Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-06-19
EARLY START IS
 BAD FINISH Big Lead Seems Handicap for Teams Chances for
 the Pennant.
START TOO STRENUOUS
Past Records Show That Teams Max ing Brilliant Start Always End Up at Bottom of Percent
 age Column.
(By Frank G. Menke.)

 just as mucn as one that's garnered in September or Octobc.', nut a buncn of games won in the carly part of the season seem to handicap a teams chances for the pen lant.
 It has been the almost ihvariahlc rule in baseball that the teams that get big lead at the ca set hit the crutes later on and skidded off into some remote position !n the stand- ing of the clubs.
 The Pirates and Tigers got away to fine start during the frs month this season and then they crunplcd. The making had Ee2n too hard Later on they may do q come-5acK but the law of baseball's past seems to forbid it.
 The Cincinnati Reds blew" them selves to nice lead ;n the first month of 1911-and then they crack eo. The brooklyn Dodgers dipped along at a merry clip through the first four weeks in 1912, and just when the Brooklynites were dream ing World Series dreams the upset came, and the Dodgers finished i'll second division.
 Back in 1905 the Maps led by over 100 points until June time. And then the reversal came and they ended the season at the tail end of the first division.
 The Tigers lost only two of the first 20 games played in l9l1 and looked powerful enough to keep il up. Then the boomerang connect ed on it's homeward journey and the ~1 Bhe Giants harpooned 16 game lead in 1912 and then the game winning machinery went out of order. 1he Cubs came laundering along and cary ed down most of the lead and looked good td jump into first place when they too began to skid. This gave the Giants chance to get sea legs agaih and they slipped under the October wire ahead of the field But even that 16 game lead it was close squeak
 Is this early spurt stuff hoodoo?
 There's much ado about the won pitching device that was invented by Princeton parsonage. There's noth- ing new in that as we view the sltua- tion. Haven't We had "won men" pitchers for the past 10 years? Nor can we see anything new in the fact that this Princeton "pitcher" has no head There are a lot of pitchers in the big leagues today V no are simll- arly equipped or rather non equipped
 What Good Is 'Fed" Pennant?
 The reason that there is less inter- est in the Federal league race than in the American or National, according to some folks, is this
 '4What are the Feds going to do with the pennant when it's won?
 Which is a pretty good reason at that. The interest in the American and National leagues always is keen because of the World Series that fol- lows at the end of the regular season. ln the case of the Feds they can't hit into a World Series-not this year, at least.
 Fear JohnsOn's Arm.
 One of the sport writers who is extremely friendly toward organized baseball and who has been predicting horrible end for the Feds, is just now borrowing more trouble for the Gilmore crowd Quite recently he discovered that if the Feds sign up Walter Johnson, the Speed King at $100,0O0 for three-year period, "they will be taking desperate chances"
 He figures that Johnson's arm might go on the fritz before those three years are over and what good would he be? It's a cinch, however, that if there wasn't a Federal league ard if some organized club owner bought Johnson, paying even $1sO,- GOO for him this very same writer would be loudest in his praise of the magnate's shrewd business judgment and it's also cineh that he wouldn't be so worried about Johnson's arm failing.
 Compare Attendances.
 The Feds are said to be retaliatin2 for the action of organized baseball in sending nose counters into thelr parks They have hired nose count CTS of their own and these mathema- tlcians are engaged in adding up the total of persons who enter the orgn- iyed parks and Arning their additions ever to the federal league officials for comparison with the attendance figures given out by the organized people. It is said that the reports show big discrepancies in the attend ance report of the nose counters and those given out by the clubs as esti- mates. But who cares?
 World Series Talk.
 Members of the Giants, Athletics and few other teams that still nour- ish pennant winning hopes are won- dering if the general apathy toward baseball this year on the part of the fans will extend to the world seres. It would be cruel blow for theI world series players if it did for they usually count on about $3500 for their share if they win and $2000 or so, if they lose.
 If the world series attendance shows decrease to correspond vith| the general decrease all over both cir l, t0