The Washington herald., 1915-10-06
OVERLOOK
1RKSOME' mayer
Underhand Delivery Very
Apt to Cause Red Sox a
Lot of Trouble.
DECIDED FLAG FOR PILLS
Moran Handicapped in Not Having
Dependable Left-hander to Face
Hub City Tribe.
DECIDED FLAG FOR PILLS
BY DAMON RUNYON.

I -'S' vi hb o1l- O-lH 1917 j.
Erskine Mayer won twenty-one games
and lost nineteen for a sixth-place
club over in Philadelphia. This sea-
son. up to the last accounting, he has
won nineteen and lost fifteen pastimes
for the championship outfit led by Pat
Moran. Toss out J. Erskine %ayer's
underhanded work and where would
Philadelphia pennant be?
1t is difficult to see how the ex-
perts can overlook J. Erskine in the
| ante-mortem statements. True the
| loud cries over the exploits of G.
cleveland Alexander have drowned out
nearly all other sound connected with
the Philadelphia: but even after they
get through talking about Grover. you
surely hear the name of ,'Irksome"
| Mayer. They mention George Chal-
mers, the Harlem hurricane. ahead of
Mayer and even Jeptha Rixey. the
well-known college cry has been
noticed before Erskine
! Mayer has not been going we'll of
! late. according TO the men who fol-
low the Phils, but the last time the
club was in Brooklyn he seemed TO
| be all right again; and a pitcher with
| his record is not to be despised in a
ager of the Yanks. made the state
ment some days ago that he would
not be surprised if Mayors under
\ hand delivery did not cause the Red
Sox a lot of trouble. basing his as
sertion on the showing that Jack
Warhop used to make against the Bos-
| ton club.
Style Similar to warhop's.
| Mayer and Warhop have similar
pitching styles, but Mayer has much
more stuff" on the ball than Jack.
He is stronger physically. and
younger. He worked in forty-eight
games in 1914 and in forty-one this
year up TO the last edition of the
records. George Chalmers has been
making a strong finish. but George
had none of Mayors effectiveness
early in the season when Erskine and
Alexander carried the club along.
| Good left-handers bother the Red
| Sox, but Moran is practically all out
! of good left -ha nders. He has two left
handlers all right. but neither has as
yet produced records that qaulify him
| for the good class.
Eppa Jeptha Rixey. the elongated vir-
cinian collegian, who was extracted from
an educational institution a couple Of
! years ago by Charles Rigler. the Ma
| tional League umpire. is credited with
eleven victories and eleven defeats in the
average which are before us. He figured
in twenty games this past season.
In 1914 he was out twenty-four times and
produced Just two wins against eleven
defeats. showing that he was used chiefly
as a sweeper-up of pastimes.
He has never stood out to any extent
in point of ability among the left-handers
of the National League. Now and then
he would have good day. but generally
he was regarded as easy picking. Withal
he displayed enough STUFF to warrant
! 81, u Id a1,,I IN in
him along. and some day he may be a
very great pitcher. He is one of the
tallest mon in the game and drops the
ball down on the batter from way. way
up yonder. Some baseball men contend
that a pitcher can be altogether too tall
for effectiveness. but the average mana
ger likes 'em just as tall as he can get
en-
Rixey May Get Chance.
II fhe Sox give the Philadelphia right.
anders a sound beating RiXey will un-
douhtedly get his chance; but he will
. probably represent Moran's very last line
Of defense Pat has another side-winder-
young Baumgartner-but Baumgartner Is
not likely to be started. Neither Is
George McQuillan regarded as posi-
bility in the series. while Al Demaree
would be another long shot. Alexander,
Mayer and Alexander is the logical Sc
QueECe OF rat tApVi Iva
the first three days at least. assuming
that Alexander gets by in his opening
start.
If YOU have ever raid any particular
attention to the Philadelphia Fingers.
you must have noted that they have
style somewhat different from the
Dit chers of other clubs. At least, tine
pitchers who might be called Philadel-
phia-trained have this distinctive style,
although Al Demaree' and George Nc
Ouillan still pitch about the same as
the average hurler.
Alexander. Mayer. and Chalmers.
however ali have way of twisting
their bodies In n wind-up so their backs
are to the batters just before they
swing around again to deliver the ball.
Charley Doom instilled this style in
his pitchers. and ball players say it Is
responsible for much of Alexander's ef-
fcctiveness.
That Charley was good pitcher
coach, whatever he may have lacked as
a manager, is indicated by the present
stars of the Philadelphia staff. but
some managers do not like the back
to-the-batter method OF delivery. How
ever. it must be remembered that many
managers do not care much for pitch
ers with the side-arm motion charac-
teristic of Alexander.
Several of our acquaintances had
hard time seeing Alexander at all for
some years. They felt sure he would
wear out with that motion, and yet
"Alicls" is going along about the same
as ever.
That city series between the Giants
and the Yankees Is on. after all, but
New York is saved. The contest will
not occur here. Hartford is the fall
town. Hartford has stood for George
NJ. Cohans first productions and divers
manifestations Of or Walt Trumbull.
SO It should be able to bear up nicely