Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-10-07
BOSTON BRAVES
MAY DISAPPOlNI
Stallings' Team Not Likely
to Crack Under Strain of
Big Series.
3 EST T T. A M S WIN
Records Show That Best Teams Have
Wen without Opponents "GGing to
Pieces"-Indiyidual Players
Hold Up Well.
(By Frank G. Menke.)

New York, Oct. 6.--Those who are
locking for the Braves to crack dur
ing the world series may be just as
greatly disappointed as was John Nc
GraW
The theory that a good ball team
will go to pieces in an important SER
has been the theory that a star ball
player will crack under the strain
and excitement and put up misera-
BILE exhibition.
Look over the records of world SER
les players and world series teams,
and you will find that with rare ex-
ceptions, the best team always has
grabbed the bunting, and that the star
players have shone just as brightly
in world series as they did during
the regular season.
Eddie Collins. Frank Baker and
Jack Barry, of the Athletics, are fine
examples of the exploded theory. The
trio has fielded just as brilliantly dur
ing the world series games in which
they have figured as they did in the
regular season that preceded them.
In some cases they have done better.
In the 1910 world series Collins hit
for 429, Baker for .409 and Barry for
.235. Barry during the series hit for
his normal average, while Collins and
Baker hit above theirs. Strunk, in
1910, hit .27S during the series-an
average that he has maintained
throughout his big league career.
In 1911 Collins hit for .2S6. That
was below his normal average. One
more hit would have placed him we'll
over the 300 mark. He was robbed
of that hit by a sensational catch by
Murray Of a drive that looked like
a sure triple. Baker, that year, hit
.375, while Barry dubbed 'em out for
36S-oves 100 points above normal.
In 1912 Iris Speaker, the Boston
slugger, got 800 average out of the
series. which was a trifle below nor
NAL. The other Red SoX hit around
their normal averages. Meyers, the
Giant catcher hit for .375 during the
1912 world series. The other Giants
batted around normal.
In 1918, Baker hit for .450, Collins
.421. Shang 1857, Barry 800 and Old
ring for .273 These averages were
above normal, showing that in the
Athletics case, at least, the good hit
ters, sometimes play better baseball
during a short world series than they
do during the regular season.
Ty Cobb is one example to the con-
trary. The great Tiger batter emerg
ed from three world series combats
with a miserable batting record. But
it wasn't due to nervousness or
"cracking." The Georgian simply
happened to fall into batting slump
toward the end of each season, and
he couldn't get out of it in time to
make a showing in the world SERIES.
It's the same with the fielding. The
finished fielder comes out of series
with a fielding average just about on
a par with that of the regular season.
The Importance of such series new
err has caused any great difference in
the game put up by player. Take
the averages of the players who have
participated in two, three or four SER
les and total them and you will md
that their combined batting and field
ing averages during world series
combats are just about equal to their
grand averages covering all their
years in baseball.
the same during world series as
they do during the regular season.
Mathewson's 1912 record, of course,
is the big exception. Matty worked
in three games and failed to win. He
lost two. The other was tied. But
in each game Matty encountered hard
luck. His pitching skill was just as
prominent during all of those three
games as it was during the regular
season, but a few foozles behind him
and few "breaks" for the Red SoX
robbed him of victory.
Bender and Plank, the great Ath-
letic pair, have figured in four world
series combats. This years will make
the fifth. Take their averages COW
ering the other series in which they
have figured, count up the hits they
have permitted, the strikeouts scored,
the bases on balls given and the num-
Der of games won and lost and you
will find that they total around their
grand averages for all the years they
have been in the big league.
And so, in face of this condition,
doesn't it seem like lot of bunk for
So many folks to figure that the
Braves will "crack" during the world
series-that the Braves should come
along now and establish a precedent?
OF course the Graves may crack.
All things are possible. But 1t isn't
at all probable that a team that has
played as wonderful baseball as have
the Braves during the past II weeks
should 60 to pieces just when they
are within reach OF their highest am
bition-to become baseball champions
OF the world.