The Washington herald., 1914-04-09
Tigers ALWAYS
Fight ATHLETICS
Detroit Club Makes Great
Stand Against Worlds
Champions.
DEFENSE is WEAK POINT
Pitching Staff Is in Need of Bolster
ing-Good Hitting
Club.
DEFENSE is WEAK POM
BY EDDIE COLLINS.

BY EDDIE COLLINS.
Having already mentioned the Boston.
Washington, Cleveland. and Chicago
teams as the foremost rivals of the Ath-
letics for the 1914 American League cham
pionship, and now about to include one
more team In my list, 1 can almost hear
some of my readers say. why don't you
name the whole league and be done with
it,"
While the name OF this last club may
seem. IN the opinion of many fans.
superfiuity on my already long list of
possible champions. from an Athletic
standpoint never could AFFORD to omit II.
For all that Damon and Pythlas. and
David and Jonathan. and other famous
friends Of history were to each other, the
Detroits and the Athletics have not been
one to the other for tbs, past seven years,
or since the day "Hughle" Jennings took
charge OF the Tigers and they began TO
cut a figure In the American League race.
The fires OF deadly 81 rivalry were
kindled way back In 1907, and have been
kept burning fiercely ever since. because
all through this period, with the excep-
ton of the last two years. the Tigers and
the Athletics have engaged in the strenu-
GUS pastime of nosing each other out for
lht CudIIlpiOutulp. NiC
trick In '07. '0s, and 'o9. while Connie"
Mack's charges led the way in 10 and IL.
Besides this. several Individual ami
mosities. which are now better left un-
touched. have not aided materially In
cementing the bonds OF friendship be-
tween us. But. be that as II may" as
George Monroe would say, the Tigers and
Athletics always play their heads OF
to beat each other, as they rightly
should, and when considering obstacles
In the path of the Philadelphia club to
another pennant. the Detroit team must
be reckoned with, regardless Of how IT
stacks up against the rest Of the league.
Tribute to Ty Cobb.
II there is any one man Of whom IL
can be said that he beat the Athletics
cut OF a pennant, Ty Cobb Is that per-
son. But for him and his mighty bat in
Just one series between our clubs in
1907 and again In 1903. ! am sure that De
troit would never have won the flag
either of those two seasons. Regardless
Of how he may perform against the other
clubs In our circuit, he has exhibited
enough accomplishment extraordinary at
bat on the bases. and afield against the
Athletics to assure him forever Of the
lofty position he now occupies In the
baseball world. namely, the greatest all
round player in the game. i have al
ready written q separate article about
him and some of his marvellous feats, so
anything / might say here would only
be repetition. As with johnson with
Washington, so with Cobb with the De-
troit team-his value Is inestimable. Al
though there have been vague rumors of
his transfer elsewhere, Mr.. Navin. presi-
dent and owner OF the Detroit club,
would, be as unlikely to dispose Of Tyrus
as he would OF his whole ball team.
Obviously. Detroits general weakness
is not a lack OF batting strength, be-
cause Cobb, Crawford & Co. supply that
need very acceptably; in fact. the
Tigers usually maintain batting aver
age well up among the leaders. but
where they are shy considerably Is on
the defensive. Not that | am going to
say So-and-So boots away a lot of games.
OF somebody else's fielding game is poor.
but where Chicago and Washington
loom up strong on the defense. Detroit
is just the opposite: while on The ofense
the reverse is the case.
Particularly in the pitching depart
ment Is this noticeable. II the an
made by the Federal
League are to be relied upon at the time
Of this writing. the signing of Edgar
Willett by the outlaw organization marks |
the pdSSlnE VI lne VI NlhN |
lot of veteran twirlers who did SO much |
to make the Tigers of '0. '0s and o9 |
the formidable champions they were. |
Ed" Killian was the first to retire and |
was closely followed by Summers. who |
was the buGbear Of the Athletics. Then |
the veteran of many campaigns. "Bilr' |
Donovan. seeing the handwriting on the |
wall. obtained his release. and is now the |
whole works at Providence. in the Inter
h,,Il
ed to Washington during midsesson last
year. so that left Willett as the sole |
and now he is gone.
Dabuc and Dauss Stars.
While this elimination process was TAX
ing place, the appearance of two men.
one in '12 and the other in 'l3. did a
as they are. / refer to Dubuc and
Dauss, respectively. Although possibly
they have not met with the success OF
some other twirlers against the Athletics, |
know that there Is no pair who are
more or who give US a harder |
battle. i have heard lot about fade
aways, slow balls, knuckle balls, etc,
but / have yet to see any one who has \
anything along these lines on this same
Jean Dubuc. Believe me, when his con-
troll Is good he is about as tough a pitch
er as you would want to stack up
against
But outside of these two pitchers, Man
ager Jennings stan does not look very
His outfield could not be
improved upon. but he has had a lot OF
trouble in hitting upon the right COM
bination for his inner line of defense. or
the lot, Donnie Bush, at short, alone
seems sure of his job. Del Gainor's
biggest difficulty Is to prevent getting !
hurt; he has always played high class |
game against US. but he seems to have |
more than his share Of injuries. In spite |
Of the many men who have been trying |
10 get his place. George MorIarfry. TO my |
way OF thinking, stands head and Nshoul- |
lers over all at third base. He Is a past |
master in the art of touching or block |
ing a base runner, and there are few
In our league today who play the bag
any better than he does.
To my mind. Detroit's most crying
need Is pitchers. Dubuc and Dauss are
\ fine nucleus, and of the others recall, |
NJ. Hall looks like a conner. With the |
addition OF one or two more dependables.
am OF the opinion that Detroit's ap-
parent defensive weakness would right
tself
Copyright. IsB. by the Wheeler Syndicate. Incl /
Largest Morning Circulation.