Evening star., 1912-08-30
BY J. ED GR1LLo.

It's all over, SO far as the American
League pennant race is concerned. Bos-
ton has the pennant cinched and interest
now centers in the struggle for second
place, which the Nationals are holding
but which is contested by the Athletics.
worlds champions.
Boston's lead is so great now that there
is no chance for that team being over
taken It will probably win the honor
by a much larger margin than 1t now
holds.
Boston has won because it has the bet
ter team. 1t has speed and hitting power
and, incidentally, a well-balanced. hard
working pitching staff. 1t was this which
the Athletics lacked and to which their
failure to repeat their performance OF
the past two years must be attributed.
Mack has the stronger hitting team. per-
haps. but when the pitching is weak, as it
has been this year, even a cloutng team
cannot land on top.
Gritiith's team stands a splendid chance
to ,1nsh second. If the team will con-
tinue to hustle it should beat out the
Athletics. Had Griffith been blessed with
more batting strength he would have
been nearer to Boston now. II, in fact.
There might be different story to tell
OF this race II Griffith had started the
season with Gandil on first. The Ma
tionals showed little or nothing before
Gandil Joined them From that day out
weeks old when he came into the fold.
Those six weeks were the worst the Ma
tionals experienced, so that 1t is easily
figured that many more games would
have been won had he been q member
Of the team right at the outset Of the
campaign.
Now that it seems assured that the
Giants and Red Sox will meet in the
worlds SERIES speculation is again rife
as to whether the Boston catchers will
be able to stop the Giants from running
the bases. For some unaccountable
reason the Giants have the reputation OF
being world beaters on the path. and yet
they displayed none of their prowess in
this respect when they hooked up with
the Athletics last fall. Thomas and Lapp,
the Giants could not run away from them.
Boston is not strong behind the bat.
Carrtgan Is the only catcher of expert
ence the team can boast Of, and he Is not
blessed with a particularly strong arm.
who have done splendid work this sea-
son. but whether this trio will be able
to stop the Giants remains to be seen.
Marauard will probably be the only one
troublesome, The Sox had a taste Of
Mathewson a couple Of years ago and hit
him decidedly hard. Furthermore, Matty
is not the Matty of old. Years Of service
are beginning to tell on him. and while
he is still a wonderful pitcher. he is no
longer able to stand the strain Of q
worlds series and show high-class form.
Boston surely stands as good q chance to
beat the Giants as did the Athletics last
season, for in Wood the team has a itch
er who should go just as well against
McGraw's team as did either Bender or
C0ombe ~.
Experts who follow closely the pecul-
iarities OF base ball teams and their
pitchers have 1t all figured out that II
the Giants win In the National League
all Stahl has to do to win the pennant
is to find one pitcher who viii win q
single game-Joe Wood will do the rest.
says an exchange. 1t Is q popularity OF
the Giants that they whang curve balls
over the lot. but they can't locate the
fast ones with hop" to them. Bill
Steele ia about the most effecfiYA o4 the