The Detroit times., 1914-12-11
Plan To Cut Squads Sure To
Arouse Players TO unwise
Training Efforts
.DEMMITT AVENGED" Is
WINTER LEAGUE YARN
yeach and High Both Better
Players, According to Sea-
sons Record
By HAROLD v. WILCOX.

I IL the opening games OF the 1919
baseball season do not reveal many
more stiff arms and charley horses
than have similar occasions in past
years, the major league trainers VIII
deserve the iron cross and several
other awards Oh unusual merit.
The wave Of economy which has
struck baseball and decreed that
squads shall DO greatly reduced In
size means that competition az the
training camps will DO greatly in
creased, and trainers and managers
are going to and il a difficult task to
keep veterans and youngsters alike
from oyor-wCrking before they are IN
shape TO put Oh speed. This will be
especially true because most OF the
major league managers will take
larger squads than usual south for a
shorter training season than has hith-
erto been customary.
Even reduction from 20 TO 81
players will mean the looping OF OF
a couple of pitchers, catcher and
utility man. and will result in ter
Iific fight for favor. The restraining
OF ambition next spring will be real
task, and in spite OF all the advice
that will be offered, the club that does
not have some damaged players on
its roll. will be very fortunate.
The winter league has turned TO
Hughey jennings and the stories OF
the Tiger discards who have later
made good to the extent OF causing
deep regret and great anguish in the
breast OF the Tiger chieftain. Ray
Demmitt, the outfielder from Mont
real, who was tried out last spring
and later turned over TO the White
Sox, Is the latest example offered for
the delectation of His Hon. Nobs, the
Fan. Demmitt is an ex-Yankee, ex-
Brown and ex-Tiger, and IL is assert
ed. with some justification, that II
he Is turned loose many more times
he win turn out to be a real star.
But the claim that Jennings made
great mistake in letting Demmitt
get away is not borne out by the sea-
sons records. Ray batted .25S for
the White Sox, mark that was
beaten by both Veach and High. The
Tiger left fielder, the only man Dem
mitt had a chance TO displace, with
Cobb and Crawford in the running,
hit for .275 in 149 games, and was
credited with 1876 singles, 10 twobag-
gers, Ia triple-base swats, and home
run. High; the southpaW utility man,
clouted out an average OF .266, getting
40 hits in 80 games. Heilman, the
other outfielder, who was retained,
did not do so well, but he is an all
around ball player, good for first base
rs well as the garden, and Is young
ster who promises TO develop into a
great player. Opposed to Heilman's
youth is Demmitt's age. Heilman will
be playing good ball long after Dem
mitt Is through. Hughey pulled no
boner under the circumstances when
he let Chicago have the Montreal
pickup.
Demmitt, however, did manage to
do some avenging against the Tigers.
On April 80 he beat Hall out OF a no.
hit game by singing in the ninth.
On June 20, he saved a game for the
Sox by catch and throw that pre-
vented Kavanagh from tying the
score. The next day he won a l2.inn-
Ing game from Dauss by batting in a
winning tally. He also did some time.
~ work against the Yankees and the
Browns. But Veach very frequently
proved hero at psychological mo-
ments, so jennings Judgment still
looks good