is leading it. Ever since
Jennings team got back from the east 1t
has been playing q high grade of ball, and
II will be hard To stop from this out but
it has an enormous handicap to overcome.
which would be materially reduced if the
ton.
If The NATIONALS can hold sixth place
until they return here august Il they will
have done well. There is hardly chance
for them tn improve their position, for
cleveland Will b" al home for the next
two weeks or So and incidentally that
team * going well Just AS the
team starts its western trip az St. Louis,
il will he against comparatively easy
game at the outset. So McAlecr may
break even on his present tour. notwlth-
standing the fact that with Milan, Street
and Beckendorf out of the game he is
in none too good shape to make hard
fight.
In the National League perhaps the
most important series is the one which
opens tomorrow between the Cubs and
Giants. \ setback al this time for the
Chicago team would add interest to the
race of the old league, for it would make
the race closer. The Cubs squirting
along at a fast clip. however. and the
Giants will find them hard to beat. Pitts
burg. too. * coming along Ia make Il
,;rouS finish There may he no changes
in the standing OF the teams in either
jcr league ut the end of this week.
and yet the games scheduled TO be PLAYED
viii give a pretty good line on the out
come of the pennant races.
Ii usually takes some time to develop
young pitchers into major league foru
and the team which relies youngsters
%, win its games is rot going to be very
iii:h up in tho race.
Jim McAleer seems to have made no
mistake in recalling Tom Hughes. Long
fom is a good pitcher. and while the
youngsters are being developed he will
-i able to- win a few games, which, of
curse, is essential.
Bill Donovan appears to he in better
,rm this year than he has been in
overall. though the season was Well add
.auced before Bill attempted to pitch any
lbnnnNanS
strong. 1T needs lot OF nursing to
tring it into pitching fettle. and it will
rot stand much abuse. Bill is one of
those pitchers whose experience help.
him considerably. He works batter
tn his head more than by reason of
anything he can put on the ball. With
Jennings pitchers all showing improve
ment the Tigers are looming UP as at
least strong factors in the race. some
thing that could not be said of them
few weeks ago.
Dolly Gray is scheduled TO pitch against
the Browns today. Lake or Powell will
be his opponent.
There does not seem to be any question
that Walter Johnson possesses more speed
than any pitcher the game has ever de-
velopen. There have been those who he
lieved that Amos Rusie. the famous New
York pitcher of a few years ago had
more speed than Johnson. but the fact
that 10 catcher found il difficult to ham
die RuSies delivery, while Johnson is put
ting his catchers out OF the game with
bruised hands. would indicate that the
Idaho wonder has more ON his ball than
did Rusie.
Dick Buckley caught Rusie in large
majority of his games, and he never
found his hands giving out as a result. as
have Street. Beckendorf and Henry in
catching Johnson. 1t is pretty hard lines
on a pitcher when he is forced to let up
for the want OF a catcher TO hold him.
II begins to look very much as if TyI
Cobb would be the rec pient of that auto
mobile offered to the best batter. Cobb
is leading the American League again and
he Is going along a good clip. What is
more, NTyrus is doing a lot of waiting for
bases on balls in order 10 keep his aver
age up He makes every effort 10 keep
his at-bat column down to a minimum, so
that his hits count for more than those
made by Lajoie, his nearest rival. Larry
seldom gets walk and it is in this and
the fact that Cobb beats out infield hits
that he has the advantage.
Perhaps there is no better illustration
of the worthlessneSs OF dope in base ball
than a record of the Athletics to date
This shows the leaders 10 have 80
and lost - games. Il winning perceutageI
Df .6iI7. and giving them lead of "a points
over Boston. or the 50 games played by
Mack's men. IL were with Boston, New
York and Detroit, the other first division
teams. OF these games - were victories
and II defeats, percentage of to- just
the same standing the team has in the
race. Forty-eight games We're played with
Cleveland, Washington, Chicago and St
Louis. the teams which make up the
second division in the race. Strangely
enough the winning percentage OF the
Athletics against the weaker clubs is
precisely what it is gainst the stronger
32-lt-.ta;7
One would naturally figure that a team
which could win a large majority of it's
games from the teams which are pushing
u hardest IN the race would have a COM
YaratIVely easy time disposing of the
weak teams, and yet their showing
int L. IL