Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-08-08
SPEAKER IS BEST
in EITHER
LEAGUE
If Boston Red Sox Win Pennant
1t Will Be Largely Due to
Iris, Say Experts

ITO, Gay 6HPSd ~
If the Boston Red Sox win the
American League pennant this year,
Iris Speaker probably will be hailed
as a new king of baseball. Boston
bought him for $500 five years ago.
Speaker does not shine so much to
the disparagement of his mates for
two reasons-first, their own indi'
vidual and collective ability, which
saves them from suffering by con.
tact with Speaker. and, second, Speak
field.
The others are generally so good
that Speaker does not appear, like
Cobb, as the one man of the team,
and that is why Jake Stahl was able
to tell his players:
This Is not a one-man team, you
are all entitled to the credit" T..
But here is what one baseball ex-
pert says of Iris Speaker, and the
opinion is beginning to be shared by
others. The critic Is Billy Murray,
the Pittsburg scout, whose business 1t
is to watch and study baseball play
ers and their records. Murray has
no personal interest in Speaker, and
is not fooled by dazzling perform.
ances on the diamond or flattering
press comments, which emphasize
the odd and interesting acts of the
stars and make their general base
Oall ability a secondary feature:
This is what Murray says:
you can praise Ty Cobb, Joe Jack
son and other great outfielders in the
big leagues, but none of them is in
the class with Iris Speakergeof the
Red Sox. me
Speaker is the best player ON the
diamond today. AS a hitter, fielder,
thrower and base-runner he has Ty
Cobb and others beaten.
Murray Crowns Iris King. "a
81 have seen all of the stars of
twenty-five years and iris Is king
He is only % years old-this young
Texan-and he is getting better every
year. 49, q
Because so many of his plays on the
baseball field are spectacular some
fans" call Speaker a "grandstand
player" No man deserves the appel
lation less. Speaker is never, on pa
rade, rarely bothers the crowd, has
few eccentricities noticeable to the
hooters, and goes about his business
in a businesslike way.
His batting success does not seem
to be due to any particular style. He
has an eye for all sorts OI balls. Jack
Coombs, Chief" Bender, Ed Walsh,
Walter Johnson and some of the
other star pitchers say he is the hard
est man to fool in the league. They
can frequently outguess Ty Cobb, for
instance, and make the Georgia
Peach" look foolish, but rarely put
one over on Speaker. In this respect
he is more or less like Nap" Lajoie.
Speaker hits like a bull. If there
is anything he lacks it is finesse, and
that is why he is often not so formid-
of the others. But he is such q long
distance hitter, smashes them so hard
and so frequently that he is just as
successful in the long run-but he
loses the advantage of being consid-
cred clever, and thereby getting his
name in the papers"
Good Judgment on Bases.
When he is "on"-being baseball
for on the bases-he still seems to
lack finesse simply because he plung
IS along and appears to make his way
by sheer, brute force. AS matter Of
TACT, Speaker does use rare judgment
on the bases, seldom oVerlooks a
chance for an extra base, is fast
runner, despite his build, and has
stolen more bases this year than any
ether man except Milan of the Senat-
ors. He thinks quickly and gets away
with many steals because of his
speed and ability to get promptly un-
Ger way. He appears to be clumsy,
but that is because of his build.
He seldom strikes out. His eye for
The ball is so good that Speaker al
most invariably hits it somewhere.
which is another asset in the hit
and-run' play. No record is kept of
strike-outs, but it is possible that iris
Speaker misses connections less than
any other batter in either league.