Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-08-29
ATHLETICS BIG Z A TERROR
TO ALL OPPOSING PITCHERS
Figures Don't Lie in Base Ball When the
Statistician Seeks the Reason for
Success of Mackmen.

from the taunt Of base ball luck tina,
team Is playing at Shibe Park in the
year 1914.
1t is a fact that the Mackmen are
amount of inside base ball" In news.
papers and magazines, special writers
devote columns to the brain work of the
Athletics. And it also undoubtedly is a
fact that the majority Of the o1en in the
Mack school think quicker than the play
uation in an instant and grab old oppor-
tunity before he runs away.
However that may be, the inside base
bali which Is winning the pennant for
the Philadelphians this season is the
crack Of the bat as 1t collides with the
sphere. The figures-to refer to them
once more-show that, for when a team
is getting five tallies for every nine
bingies that team is smuggling. smuggling.
smuggling. Their smashing attack is tear
ing Its way through all sorts of oppo-
sition and depositing runs at the home
station, And. after all, that is the kind
Of base ball the fans like to see
Did you ever stop to figure out how
a pitcher must feel when he takes the
mound to hurl against Mr. Mack's nine ?
Of course, Mr.. Christy Mathewson and
Mr.. Reuben Marquard have written elo-
quently on the subject, but even they
did not care to place their real sensa-
IONS on the pages Of base ball history.
What Pitcher Faces.
LOOK them over. First steps up Eddie
murphy, a little man. hard to pitch to
ana a left-handed hitter. He may get a
base on balls. but he slams the sphere
frequently-witness his ninety-nine hits.
He fs fast and competent base run
ner, and 1t is proper that Rube Oldring.
a slugger and a good man at the hit
and-run game, bats next. RUDE swings
from the right side Of the plate, and
drives the ball to any field Murphy's
runs indicate that he is get
ting on base lot, that Rube Is helping
him around. and not by bunts, either
Tor RUDE Is credited with only six sacri-
flee hits. Oldring also is getting on base
and completing the circuit, as his fifty
one tallies prove-not to mention his
Lightweight safe knocks. =.
The pitcher who has retired both Muir
ply and Oldring is indeed fortunate In
most cases one of them will be hanging
around on the bases when-well you all
know who comes next Eddie Collins,
one OF the most dangerous men at the
plate in the game. bats third. He can
drive the ball to the far corners OF the
park. he can tap 1t over or between
throw to first. or he can wait the pitch
er out. There is nothing Collins cannot
do well on the attack.
Eddie's record is all the evidence neces-
sary. He had made 132 hits last Tuesday
evening; he had scored ninety-eight
had sacrificed twenty-three times. His
hits had totaled 115 sacks, or pretty
near an average of a double on every
bingle made. Collins hits from the left
side of the plate.
And now see who comes-J Franklin
Baker. the man who hits home runs
when they count. His speciality is
knocking the knee-cap off an inflelder
or denting fence. ]. Franklin doesn't
do much tapping Of the sphere. al
home run. But by the time this left
handed mauler of the sphere comes to
bat there may be one, two or three
men on bases, and his job is to send
them over He invariably does. His
1873 hits have totaled 100 bases and
have done some damage to pitchers
Baker has reached the home station
sixty-six times. which indicates that
there must be some power below him.
Frequently. teams stop at the fourth.
him. it's a case Of Maybe he'll hit it
and maybe he won't" Not SO with the
Champions of the World. Following
Bakes comes "stuffy'' McInnis, who
bats right handed and is a dangerous
safely 1874 times. has scored fifty-two
runs and his bingles have totaled 1853
sacks.
Next up Is Amos Strunk. and the
pitcher must again pitch to a left
handed clubber. Amos just now is not
up there" in the averages. but his
seventy-nine bingles and forty-one
-uns indicate that he has been doing
some business. His speed is a wonder
Jul asset to the team. for he can go
from first to third on almost any kind
Of a hit, and can cross the plate
quicker than the majority Of big
eaguers II he gets the least bit Of as
,istance from his mates.
The aeYenth man I'D Ia the ouA all