New Britain herald., 1916-10-02
GAMENESS PLAYS !
 BIG ROLE FOR SOX
Always Fought to Last Ditch De4
 spite All Odds


 New York Oct. 2.-Probably the most exciting pennant chase waged in the American League since 1908 end- cd yesterday when Cleveland blankehl the White Sox, to o, in the firsy& game of a double header The del feat of Charles Comiskeys high sal-' aried 9tar aggregation makes 1t im- possible for the Red Sox to lose the 1916 laurols. Further. 1t turns over to Boston it's second American league pennant In two years and its third In five years. When Joseph J. Lannin, owner of the Red Sox disposed of the serv- ices of Iris Speaker last spring many opincd that a death blow had been, dealt Boston pennant chances. Bill Carrigan the manager, was dubious i but he insisted that he had teanA of workers all of whom would dol 1 their best to make up for the loss of1 such an outstanding asset as Speaker. Carrigan, who says the worry ofA ! managerial duties is too much f 1 him and who has announced his re~ tirement from the game to take plaPB this winter, has had lot to do with the cham pionship pace of tho Red SoX. His courage, aggressiveness and confidence fired his charges with an ambition that hardly could be de- l nied. The Red So& won the pennant ] by their gameness as much as by | baseball ability. .s. 1 Innumerable times this season Bos- ton has been called upon to face the
 strongest opposition at the most crit nd i.h hlIr ',
 succeeded Twice within the last six weeks the Red Sox met both White Sox and Tigers. and on each occaspSn it was the Red SoX who triumphed. Defeat at either of these times would have meant loss of the flag, as Chicago only is nosed out by a few percentags points.
 Pitching Staff Confident.
 Possessing a pitching staff of fault less excellence, Carrigan used this ad- vantageous department with the skill of Q tactician. Denied the services of George Foster, his best pitcher of 1915, Carrigan imbued Babe Ruth arA Carl Mays with a winning spirk, carefully nursed along these younW sters and brought them to such A efficiency that right now they arc about the most reliable men on his staff. Dutch Leonard and Ernests Shore are still consistently perfect atg mound work, adding their ability tgA the youngsters. E.
 Duffy Lewis and Harry Hoops veteran outtielders rose to tn
 proper sphere in this race. Lewis especially was invaluable to the Red SoX, his hitting in the pinch winning any number of games.
 In many ways this seasons Ameu ican League race has been the ma remarkable since the inception of
 league. It was provided the fan a medium to attract interest deade
 by the dehection of Federal Leas% politics. At different times ever team in tho league excepting sd Louis and Philadelphia was out E front, Washington and ClevelarT' divided the pace setting for the first~ half of the season. Next New York. Chicago and Detroit in turn kept the rest of the clubs anxious. It was not until about the middle of August that the Red Sox were able to creep inso the lead, and they were overtaken twice after that.
 Anyone's Race.
 Until September 1. or for the first five months of the race, only the Ath- letcs could be counted out of the running. A remarkable winning spurt by St. Louis in the latter part of July and until the middle Aa August brought tho Browns into contendtnG position and quadrupled tho attendance in the far western city. Cleveland's splendid work in the carly part of the year so far revived interest in tho Forest Cit@& that the new owners of the club wero& able to realize handsome profit foe the year.
 Tho Yankees played wonderful H baseball and still are doing top work but injuries robbed them of pennanA chances. For a time 1t seemed cer- tain that New York was to get tho remnant. but one after another the stars of the team broke ankles, ribs q or some other fragile bone. Nox tho Yankees arc forced to fight VI land in the first division, a position sought 6y tho Browns and held by that team this morning.
 The western teams of the National and American league finished their 1916 schedules yesterday. The Amer ican clubs undoubtedly realized hand "Ni'iSiS' ''' every Nihp was ngnIlng ats one time or another for the flag. However, the opposite is the case in sA that National organization.
 Not ono of the western National League club has made any kind of as showing this season. Their playinsV has been so far below the standard usually found in major league that the interest died down early There must be a recoDs st ructipn in tha vynet if the four National team can hope tos arouse any interest next season or provide any opposition for Giants, Dodgers, Braves and Phillios, the real teams Of the league, E