The Washington times., 1911-08-26
Recruits Jump From the
Bushes to Front Rank IN
Major Circuit.
VETERANS GOING
AT FASTER CLIP
Poor Pitching Enables Sluggers
to Hang Around 400
Mark.

CLEVELAND, Aug. 26.-There Is less
class to American League teams this
season than for four years, due to a
scarcity of real major league players.
The same is probably true of the Ma
tiOnal League.
The low caliber of the league Is
shown by the Class c and D players
who have made good. 1t used to be
that player had to graduate from
one league to another, until finally,
after season or two in a Class A
league. he was ready for a trial in the
majors. He had to be finished as far
Is he could be In the minors.
Almost every team in the league has
Class b player, or of a lower league,
in an important position. None of these
players are real stars, but they are the
best that is to be had.
On the Boston team, for instance.
Steve Yerkes. the shortstop, never had
Glass A experience. Yerkes isn't a star,
and won't be for a couple Of years.
Olaf Henrtcksen, the outfielder, who
came from the New England Glass Z
I3ague. played a great game for the
Red SOx until they reached Cleveland.
Henrtcksen was picked UP as the best
man in sight TO take Harry Ho"ner's
place for few weeks. Henricksen
wasn't a star in the New England
League, and no one was more surprised
than Patsy Donovan when he began TO
hit at a 300 clip.
Ole Olson found it easier to hit In the
American League than IN the Pacific
Coast League. One reason for his i'm
provement was instruction from Man
ager Stovall and Ole's teammates,
which brought all his strength as a hit
ter into action: another reason was poor
pitching. 1t is debatable II the Amer
Il4Rnp nttPhaTE rhAla
better than the Pacific Coast League
pitchers were last year.
Ping Bodie, the White Sox fence
buster until his weakness became
known. is another proof of the low
pitching caliber. Ping. until a few
weeks ago, was a greater hitter with
the White Sox than in the Pacific Coast
League last season.
Low Class Aids Callahan.
Jimmy Callahan is a better player this
season. the records show, than he was
six years ago, when he was thIrty-one
and twenty pounds lighter than he Is
today. Callahan isn't as good physically
as he was six years ago. He's slower,
yet this is his greatest season as a base
runner. His Improvement is due to his
ability TO Outguess poor pitchers. both
as a batter and base runner
There are exceptions. of course, to the
Old RUE tnat a player must come up
through the minors. Joe Jackson, Ed
die Collins. Ty Cobb. and a few other
natural born stars didn't need minor
league experience, but there are four
or five players coming up this season
without thorough minor league training
&c one player Two, three, and four years
ago.
The lively ball was believed to be ac-
Courtable for the big batting averages
early in the season, but since there Is
good pitching this theory is exploded.
Hughey Jennings predicted early in the
seascn that there wouldn't be a half
dozen games of four hits or under this
year There have been twice that
many, and the pitching is just begin
ming to get good.
Old Stars Brighter.
The old real stars of the league are
brighter than ever before. Larry, Cobb,
and jackson are batting around the 400
mark as against averages of $50 in their
fight for the batting title last year.
Few players have failed to show i'm
provement in hitting.
The young stars who are burning up
the league are real stars; they take
rank with the old established high class
players.
The decline in class this season has
seen some wonderful changes. 1t has
seen the White Sox change from hitless
wonders to batting demons; players
who were just hanging on last season
are 800 hitters now and no team, the
Athletics excepted, has been able to
win a long string of games since the
second month of the esason.
The Athletics are beginning to look
like the real class team of the country.
They are winning more consistently
than any Of the leaders IN the National
League.