Evening journal., 1916-10-05
BY II. G. HAMILTON.
STAR Correspondent


! Sox and the Brooklyn Dodgers are
} resting today, taking a final breath be
= fore the opening game of the worlds
series Saturday in Boston.
Tearing their way through every
, obstacle. fighting off attack after at
: tack. holding up their heads when It
, seemed that victory could not be won
these teams have proved their nerve
their unflinching hearts They 60 in
! to what promises to be one Of the
3 most interesting series ever played
5 between clubs of the National and
American Leagues. after the tightest
race since the never forgotten finish
] in 1908. when the Cubs and Giants
, fought down to the last day
3 The driving finish, the bitter clashes
with rival teams, the nerve -wrecking,
heart breaking strain of holding a
lead by the margin of a few points
All have been surmounted by these
two premier baseball clubs. They viii
70 into the series with the admiration
and interest Of a nation behind them.
Wherever there are baseball fans
: there will be eager watching for the
returns OF the crowning event OF
season.
Red SOx are FavOrites
The Red SoX. worlds champions
from last year. when they pounded out
four victories in FIVE games over the
Phillies. will go into the series ia
vored to win Man for man. the team
representing the American League
stands out as p better organization
than its National League rival.
b This year will see no change from
last in that interest will center in the
pitching staffs Of the two clubs
The Dodgers have a powerful attack
The Red Sox have a wonderful de
fense backed up by a pitching stan
p that has pulled the club 10 the top
OF the league every time when II
seemed they might falter
II is hard to make a comparison OF
the pitching stats. American League
has been conceded 10 be stronger than
the National brand for several years
Also. il is. held that American
League pitchers have to face heavier
batting than their brothers in the
Tener circuit In the past American
League hurlers have borne mp well
under heavy assaults from the older
, organization, and 1t seems reasonable
to believe they will do so this year.
The Brooklyn hurlers have done re-
! markably we'll. They have had a
powerful scoring machine TO \help
them out. but there have been times
/ as there are in the life OF every base
bali club. where the issue depended
I upon tight pitching-and they rose TO
4 the occasion.
II will be up to Shore, Ruth. Leon
: ard Foster and Mays TO hold down
= the slugging bats of such wallopers
! as Casey. Stengel. Jake Daubert. and
, Zach Wheat. not TO speak of Chief
: Movers and some of the smaller fry
? who are not considered small fry by
(, National League pitchers in any sense
of the word
. Against Marquard, Pfeffer, Coombs,
! Smith and Cheney. the Red Sox hit
/ ters. although their batting averages
are not so imposing as those Of their
! National League rivals, are expected
: to manufacture enough runs 20 win a
a majority of the games. With an in
] field defense second to none the Rex
Sox probably will, with the aid OF
their classy pitching staff, hold Dodge
er scoring to a minimum.
Better Catchers With Boston.
In the catching department the Red
Sox have the edge In Agnew. Cady,
Carrigan and Thomas, they have four
excellent receivers Cady probably
will get to do all the big series work
unless Carrigan himself elects to take
hand. Brooklyn must depend upon
, Chief Meyers and Otto Miller, neither
/, of whom compares. favorably. with
I the Boston wind -paddists. Meyers is
] slow, and So is Miller Both are good
! hitters. but very slow on the bases.
, Cady, Carrigan and Agnew are depend
} able hitters. star receivers and are
fast in nelding hunts.
Each of the competing clubs has
} two first basemen. Merkle and Dau'
bert are the Dodgers, and Hoblitzell
2 and Gainor do the same duties for
: Boston.
! In spite OF Daubert's fame as hit
ting and fielding first baseman, II IS
2 doubtful il he has much Of an edge
over his American League rivals. He
| is not a hitter of the cleanup type.
} while both American Leaguers are.
Hoblitzell and GainoT, too, are good
felders II will be interesting TO
watch the work Of Daubert compared
= with the American Leaguers in a
worlds series.
Merkle is rated a better hitter Of
the cleanup type than Daubert. but
Daubert's allround usefulness seems
; to preclude the possibility Of Merkle's
; entry into the title series. Gainor
probably will see duty when the Red
Sox are opposed by left-hander.
: Players Compared.
George Cutshaw and Jack Barry
both are great felders and fine gen
eral superb players, but Barry's eX-
perience is given a wide edge in a
worlds series conflict Cutshaw is
known as one of the games most ef-
. ficient hitters when the hit means
runs. but Barry's reputation is only
slightly less brilliant This will he
Barry's sixth worlds series, and he
never has failed TO give a good ac-
count of himself.
There is no way 70 compare Scott
and Olson in favor Of Olson. Scott is
a more brilliant felder, and is much
faster. Olsons greater value lies in
his fighting spirit and his quick think
ing He is a much better hitter than
Scott. but as has been remarked, no
probably finds IL much more difficult
10 make this asset overcome Scott's