Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-26
CLEVELAND CLUB
NOW VIRTUALLY
OUT OF RUNNING
Recent Slump in East At
tributed to Failure to
Hit in Pinches
IMPROVEMENT EXPECTED
By SPICK HALL

BY SPlCk HALL
When the Cleveland club left home for
It's final invasion of the East, FohIs men
were a game and half behind the Bos-
ton Red Sox. leaders OF the American
League. This morning the Indians were "a
games below Boston and had but 80 more
games. While it is still automatically pos
sible for the Cleveland team to win the
pennant. probabilities against such con-
tingency arc go great that 1t is virtually
eliminated. To gain Ga full games with
30 more to play is too big handicap for a
club going at top speed, which the Indians
are not doing by any means.
Manager Fohl naturally would not like
to admit yet that his team is out of the
race just as he would not predict early
in the season that he would win the PEN
nant for the Cleveland fans. But 1t was
easy to see from his general attitude that
he really d d not hope to win. 1T is al
ways possible to win IL there are enough
games to be played in which to catch up
said Fohl when asked what he thought his
chances were, but the odds now are aw-
fully big against us.
Club Now Better
"Our club will go better. Of course, from
the men are hitting better and more op-
portunely than they did during the first
part of the trip and then, too, Morton is
back and will be able to pitch good ball,
| think There isn't anything the matter
with Mortons arm now. His only trouble
is that he has not had time to regain his
control. That may handicap him for awhile
but he will get over 1t and l expect to see
him go we'll"
Continuing Foh gave this as his dope
on the race: "In spite of the fact that
Carrigan's mon are in the lead, l do not
regard them as seriously as do the White
Sox. The Red Sox play n steadier fielding
game than Chicago, but they are slower on
the bases and haven't nearly the hitting
power of Rowlands team. Jackson, Eddie
Collins, Felsch and Fournier are hitting
the ball much harder than they were
few weeks ago. and l know that this team
Is bound to give any club lot of trouble
Speaker Praised
Speakers name was mentioned. Fohl then
proceeded to praise his centerhelder In these
terms: when Speaker was hurt on Thurs
day did not expect to see him out OF the
game long You see how long he was out
not whole day. He insisted on going in.
He Is not one of the men who stays out every
time he has a little scratch. On the con-
trary. he always wants TO be in the lineup,
and he works when he Is there too. He is
the kind of man that helps cluD get up ana
stay in pennant race"
Manager Fohl. like all the members of
the Cleveland team, realizes that the trouble
with the club has been very bad batting
slump. This slump at first seized only a
part of the players, but eventually II spread
to infantile-paralysls-like proportions until
virtually every player on the team was af-
fiicted. The result was that the Indians lost
eight games in a row.
n. NJ a
and first two Athletcs-Cleveland games
show that, although the batting of all the
clubs was light, the Indians lead in total
hits. But their hits were not timely. The
men seemed to be able to do fairly well with
the bases empty, but as soon as runner
got on the paths there was nothing doing in
the way of pinch hitting.
No Pinch Hitting
Only seven times In the six games re-
ferred to did a Cleveland man get a hit with
one or more runners on the bases. That ac-
counts for its utter failure to score enough
runs to win, no matter how good the pitch
ing was On the other hand, Cleveand's OPP
ponents hit safely 80 times with men on the
paths in these same six games.
In the second game of the Boston series
Cleveland made five hits not one of which
came with runner on base. II the lead-off
men in the various innings had been hitting
safely II would not have been so bad but
there were usually one or two down when
player made safe crack, and with no one
on base at that That combination is close
TO a record for such length of time.
Add to this poor offensive work a good
deal of ragged fielding and it is not diff
cult to see why the Cleveland team took
such a tumble down the league ladder
Whether they will get back TO form again
is a question, Manager Foil thinks they
will, and the players are confident that
brighter days are coming But It is a safe
prediction that the fans of the metropolis
OF Ohio will have to wait at least another
year before greeting their club as American
League champions and worlds title con-
tenders,
This afternoon Cleveland and the Ath-
letics meet at Shibe Park in the final game
of the series The game will be called at
o'clock.