Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-11-26
WOOD BEST PITCHER
Has Top Record in History of
American League.
NOT AT BEST IN BIG SERIES
To His Brilliant Work Red Sox Owe
Their Success Last
Season.

NEW YORK, November 25.-When Irv-
ing NJ. Howe, the able statistician OF the
American League, finished with his cash
register and his adding machine this au-
tumn he substantiated the fact that Joe"
Wood Of the Boston American League
club had toppled over the record for the
pitchers
To be more accurate, Wood had risen
supreme to the other pitchers of the
American League for the season of 1917
and for all seasons preceding. The Amer
lean isn't as old bird as the National
League. and when it first sprang into ex-
istence it's players were not Of such high
grade as those Of the National League,
but in the sweep Of time the American
League has been able to fortify its teams
with some able men, and among them is
Wood, who pitches for Boston.
He was the mainstay of the Boston
club last season, so there can be no rea-
son to discount his value to his team as
a winner. His record is not one OF those
affairs which are based on half dozen
performances in contests which are not
always of the greatest importance. he
was in the thick of game after game. and
when he had finished he had a percen-
tage-a winning percentage, mind-of 81
In not many of the games Wh1cn ne
pitched was he helped out. and he did not
act as a lifesaver for some other pitcher
more than the usual number Of instances
What He Did.
He won thirty-four games and lost five
He took part in forty-three games. but
the actual number of innings which he
pitched was 344. Divide that amount by
nine, the average number of innings to
a game, and Wood went through thirty
eight and two-ninths games. which is not
far from the total contests ascribed to
him.
Prior to Woods work for 1912 the best
records in the American League were
held by Donovan, with a percentage OF
victories Of 1862; Bender, .S21. and Mullin.
784. Donovan did not do as much work
as his rivals for the honor. The record,
which is now held by Wood, will elm
mate Mullin from being one of the three
record pitchers of the American League.
and the figures will be held conformity
by the three men whose standing starts
with the big figure So
After The records were made public and
before then. for that matter, there was
a great deal of discussion as to whether
Weed or Walter johnson is the better
pitcher OF the American League.
Not an Easy One.
1t isn't a question that will be decided
with ease. Johnson may be worth more
to some club-the club which has him,
for instance-because it looks as if he
will last longer than his rival. The
chances are that his strength will carry
hiri into a more enduring pitching life
than will fall to the lot of Wood.
The motion Of the Boston pitcher is
against him. Sooner or later that snap
of the wrist will destroy the efficiency
Of a base ball pitcher. The men with the
long sweeping arm motion are the players
who last the longest. Now and then there
may be an exception, but the big fellow
with the overland motion is likely to be
earning q handsome salary and feeding
we'll through the summertime while the
pitcher with the snap has gone back to
the village and is managing tonsorial
palace.
Against New York.
In the worlds series against the Giants
Wood began with a very effective game.
but he was not SO effective after that. So
far as pitching is concerned, neither he
nor Bedient nor Collins nor O'Brien could
have saved Boston if the New York play
ers had not bungled when they should
have played perfectly.
The triumph of the Red SoX over the
Giants was not pitching triumph. Still
that has nothing to do with the fact that
Wood has made a new record for his
league after it's twelve years and more of
history, and that record was as substan-
tial as an order for a new suit of clothes
signed by the head of somebody's First
National Bank.