Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-08
6ERTNENI @lNENT
tsssHappenin&$S rSportdom
BY J. ED GRILLo.

When the fact is taken into considera-
ton that every pitcher who leads waiter
Johnson in the official pitching RECORDS
was with a team which finished ial
ahead of the Nationals 1t would not be
unjust to figure johnson as the best
pitcher in the league.
When a pitcher. with a team which
finished seventh in the race. with a per-
centage of barely over the 400 mark.
can win twenty-three games and lose but
fifteen he is doing a whole lot better work
than the fellow who wins a larger per-
centage Of his games for team that Is
making fight for the pennant. There Is.
for instance. no comparison between the
showing Of Bender and that OF johnson.
The Indian lost five games for the worlds
champions. team which led the league
by long margin. while johnson lost but
three times that many for a team which
finished next to last. Incidentally Johi-
son pitched sixteen more games than did
Mack's star, and while. Of course. the
figures give Bender the honor OF leading
the American League pitchers. Johnson's
record shows him to have done the better
work.
Both Ed Walsh and Joe Wood led john
son in the matter Of strike-outs last sea-
son. which only goes to show that Jonn,
son has changed his style of twirling and
no longer works for strike-outs as he did
in former campaigns.
Though the Eastern League has many
weak spots in its circuit. 1t is frequently
referred to as the third strongest league
In the country. which. however. Is not
borne out by facts. The American Assoc
citation is by far the stronger circuit from
any standpoint that may be considered.
IT, AhaA hnc
some cities which have never given the
game proper support. even when they
have been blessed with a winner. condi-
ton which does not exist IN the Amerf-
can Association. Nearly every year two
or more clubs Of the Eastern circuit are
offered for sale. while there have been
but few changes in ownership in the
American Association in recent years,
which is fairly good evidence that the
league Is a success.
Racing men are Of the opinion that the
reverses suffered by the democratic party
in Maryland will sound the death knell
Of the race game In that state. Though
the sport has not been involved In any
of the issues of the campaign. those IN
terested In the Maryland tracks seem to
labor under the impression that the
days when racing can be conducted along
the lines which have been in vogue In
Maryland are numbered, and II this comes
east where the game can flourish.
It seems but question Of q little time
now when thoroughbred breeding estab-
lishments in this country will have been
eliminated. Already the greater portion
of our best stations and broodmares
have been shipped abroad. and. with the
game being eliminated nearly everywhere.
it no longer pays to breed high-class run
ming horses in this country.
The United States was just securing a
front seat among the horse-breeding
countries Of the word when the sport
fell into disfavor and was legislated out
of many states. This sentiment aeainst
the sport was the result of an element
which followed racing for speculative
purposes only. Means were resorted to
which we're not legitimate and suspicion
was aroused that the sport was not con-
Quoted along honest lines. This was true
in some instances. but the game was
given worse name than 1t deserved
The chances now are against there ever
being a revival of the sport in this coun-
try
Veterans of base ball do not believe that
the game has been improved In any way
during the past twenty years or SO. and
yet when one considers that about that
time it was possible for batter to call
for high or low ball. the wonder Is that
the batting was not greater than 1t was.
Wonder what sort Of a batting average
Ty Cobb would roll up II 1t was possible
for him to call for the kind Of a ball he
wants And what holds good with Cobb
holds good with nearly all players. It
would be rather unpleasant for most
pitchers IL they had to put the ball
where the batter wanted 1t. The fact
that in those days the pitchers were
course placed some handicap on the bat
ter. but when he could cali his ball ne
more than made up for this. With Cobb