Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-08-24
FEW COBBS BORN
TO BLUSH UNSEEN
For Eyd~.,r,,a, Watson 0utbdtted
Kauft by Wide Margin.
SHORTEN is ALSO SIGHTED

Providence Center Fielder Some Pill
ReIter-LeIiveIt Set the Pace Both
With the Stick and In Field In Amer
lean Association.
Ty Cobb won the battling champion
ny Doyle led the sluggers Of the Ma
tional league. They were out in front
by Il fair margin, with no n to dis
pnte their claim. but a glance through
the official baseball record will show
that most leagues had their nominal
leaders-men who played in a few
games and smashed out a sufficient
number Of hits to boost their average
above that of those who fought through
the long campaign for the pennant. In
several instances these nominal lead
ers played in fifty games or more, act
ing as pinch hitters, and their claim
for preference might be honored by
many.
There was that modest, sensitive and
tb1ushing Benny kauff. lie dubbed the
ball for an average of .34i, but Wat
son, who started with the Tip Tops
and finished the season with the Buff
falo Blues, was ahead OF him with-an
average Of 1886 compiled in twenty
nine games, in which he faced the
pitcher forty-eight times and poled out
nineteen hits. This vas pretty heroic
action by Watson, and the pity is that
l> lid ro% .rot s,{n {h1 no M p,n.r or
ten. He might perchance have estab-
lished a valid claim to supremacy.
Shorten, the center fielder of the
Providence team, is entitled to consid-
GRAFTON in the international league. Ee
compiled the perfectly good average of
800. vet ranked only sixth. Chester
Hoff, the left handed pitcher, Went on
Il wild :amhorcc in his twenty-nine
games. facing the pitcher ~siyty-ninc
times and getting himself twcnty-cicht
hits. Charley Mul!in. with Richmond
part of the season. hit .37l in thirty
nine games. while Ed Barney. once
with the Yankees and later With the
Pirates. connected at a $50 clip in
sixty-two games. Roth Of Toronto was
right up there with a mark of go in
perhaps as valid as Shorren's. for q
man could not carry a squirt through
SO many games for such an average.
LeIiveIt Is Some Batter.
Jack Lcliyelt. nee with the Cleye-
land Maps. later with the New Iorl.
Yankees and now with the Kansas
City team of the American association,
might have had his failings, but be
always could bat He was q consist
ent 800 stickcr IN tho majors. and he
has shown no inclination to rest on
his laurels in the circuits Of minor
classification. Playing through 152
games last year, Jack rolled up an ay-
erage of .34G and was the actual lead
er, although Mayer. q team mate. club
bed .3G1 in seventeen games. Lelivelt
played first base last year, and SC
cleverly that he led the league in
fielding as well as hitting.
Jimmy Johnston. the outficlder Of the
Oakland team. who will be with the
Superbas next summer, has about as
strong a claim to supremacy in his
league as any other man. Jimmy played
in 206 games. was at bat 7SS times and
made 25G hits for the grand average of
.3aS. He is placed behint"Earry VOL
ter, once with the Yankees, who top
ped him by eleven points, but who
played In ffty-six fewer games. VOL
verton, Holman and Brief, none CT
whom played in 100 games, also were
ranked in front of the Superta to be,
but only Wolter has any more valid
claim to the championship than he.
The South Atlantic, the Virginia and
the Canadian leagues boast of men
who have clear title to the leadership.
Chancey of Macon, in the South Attain
tic league, stood out with a mark Of
.359; Thrasher. of the Norfolk team Of
the Virginia league. compiled an aver
age of .34S, While Burril, Of the Prant-
Fore team of the Canadian circuit, sur
veyed the world from the pinnacle OF q
.344 average.
Pirates May Grab Pirates.
Sheldon kcicune. with Sioux CITY,
~. :
who was up with the Supcrbas several
seasons ago aud who may wear the liv-
cry of the Pirates next summer, GER
talnly laid into the delivery of the
pitchers of the Western league. Lee
jeunc clouted away at the rate OF 5
but was eighty points behind one
Davis. a team mate, who took part in
eve than twenty games. Miller. Of
the Mobile club of the Southern asso-
citation, had no trouble in arguing his
aus as champion batsman, but for all
his 1876 average he came in trailing
alolcsworth of birmingham and Nc
Dowell, a team mate, neither of whom
took part in thirty games.
The list might be extended until it
would include all Of the leagues oper-
ating under the national agreement,
but q sufficient number of cases have
been cited to show that comparatively
few men who were acknowledged as
leaders of their leagues actually fin
ished at the top of the ladder.
Retains Nearly All of Crew.