The Washington times., 1916-08-27
White Sox Weaknesses.

The more ! study the dope that was
complied In March the more extraordi-
nary It seems. Chicago was analysed
down to the most minute weakness. The
weaknesses were there: third base, first
base and lack of coherent intelligence
In the outfield. The third base weak
ness was corrected. as the dope pre-
dicted. by the acquisition Of McMullin
and Terry. and the first base wound in
Jack Ness. But remember the weak
nesses still exist. Terry can scarcely hit
up to within twenty per cent OF the
normal third base standard. and McMul-
lin Is green as big Lacquer. Ness is
raw and uncouth but is coming. and
he can hit. Rowland made his usual
mistake Of sticking along with Fournier
and John Collins too long and dropped
a number Of games uselessly before
making the shift. Both these birds
sSn sSs h,tctns ht the ball, all mil mile T'nHts until
cannot hit at all.
Boston was greatly weakened by the
loss OF Speaker. At first during the
shock OF the trade. II had some psyche.
logical effect. but that did not last long
and 1t was overcome by the determine.
ton OF the Red Sox to lick Cleveland
and prove that iris was not the whole
Boston club. It might have thrown a
worse team into panic. but Boston had
strength and knew II had. Besides
that. Speakers reputed tremendous sal
ary last season did not make the lower
and it Is possible that the sale OF
Speaker did a lot toward restoring
harmony and good team feeling. My
informant tells me that the team spirit
this season Is much healthier than It
has been for more than year.
Should Easily Win.
The Red Sox have not been pressing
hard. and have not been forced to the
limit at any time. Their pitching
strength Is reaching It's highest point,
and the team should 60 right along
from here. wear down the others, and
win with something. to spare. II Is a
team we'll fortified In all directions and
with more consistency than any Of the
others. Detroit has had a hard road to
travel. In the first instance. 1t missed
the hitting power Of samivei Crawford
during that early season period when
one team Is about as good as another
and when sheer hitting power counts
for so much. The startling slugging OF
Veach offset this Crawford void to a
large extent, but during that period too,
has had terrible time getting his
pitching staff into shape for consistent
work. In spite Of the efforts OF Billy
Sullivan, the pitchers could not be
rounded into form at one time. Then
came a period when four of them were
working we'll at once, and the Tigers
pushed right up toward the top, only
TO have the pitching weaken again and
lower them rapidly. A fortnight OF
weak pitching In a race such as the
present one in the American League Is
enough almost to break a club. Then
the Tigers started gaining steadily. not
by spurts, but taking those two out of
three, three out OF four. and breaking
even with the stronger teams. which
counts.
The dope indicates that the Tiger
pitching Will improve. and get steadier
and, during the last month. they will
press forward. Directly, opposite the
Tigers is the showing Of the White soS.
The dope showed this team to be err
rattle. Inclined to win by spurts. and
then smash and lose a lot of games
through panic. The Sox never will be
consistent with the present lineup. and
II is a team practically certain to break
at the critical moments. expect the
smash to come soon now. and drop the
Sox down in the race. and that 1t will