The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-17
RARE BIRDS NOW
Good Pitchers Are Scarce Arti-
cles in Big Leagues.
Almost Every Club Needs More
Reliable Mound Men.
BY FRANK G. MENKE.

New York, May 11.-Y Dung man, II
you wish to land a big league job, be-
Right now there is a greater dearth
of reliable Fingers in the majors than
ever before in baseball history.
Both circuits are cluttered up with
batters. But good pitchers are rari-
ties Look over the records for the
derrick has been used on box men
oftener so far this year than in many,
many moons. The pitchers, as a
whole, are not good enough to repulse
the onslaught of the clouters.
week or SO ago twenty-five hurlers
figured in four games Only on rare
occasions has the inaugural pitcher
gone the route. Sooner or later he has
met his Waterloo. And very fire.
quently the first relief slabman has
been driven to the watershed by
fusillade of blows.
Maybe when warmer weather comes
the pitchers arms will be working
better and there won't be SO many
knocked out of the box. But that will
not nolle the indictment that the ma
jor league pitchers, collectively. do not
measure up to the required standard.
What Records Show.
The greatest trouble with the Giants
has been its pitching staff weakness.
The New Workers have dubbed out
close to four runs per game behind
their Sla bTnan-but the margin hasn't
been enough this year. Their own
to eight. The Tigers also have banged
the horse1ide in lusty fashion-but
their foes have batted the Detroit
pitchers bit harder in many cases.
Failure of the White Sox and Yam
kee pitching staffs to hold the enemy
in check has forced them down from
the top. The Phillies have slipped in
the standing of clubs because, outside
of Alexander, their pitchers have been
going poorly. The hurting squads of
the Pirates. Cardinals and Athletics
are VIGOROUSLY weak-and rate where
those clubs are located.
The Dodgers haven't been hitting
or fielding any better than have the
Giants, Phillies and Braves. But their
pitchers have been going strong-and
look where those Dodgers arei The
Indians aren't hitting or fielding much
beyond any of their rivals But their
moundmen have been breezing along
at a great rate. And the Clevelanders
head the Johnsonian parade.
Need More Work.
1t seems rather strange that some
club does not ape the 1914 pitching
scheme of George Stallings. You'll
remember that he worked Rudolph
Tyler and James in order, week after
week-and he won a worlds cham
pionship. Stallings proved then that
a pitcher can work every third day
and still be a winner.
Our belief long has been that the
best results come from working a star
pitcher every third day. Giving most
of them longer rest trusts their
arms. working every third day keeps
it in good shape. Some folks cling to
the theory that too much work will
hurt a pitchers arm. But using the
arm every third day hardly can be
called too often
! It's true that the arm of James new
er has been the same since he helped.
by his every third-day pitching, to land
worlds honors for the Bostonians.
But that isn't due to overwork. If it
was why then aren't the arms of Ty-
Ter and Rudolph on the blink? They
worked as often-and as hard-as
James.
Many a youngster breaking into the
majors fails because he doesn't get
enough work. He needs to exercise
his wing every third or fourth day
and sometimes he has to wait week
OF two before he gets chance to go
in. Practice makes perfect. y'no,