Evening star., 1914-10-25

"dTu 10 the 1914 season Win alaTHl IL
was needless alarm: the statistics
prove it.
Admittedly. the first thing to enthuse
the fans Is batting. whether 1t is done
by the home club or the visitors. 1t
might have been expected that with the
big leagues robbed of some great pitch
ers. the bats would swing with more
power in the 1914 season-that is, the
bats of the first-grade men. Nothing
like that happened.
"Ty'' Cobb again was the big league
champion, his eighth season for the
honor, but his figures were consider
ably reduced. This, 1t Is true, was In
a measure due to injuries which he
not find 1t any easier to get safe hits
when he was in tiptop shape and ham
| ding his bat with all his old-time cum
ming.
Jake" Daubert, who was the Nation
al League leader In 1913 again finished
in the van as the individual batsman.
But he did not equal his average of the
previous season and did nothing re-
markable over any stretch of the cam
paign. Therefore, the pitching in the
big leagues must have been just about
the same as 1t was in previous seasons.
Phillies Still the sluggers.
In ng-distance hitting the Phillies
had the stars, as they did the pre-
vious year. Magee was the premier
slugger of the big leagues, taking that
title from his teammate, ''Gavvy" Cra-
vath. Sherwood swatted out 80 dou-
bles. IL triples and 15 homers "Gavvy,"
however. held fast to the home-run
crown, rounding the bases 19 times on
hits outside the boundaries. That was
precisely the same number of home
| runs made by the famous Californian in
1913.
The American League did not have
any surprising change in the slugging
division. Last year Jackson led in two
baggers, with 80; this season Speaker
was at the TOP. with AZ. In 1913 Sam
Crawford blazed the triple trail with
20; he added three in 1914, having 26.
Baker was the ''home-run king of the
previous year, with IL four base clouts;
his majority was reduced this season,
ford.
In the National League, J. Carlisle
smith, the Boston infielder, who met
with misfortune on the eve of the
worlds series, produced forty two
in 1913, and led the procession; this
year Magee's thirty-nine put him in
the van. Last year Vic Saier's three
base hlts totaled twenty-one, and ne
teen by Max Carey enough to get the
title. Cravath, as already related, du-
pllcated his home-run record.
Taking the batting as a whole, one
before and after the e' Federais' sseape aps
pearance. The American League had
sixteen batsmen above 800 in 1913;
this year they had eleven. Last season
twenty-three National League hitters
were in the select class; the 1914 list
totals fourteen.
So that. if one cares for singles,
doubles. triples and home runs, the
game still has the men who can hit
them. And. at the same time, the
stars have not been able to improve
to the extent where the mastery over
pitchers would ruin the game-in fact,
in few cases they fell off in stick
work.
Base running appears to be the next
thing which the fans want to watch.
They like to see the brainy and tricky
Eddie Collins and the seemingly ir-
| resistible cobb dash from first to third
on a single. The base stealing of
Milan, Carey and other intelligent pur-
loiners always appeals.
The figures do not tell much about
go, they do not indicate any great
difference. Collins crossed the. home
plate 125 times in the course of the
1913 season. which gave him the rum
scoring title; this year Eddie scored
1874 times, not enough difference to talk
about. Leach and Carey were the lead
ing comptlers in the National League
last year; in the reason recently ended.
George Burns, the Giants capable out
| fielder, was in front with 106 counters.
Maisel New King.
In the stealing of bases. Fritz Maisel.
a newcomer in big league circles,
showed the class. He pilfered seventy
three sacks, being one behind the
mark of Milan in 1913. Carey was the
National Leagues leader in the pre-
vious pennant fight, and in 1914
George Burns showed the way, also
having one less than his predecessor.
or sixty. So that the catchers did not
the paths this year, II one may Judge
by figures.
The fielding always is important. al
though figures do not show much in
that respect. The marvellous stops and
catches Of Collins, Speaker, Paskert and
Wagner bring thousands to their feet,
and yet these men may make more
errors than the ordinary fielder. But
it is not to be believed from the sur
face that the fielding was any better
or any worse because of the base ball
war.
The best way to get at it is by means
letics were the best defensive club with
966 mark, making PIP errors. This
year the Mack monarchs again led
with 1856 mark, being charged with
the Phillies were the fielding cham
pions of 1913, their average being .96S,
they having PA errors. Doolan and
Knabe cost the Phils lot of defensive
strength and this season Boston was
at the top with a 1866 mark, the Braves
being charged with 223 errors. All
the way down the line in both leagues
there was hardly enough difference TO
talk about.
The Pitching End of It.
1t was the great pitchers who lis
tened to the financial talk of the
Feds with the greatest amount of
interest. The baby league grabbed
number of stars; others were sup
posed to be dickering with them, and
consequently not flingine the ball up
not show that there was a falling off
in the twirling department.
Walter Johnson, of course, is the
king of big league fingers. In 1913
he was victorious thirty-six times and
lost only seven starts. The Senator
did not maintain that dizzy pace, but
he did win twenty-eight games this
year. Last season Johnson famed 243
batsmen: this year he struck out 221.
Although he did not show the same
mastery over the batsmen, Walter Ger
was not affected greatly by the uncer-
tainties of the base ball war.
The real leader of the pitchers this sea-
son was Chief Bender, who won seven
teen games and lost only three His
record however, was due to a careful
and studied campaign with just enough
work and not too much.
Mathewson was the virtual champion
hurler of the National League in 1913