The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-31
Every Branch Of Sports
Furnishes Surprising
Performers.
BASEBALL SHOWS
BIG IMPROVEMENT
World Series Was Greatest in
History of Game From Every
Standpoint-Fighters. Track
Athletes, Cue Artists and
Wrestlers All Win Glory
in Competitive Sports.


II II wasn't surpassed In 1911, II
wds al least approached 80 closely tina /
1t trcmbied With fear of annihnatton,
and this applies TO every sporting re-
cord In the book.
l# IL has been an unusual year, the one
that comes to d Ciosc at midnight to-
morrow--a most unusual year. 1t was
a banner ono In every line OF sport.
Throughout the entire gGmut of COM
{pctitiTe events, from boxing to biz !.
lizards. baseball to wrestling, golf to
:, auto racing. there were noteworthy
pcrio. .Janccs recorded.
Bascball being considered generally
Us tho particular hobby OF Uncle SANS
,chtidrcn. Is entitled to first considera-
nc l. And there Is nobody who can
deny II was an cYentful year for the
most uncertain of all games" Exc!t-
ING pennant races were fought out In
both the big leagues, and this was
also true of practically all OF the min
ors. The worlds aerics, while faint
cd with more or less acandal, was
Z, nevertheless u memorable one, and
= connie Mack deserves all the credit he
receives for the great buttIc his lpslcus
put up against the Giants.
rs Cobb. Of the Detroit Tigers, can
\ justly lay claim 10 tho supremacy as
u III -lHulNluNalsH all : around, vnlua lC
diamond star The men VINO voted him
the automobile knew VIVA, they were
doing. Without considering those
inpst elusive OF AL thinGs-tigurcs--
the premiership of The pitchers must
80 to Chief Albert Bender. OF the Ath.
lettcs, whose cunning was tho great-
est factor In the overthrow of the
Giants. paying all due respect TO the
# proFesS Of one j. Franklin Baker and
his home run click.
Jack johnson Still Chnmsion
e Passing along from tho diamond to
the roped arena, we find dusky Jack
johnson still holding the fort agains,
the hcnvies in popular opinion, al
= though he didn't really put ON the
gloves during the entire year. !hd
2 ,Wolgast-poor. unlucky little man
has not lost his right to the light
weight sovereignty. and. although the
,. close OF the year finds him in an In
capncftated condition, II seems certain
that he Will away the many
disputants to his crown when he Is
able again to go after them. Johnny
Coulon Inns defended successfully the
bantam title. and Abe Attell Is still
supreme among tho feathers.
Two champions have topplcd how
ever. III the persons of Billy Papkc
and Willie Lewis. in the welterweight
and middleweight divisions respective
< ~. The honors that were wrested
from Pnpke are In, dispute and could
be claimed by any one of half dozen
men. including Sailor Burke, Austria
liam Dave Smith, Hugo Kelley and
tj Frank Klaus. Mike Gibbons, the st.
Paul wonder, who fattened Willie
Lewis, seems to possess about the best
clutch on the latter's title, but 1t is
mot very tight one at that. Should
i Pnckey Mcfarland and Matt Wells de-
clare themselves wclters-which they
really arc-Afonsieur Gibbons would
more than have his hands full.
So we find real champions In four
classes - heavyweights. lshtwcights,
featherweights and bantamwetghts--
and jumbles in two-middlcwcigh and
welterwcight. The white heavy
weight" championship is undoubtedly
Jim Fiynn's as the new year rolls in.
Gotch Outclnsses Rivals.
Frank GGotch Is SO far ahead of all
other wrestlers, not forgetting " bsif,u,
4 Rafceyich and the twice-detcnted ana
b twioe-alibying IIackenschmidt that he
needs no comment.
Harold Hilton, the young English
4 man. is the undubitable leader Of the
golfers, by virtue of his triumph In
the American championship al Apa-
wants, and old Billy Larned is also
easily the --latest. thing" in tennis, al
Il though he has been in harness many
years y5
milford Wins Honors.
aince the grand prize race at Sayan-
nah proved a bigger affair than the
Vanderbilt cup this year, Its winner
Ralph milford, deserves tho laureis
as the premier auto race driver. Like
wise, he oblitorated tho ~wo rid s record
2 for the entire distance and many In
.ter1nediate ones, SO he has We'll sub
s,antiated claim.
In the cue world, the champions are
clearly defined nalSs Alfredo Deoro. the
equal sat tho pool game. whilo his con.
guercr at -cushion billiards,
~ ohnny Daily. Is the leader in that
& STYLE. Willie Hoppe was not even cS-
tended ;at balt zline during the year
3 and Is as much champion as ever do
81 sptteSthe fact that lie is now q "hene-
5dict."sf ;5s Ia Il x 9s b
s{s In; track athletics, there are several
genuine champions. n. c, Z Craig Nc
1 Negan. who equalled Bernoy Wefers's
ancient 220-yaid mark is tho first
and last word in the% year In; spfInt-
Is ers. ~ Ohm Paul j ones, of!,Cornell,s$Wf
K demolished Tommy Conner s mile res
cord, is tho greatest. In his speciality
Y George Bonnie 3 a Of e~ y orR Us Tie
n best ut the! abbreviated long distances,
y a 8 tho has be sn for sseveraI 4 yea ISL nd
lewis sIew y Is. the
Cont Ifiued Isssn ThIfd Pase, a