Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-07

HILLER HUGGlNS, manager ol tne ST
M louis Cardinals declares that the
nh,,ies and Braves have an excellent
.s.noe 20 overhaul the Dodgers While
r.ootlvn has an advantage because of Its
,.rvs lead. he says, conditions are such
.sat this lead might be cut down within a
- unless the Dodgers show great stay
ing qualities.
~. race has reached a stage, according
t5uaoins's views, where II is a question
W 20 which team can stand the pace. The
assse lending teams are playing about the
an,e brand Of ball and none has shown
aY marked superiority in their recent
. Ans with the Cardinals. Huggns be-
s,.,,os that the Phillies have great chance
.ns,se Morans team is one of the most
eoststent in the game, and is combina-
tlon which is not likely to crack.
Depends on Pitchers
nnTuch will depend upon the work Of
,hree pitchers." says Huggins. "A race
s,ch es is being staged in the senior league
sS,s season is generally decided by the
ability of one pitcher to STAND overwork
us tbo Judgment used by the managers In
aliaotine aus the pitchers who will share the
t,rden with the one overworked star
rtvo have met the three pennant contend.
tn order and | can see no difference In
,ssIr playing strength. Brooklyn has
,,rhtv good lead at this stage or the race
hms II can be lost within week If the
."ar, cracks The race will be won by
,ha team, that can stand the gan, with the
,Si,iIos and Braves having almost an even
chance.
..r ,ooI, to see the star pitcher OF each
.,on start working every third day or even
.yorv other day within two weeks, ana
,nrch will depend upon their ability to stand
the strain. II the Phillies and Boston start
5 .,,I DnI nttt M
working Alexander ana tuuoph out Vi
,urn n will be necessary for the Dodgers
IN do the same with Pfefer.
Alec Can Stand Gaf
alexander and Rudolph have proved
that they can stand this grind and in the
past they have got stronger as .he race
progressed. While l think Pfefer is
& one of the best pitchers in the game he
has never been through this grind and 1t is
nnssible that it might be too much for
him.
"The Phillies look better than at any
tfne this season. They are one OF the
steadiest teams in either league and have
proyed that they are game, strong finish
ers and / look to see them make great
: hRht We fooled them Saturday with young
{ watson and beat Alexander, which began
to think was impossible. This Watson
looked mighty good and I think l have
picked up great pitcher
Higgins Springs Surprise
After Alexander had beaten Lee Meadows
by the score of 1 to 0 in great pitching
duel on the Cardinals first trip East, Man
ager Huggins said: 81 am through vast
ing good pitcher trying to beat Alex
ander. Look at the game Meadows pitched
today, only to meet defeat. He would have
beaten any other pitcher in the land but
Alex today From now on l am going
to take chance on n recruit against Alex
ander, because If the big fellow is right no
pitcher can beat him, while If he is off
form. any hurler has chance.
In 1915 Meadows and Doak held the
Phillies to one or two runs at least six
times when opposed to Alex but we did
not beat him all year. Now what is the
sense in wasting star trying to beat him?"
On Saturday Huggins tried out his
scheme when he sent Milton Watson. a
youngster who was purchased from the
Paris Tex, team of the Texas Oklahoma
League two weeks ago, against Alexander.
The result was that the Cardinals gained
their victory over Alexander since Willie
Doak won ! to 0 game from the Nebras-
kan In September, 1914, and the triumph
was not due to the fact that the Philly
star had an off day, but because young
watson pitched an unusual game OF ball
II is possible that Watson merely had
= good day, but any youngster who can
pull win over Alexander under such ad-
verse conditions will bear watching. Wat
son showed wonderful amount of natural
ability, plus as much nerve in the pinches
as any youngster ever displayed in his
hrst major league start.
The claim has been made that the Phils
could have won II they bunted on Watson,
and perhaps such is the truth, but it might
also be timely to remark that Walter
Johnson, Dutch" Leonard Babe" Ruth
and Al Mamaux are unusually slow in
handling bunts but who can bunt on them
when they are right?
Recruit Looked Good
watson appeared to be rather awkward
when Alexander beat out an intended sac
rihee' but we also noticed that two Philly
payers popped up infeld flies in trying to
punt while numerous others fouled the
oah When a pitcher has a lot of "stuh"
on his fast ball and is keeping 1t we'll up
around the shoulders. whether by accident
or design. 1t is extremely hard for batter
SCR PS ABOU