Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-06
SPORTING COMMENT.
BY ]. ED GRILLo.
Open Until
E PM.

II Jack Johnson has only to defend his
title against white men Of the caliber
OF Kaufman and Lang. he Is in no i'm
mediate danger Of having to relinquish
the crown he took from Jim Jeffries at
Reno.
About the only chance that either Of
the worthless who battled six rounds in
Philadelphia last night would have
against the colored champion would be
TO wait until he is old and decrepit
Neither is going to improve. because
they have reached that age in life
where improvement cannot be looked for
In a fighter. Kaufman bested Lang the
other night. but what of that? Lang.
like most Of the foreign fighters. proved
q dub. and Kaufman failed to impress
any one that he had a chance to be q
champion.
And yet these are the two foremost
heayyweights aside from Johnson before
the public today. 1t shows the scarcity
years ago fighters OF the Kaufman-Lang
type would have had 10 appear In the
preliminaries: today they are aspirantS
for championship honors.
The batting contest between Lajoie and
Cobb Is so close that nothing but the
official figures could decide which is lead
ing for the prize. 1t is certain, how
ever, that Latoie has been hitting much
better than Cobb. Tyrus seems to have
about the automobile that he is not hit
ting anywhere near his standard. with
the result that Lajoie Is climbing up
very rapidly. and may have passed him!
majority OF the patrons of base ball
will he pulling for Lajoie to win the prize.
for the reason that he lacks the speed
which makes many of Cobb's hits posi-
BILE and must therefore get more clean,
- e..
the running. Then. too. Cobb has charged
I'm three worlds champion series. while
the big Frenchman has never had a taste
of anything that goes with being on a
winning team.
races decided virtually a month before the
end Of the season, the chances are that
this Is not going to be as profitable a year
for the club owners as have the past few
campaigns.
For some reason or other both winners
this year galloped out in front at the
start virtually and were never headed.
There was really but one or two interest
ing skirmishes between the leaders In
each league. and these did not last long
enough to get the fans worked up.
With every club In the country on the
lockout for catchers the Nationals were
decidedly fortunate to pick up so capable
q
become one of the leading backstops of
the league when he gets a little more ex-
perience.
one reason for the hope that the time
il not far of when the Nationals will be
a first division team lies In the fact that
McAleer is better supplied with catchers
than any of his rivals. The Importance
of this position Is generally recognized,
and TO have Street, Ainsmith and Henry
TO rely upon assures good work behind the
bat.
Street and Ainsmith are stars already.
and John Henry. in the opinion OF many
experts. will develop into a rare perform
or within year or so.
Few teams after having won three PEN
nants in row would continue to hustle
as have the Tigers. after finding them
selves beat for the fourth flag. The fact
that the Detroit team has virtually been
out OF the running for the flag for the past
month does not seem to have had the
usual effect on its playing. As rule
once team rs beaten il gives up and
plays listless ball, and this is particular
~ true after the players have had a
taste OF pennants and the like. But un-
der Jennings direction the Tigers are
stili going at top clip. There Is no in
which has won pennants might as well
be fourth as second. but Jennings has
injected that fighting spirit into his play.
ers and they do not realize that they
are beaten.
While there is perhaps no doubt that so
far as the catching department is con-
cerned the Cubs Will have an advantage
over the Athletics, yet In Ira Thomas
Connie Mack has the one catcher who
caught the only game the Cubs lost to
the Detroit team in the two years they
played for the worlds title.
Thomas was only caught in one OF these
games. and IL was the only victory the
Tigers scored. Now IL there is anything
in dope Thomas figures to be a star per-
former in the series. for he enters with
q clean record.