New Britain herald., 1915-09-13


 lead they won back in June for an-
 other rncuth? Can the Tigers, after
 winding up with St. Louis, win an- ' other road pennant as they did in E1ooo with something like the same E sort of a ball club? ,-t~s .~,
 Conditions confronting the two [ c,ubs mentioned are not exactly the i same Philadelphia has no opponent to beat that is fighting at home all this month. Detroit has. The two main Philly rivals are the Braves and Superbas. .....a.. ,.. | R,,t after this week these two also ! s7pire West. where they will confront l. exa et1v the same conditions. But the | Tiyers must play trifie faster on the ! road than the Red Sox play at home | hcfore then can hope to send ny Cobb r and sam Crawford against Alexander. | Rudolph or Combs some four weeks l hence. ~.a ,.... | If the Phillies can maintain this Mead all the way they will furnish a | battle requiring fully as much courage | as that shown by the Braves last fall F. Most people give all credit to the run | ner that comes from behind. They have nothing to say for the leader who E cfn maintain his lead. Yet it requires 1 just as rare nerve and courage for Moran's club to protect scanty lead ] as it did for the Braves to climb from | last place to first. ."" ] Consider the case for a brief mo- 1 ,,7ent :, The iPhf1lies. with a club 1 ranked back in April as a joke, took [ the lea q from the start, but lost it in 1 May. They recovered the top in June' l and for nearly three months now, | srar them and the club in second place, they have pounded along. All this time they have heard the hoof beats of several rivals within close range. All ! this tirnh they have been struggling | 1,,itb inc pace, fighting off first one | aperessor and then the other. but at 4 rr stave have they broken. They Nave s,inned here and there, but only to r.1Iv before they were caught.
 This takes lot out of any club. IT. ia ,,oro of strain than that of
 starting from behind and coming on l up. for there is no greater nerve :; tonic than to know that you are on your way while the other con- tender is slipping. But to ngnt on to the front, and then" for over three months to know that Env slsh ol lai tering will drop you back IS heart ] breaker of the rarest order. "
 Ask anv golfer or any lawn tennis n;aver or any runner the difference, thev will all say that the big strain l comes in setting and maintaining the nace And the Philies haven't one riva1 only to beat-they have two. The Superbas were tipped to; break and drop back as the Pirates, the
 Giants and the Cubs did-but they
 haven't. ..tr.
 The Braves were counted out of it
 three or four times, but they are still
 canning on and fighting hard--still
 ready to take advantage of any set
 hack the Quakertown delegation may, receive. . i ..s, .,E s~.
 The Phillies might figure that one
 of their rivals will soon slip, but it
 isn't likely that both will break to-
 sether. So their chance to win is not
 through any weakness on the part of
 their opponents, but through their
 own ability to continue for another
 month as they have been going since
 June. a...
 Ont West they meet the same con-
 tenders as the Superbas and the
 Braves, They will find exactly tha
 serne opposition along the route On lthe other hand, there will be great
 rsycli io1ogfca1 advantage for either
 Brook1vn or Boston if they can only
 reach the top.
 They can feel that they are coming willie their rivals arc going The strain of pace setting has not been
 upon their shoulders-or their batting
 eyes. And if either ever gets ahead
 it is 90 cents to a nickel that sald
 club will travel like the wind the rest
 of the way.
 The Tigers have a better phycho-
 logical case than the Phillies. They
 gre in the position of the entry Wno
 has far more to gain than he has to
 lose. .,.... .,
 They are not being picked to win.
 Boston is at home in the lead. De- troit is on the road. But, ball club under such conditions, where big l fight is on. often plays better abroad ] than at home. ..a., I On the road they are together | around the hotel. where they can Il better continue their machine morale. 1 It was this way for the Tigers Tn I 1909 and the Giants in 1911. Both Il fought harder and played far better Il or the September road than they ha d | teen doing at home. The lure of | worlds series kale urged them on, l and they both went out at top speed T every Starty HgHtlHG lof every loot.
 Detroit has this disadvantage The Red Sox are a harder club to beat tha any entry in the National league . that is over a months stretch.
 Their one big chance to fall down will
 bc through confidence. They have the stuff and no club yet has been able to stop them. ' sid '.~ '- 'They are playing almost exactly
 as they played in 1s12." said Eddie | Collins, recently. That is. with fine
 confidence every game and with fine ] team play. I have never seen two