South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-08-03
HURLERS NEEDED
To WIN PENNANT
IN ANY LEAGUE
Study of Dope Shows That
Hard Hitting 0utfieIderS Are
Not Enough to Keep
Team on Top.


IL avail ball club n d possesses tile
greatest hatsmcn i'm the land II us
T,stching staff is punk2 And the an
ss7ver fs-nothiug-
good pitching staff Is far more Cs-
sentfaI to bali clubs success than -
a. wrecking crew of batters. Baseball
records Of the past and present snow
the truth of that statement
Those New York Giants are pretty
vel down in the rut although they
have three men smuggling over the 500
mark. and three others near 1t. Doyle
Is hitting around .325, Alerkle rs clout-
ing for 800. and Robertson boasts or
q $40 average.
No team in baseball packs a greater
batting punch than those Broohly
FederaIs. Magee is hitting around
ans and Kauff is near $50. Three
other Brookfed regulars are over the
900 mark-yet the team is IN second
division.
Tigers Are Only Thid.
The Detroit Outheld IS swattlng the
well known horses skin for COM
bined average around -@bV-st ire
mendous clip, yet the Tigers are lHllu
i'm the race-and no better.
Rack i'm the bygOnc days the CleNe-
land Mans toted around the greatest
collection of sluggers that ever bat
tied under one standard Ia1oie, Beins,
Rav. Hickman. Bradley Mig Clarke
and few more fence busters. Prac-
tically every man I'm the outht was
zoo hitter Yet Cleveland, during
those GAYS never came near 10 WlhHlh7
a penHant.
ON the other hand. the Chicago
7vtfte Sox hack in 1905 had pitchers
and no batters Yet the SOX won a
remnant and a world series i'm that
year IN 1912. 1913 and 1914 the
Senators. minus batting power but
plus some mighty pitchers. acted as
runners up in nearly all three pen
nant battles
Getting right down TO this present
dav and age we find the Phillles cling
inc To- the top of the National league
leap. Outside OF Luderous and CraV-
attn. the Phi}lics haven't any batters-
but they have Grover Cleveland Al
exander and few other pitching per-
sons The Dodgers. who have as
sumed the role of runner up, have a
real batter in Jake Daubert and a
timely hitter in Jack Wheat Their
hitting power ends there. But the
DODGERS have "Besky" Dell Jack
Coombs. "Hasen" Pfener and nap
Rucker on the pitching staff. That S
why they are where thCv are.
Red SOx Not Hitting.
The Red Sox. as "a team, aren't hit
ting UP 20 peunant winning standard.
But they have about five pitchers who
are pitching a world cries brand of
baseball-and look where those Red
Sox are located in the standing of
clubs
The Kansas City Feds and the st.
Louis Feds present weak hitting COM
binations But they have pitchers
and they've been in the pennant fight
since the middle of May.
IN other words. one good pitcher
seems To be OF more value 10 a ball
club than two or three slugging in
neIders. outheIders or catchers.
While on the subject OF batting We
viii listen 10 a few words from John
MCGraW. who now speaks.
1.-THE bulk of recruits who come into
the big leagues nowadays don't step
into the nall. Instead. they step away
from it and as a result. few of them
them ever viii be batteTs
Just why the new crop of bal
players should bc plate shy is a mys-
terry 10 me. I'm the Olden days all the
men stepped into the ball and hit il
ON the nose. or course, some OF then
We're hit hy pitched balls. but that al
WAYS was looked upon rs a something
that was 10 be eXpected-and en-
dured.'