The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1916-12-11

Nv PuNH hlS SlN'l S'' ~ SSN''' 1872
ally has the Yankee hItlcr& h"lrl"$S.
At Su"E times his control is 'Xr"rti"nIl.
When S"nt into & game Witness is
r,Il'' forces him /" lei MP On his stun;
and his batting prucucc speed ANA
curves are missinS.
IF George Sslcr had III" aggressive
moss and confidence "f Ty Cobb. he
would be- equall! :. cat" is the WY
IiuShcy Jennings SIZES UP INC Sehsa-
tiun of thu 1915 season in the American
League. SISlsr IN some respects IL more
pitch. play the inticld or outh"lG. ana
do all vi them up tn the major league
standard. lie alone fails 10 recognize
his remarkable greatness.
That pitchers cannot and therefore are
not expected To INT the bell = readily
proven by 4 glanc" at tue 1915 Nations
League standing. pt the last forty,
two men In the standing. lhirty-tUur "t
them Arc pitchers. while thc'ot eish
are mostly recruits who have been tounu
wanting. The best swat average III INC
bunch Is 1888. while the lowest Is .9'9.
Some idea Of the ability OF George
St.llings as Il manager can he cleaned
from the batting averages or the Ma
tiunul League recently published. stall
ingS had u team that was CONTENDER
ali this way. yet from u batting stand
the league The team batting average
oc the Braves was only .25S. Strangely
enough, Cincinnati. always all ais" ran
in The race. ranked second in batting
with total Of .2RA. The premier slug
ger on the Boston club was Third Base
man Smith. who hit .259. while Hank
Gowdy ranked second with .252. Earl
| BLACKBURN. q substitute" catcher WIN
Boston part or the season. but mol re
sarded as regular. hi best OF all. .@IS.
Eliminating onr Of TIA" first division
teams. the Boston Braves. tho other
three. Brooklyn, New. York and Fhilhdci.
pha. ran true to form by bnasting nj
nen. Philadelphia bad six. New York
five and Er"nklyn four. Thr other play.
or. Catcher Mccarthy. played part 81
the season with Brooklyn and pari
with the latter team. M"''nrthy IN
eighty games hit go. practically tyin=
chase. who took part In great many
more games for tho lead.
When Walter Hc"lk" joined the
Giants. coming from tho Rochester
general feeling vas that Il" would not
find the National League pitchers very
easy picking. II WAS admitted thai
H.flk"'s fielding would satisfy. 1t was
also believed that H. w"ul'l hold up
his md as Il has" runner and Il" VA"
credited with having plenty Of gray
r!;itter. His strongest boosters. how
ever. feared that lc would fall short at
the bal. Alt"of which simply: proves
that the wise men Of the game can mako
mistakes. lIoelkc showed UP we'll in All
departments. but it was with tho stick
that he did his best work. He took part
in thirty-four games. and in that time
amaSSed the very h"st batting average
IN the National League .35l.
Bill Carrigan. as manager or the BoS-.
ton Red SoX certainly believed in pro-
paredness. CarriEan had tho hest forti-
fled team in the American League from
the standpoint OF pinch players. Almost
the sole duty Of Outflelder H"nricksnr
was 10 act as pinch hitter. while Mike
McNally was the pinrh base runner Of
the aggregation. With Il runner on Scr-
ord and base hit meant the ball game.
M"Nally Was invariably sent in TO take
the place Of tho runner on second sack.
In Carl Mays. TarriGau hoastcd Of ih':
best pinch pitcher in tn" league With
his peculiar undcrhand style Of delivery.
hc was II most difficult pitcher 10 hit.
when suddenly injected into the fray.
other team but the Boston club he would
soon regain the form that once mnG'.
him the most feared Snuthnlw in the
Starr is such good one e9 ,ai il w""lG
have been indeed foolish for farriEnn to
have experimental with any unrertaiu-
ties, says Gregg. I'm batting practice
the Boston players insisted showed as
MUCH stuff as ever. but that was about
the only place | would get chance Ia
work. Every now and then I would be
Injected Into game. but would then
find my control lacking. with the batter
working ire 10 the limit. | heIier" all
that ] need is regular work To receiver
my old-timc, form. hut regular work
with Il team having a pitching staff like
Boston is some compliment"
Eut little consideration is given
'tIappy;' F'eiSrh when critics are conSid
rrinE' the leading ontficldcrS nf The
American League. yet FelSch is undontt
rdly one Of the most valuable nutfl"ld"rS
in the Iohnsnnian organizations In tn"
1916 series. between the Two Chicago
nf the games which had h"rn practically
decided by tho all-around play uf
Fclsch. Joe Tinker. manaG ger of til" Cubs.
remarked: "If there arc many better OUT
fieldGrS In the American League. I pity
the bush icaguers trying TO break in.
Weldon Wyckon. member Of thH
Boston Red S"N pitching staff. is III"
owner and manager nf the Loading teNi-
cab Seryic" Al his horn" in Williams
port. Pa. II is said that since tho close
or tho big series thr number Of cabs in
| the service have been materially in.
creased. Wyckofr. 4 farmcr mrm5"r or
Connie Mack's team is pitcher who
has u world Of stun YET has h""n unable
to develop into inner. Mack two
wears ago figured him the mnst promiS-
ing youngstcr In the American league.
Lee Mage who VAS picked 10 star ~
the American league for the New York
Yankees last season. recently mad" x
! most Interesting comment in cXplana-
| tion for his failure - garner better
| batting average. "Tha pitching In the
American league WAS so much better
! than what faced in the Federal l"aGne
| that 1t soon convinced me that | had
! spent the season OF 1915 in minor
| league circuit
| since the passing Of Terry Turner q,
i shortstop the great woe Of every
| f'lcyrtand manager has heen TO get n
| fielder 10 handle that position. \ great
| many have been tried. but Ray chap
man alone seemed TO possess the class:
| And I" make matters worse. Cleveland
once had Roger PeckinTauEh Of the Yam
KEGS. WHO has mighty. te" superlorS az
, a shortstop.
For wonderful fielder Shortston
! Scott Of BOSTON has tho most indiffer-
| eht style Of any player who has ever
| starred in the majors. Scott goes about
his, work in such . careless fashion
| that his style takes away much OF the
brilliancy OF his. work He never makes
false move and usually after. great
| play that retires the side hr is under
| the cover Of the bench before the crowd
has half a chance 10 pay him tribute.
Scott Is so unassuminc and immune to
praise and fatt~ry that h" wi never
| ger an Unlisted opinion Of his own great
ability.