The Washington herald., 1913-08-17
Figures |
Have Climbers Last
Records for One-Tenth Of a
!: Century Place Grifmen
: Cellar Champs.
iMACKMEN TOP THE LIST
Connie Maek's White Elephants Have
Proven to Be the Most
Consistent Club,
By FERGUSON FAGUE.

: If YOU only had a chance to bet your
money on an American League pennant
winner every ten years. who would you
pick to land the honors? Just suppose
the order of things was changed around
and it took one-tenth of a century for
a leader to be decided, which team do
You think would come across with his
long distance stuff? 1t would be quite
a job TO attempt 10 figure with any de-
: gree of certainty were past records not
availa BILE and even then the dope stands
, an excellent chance to send many be-
liever in it along the well-beaten path
of many bum predictions.
9 Ten years is a long time from base
ball viewpoint and in that space Of time
every team in the American League has
been made over, some Of them several
times, there being a mighty few still in
the lineup who graced the sporting pages
with their doings in the year 1903. They
can be counted on the fingers of your two
hands. and then you would have some
! fingers left over. Lajofe, Plank, Wal
, lace Davis, and Hughes are some of
those who are still with us, and may
they linger long, but in the run of the
game the places of the veterans must be
filled, just as they have been during the
last decade.
Five Have 500 Average.
For a team to be consistent and win
over half of its games during the period
of ten years duration. many moves must
i be made by the pilots of the teams in
order that the efficiency may not be re-
duced, and that is just what has been
done by the various managers of the
big league clubs in the American League
during the last ten years. That they
, have succeeded collectively is proved
conclusively when the record of each
= club is looked over. During the ten-year
: period from 1903 to 1912, inclusive, five
! clubs have been consistent enough to
play at a pace better than 800.
During the first year of the American
! League, Milwaukee and Baltimore were
members of the organization, the Millers
being supplanted by the st. Louis Browns
in the next year. while in the following
one the New York Yankees made their
debut as a member of the circuit, re-
placing the absconding Orioles. Figures
in this article are therefore taken COM
mencing with the year 1903, since which
time the club membership of the organi-
zstion has remained intact.
Connie Mack King.
The crown must be handed to Connie
Mack, who has had the greatest success
in keeping his athletes in the forefront
Of this modified Marathon league race.
In ten years his teams have played a
total of 1,4SS games, winning SO and losing
613 for a grand percentage of So. OF
his 1903 roster only two players remain.
Plank and Davis. Davis is no longer of
any value as player, while Plank. in
recent games has shown signs of slipping
badly. In reaching this high mark of
consistency. Macks teams have won three
pennants. and have also been the runner
up in the league race upon three oc-
rasions. The worst his team ever finished
was in 1905, when its resting place when
the season was over was sixth.
After Connie Mack come the Detroit
managers. The Tigers record in the same
time is the nearest approach to Connie
Mack's high mark. ffIy-five points sepa-
rating the leaders with the holders OF
second position. Like the Mackmen, they
have won three pennants, but as support
ing material have only one second finish
10 their credit, that of 1911, when the
Athletics beat them out. Their high
percentage is all the more remarkable
when it is known that during four Of the
ten years, the team finished seventh.
sixth on two occasions. and fifth on
another. In the ten years. the Tigers
PLAYED 1.516 contests, winning Sol and
losing 7O5, a percentage of .5S2.
Third Honor Close.
from the Hub of the universe, Boston.
seem TO be arch enemies when the stand
ing of the clubs is concerned. Only once
in American League history~has it been
necessary to resort to fractions IN order
10 place the teams at the conclusion OF
a seasons games. and these two teams
hold the honor. In 1911 the fraction had
10 be called upon in order to squeeze the
Chicago White Sox into the first division
ID Co hut If
a point separating the two teams. Chi
cagos mark was 509.9, while Boston $
was. as stated one-tenth of point
less 5I9S But this is not where their
fighting for position proclivities ends II
seems hardly possible that two teams
could play for period OF ten years.
during which time more than 1,4Vo ball
games were played by each team, and
still be within a fractional difference of
each other, but that is just the condition
which existed between Chicago and Bos-
ton after ten years of straining and
struggling And Chicago is again the
winner, this time by two-tenths OF
point.
When it is considered that during this
time the Beaneaters landed three pen
nants, while the White Sox were annexlng
only one, the record of the Windy Clty
team is by far the best. Chicago mas
never nnlSneQ laSl, White lile DoSloh eSoii'
occupied that rung of the ladder in lSo.
One peculiar feature of the race in the
year in which the fraction separated the
team was that six of the eight clubs in
the race finished with percentage oil
800 or better, Washington and st. LOUIS
being the ones to remain without the
charmed circle.
Maps Get Even Rrenk.
C,.,aland is the other club which has
played above an even break for ten years,
and is the only club which has dene II
which has never won a pennant. The
fact that they have been able to main-
tain suca a good position without the
aid of a pennant speabs well for the
consistency of the team. inasmuch as 1t
finished with a mark of .522 just seven
points behind Chicago and Boston.
New York, St. Louis. and Washington
bring up the rear, and it will take some