The sun., 1917-06-10
WHITE SOX SHOWING
PUZZLES EXPERTS
Team. Last in Batting, Plays q
Strong Game Behind
Steady Pitching.
COLLINS IN ACUTE SLUMP
by sHORTsTOP.

BY sHORTsTOP.
The Chicago White Sox, who open q
four game series here tomorrow. COM
pose a team that is one of the guam
daries OF baseball. Is the team a great
team. or has II always been a highly
overrated team? That Is the question
Since Eddie Collins, former all around
star OF the Athletics. was sold to Chicago
in the winter OF 1s14-15 the White Sox
have been strong pennant contenders.
They were beaten by both Boston and
Detroit in 1915 and 1915 respectively.
but each year the White Sox finished
with n percentage above 900 and were
In the fight until a week before the end
Of the season.
The team acquired Joe Jackson. for
merly Ty Cobb's leading batting rival,
in the middle Of the 1915 season. With
those pitcher thumpers. Collins and
Jackson. in the lineup Rowland was sup
posed to go through all opposition. Row
land is the most criticised manager In
baseball. both In Chicago and in the
other American League cities. 1t fire.
quently has been said that Mack. Nc
Graw or Stallings would easily have won
the pennant with either the 1915 or 1915
Chicago Americans.
of the opinion that the Sox have been
overrated. This year they present a
strange angle. Supposed to be one Of
the hardest hitting teams in baseball,
the club is last in the American League
In hitting. yet Is high UP in the race.
The team Is playing great ball.
started with q Rush.
The team started the present season
- N.~N N1.l la,x
writer, a man Of ability and usually q
conservative scribe. wrote from the Chi
cago training camp: ut will be a
miracle II the White Sox are beaten out
for the pennant this season.
That started laugh in the different
camps. especially where the New York.
Boston and Detroit teams were quar-
tered. The Sox started of in great
style. but with the season a few weeks
old they ran into a dreadful slump and
everything was going wrong. Chicago
fans started to get the hammer out for
Rowland again. and the fellow who
wrote the miracle story was given the
horse laugh all around the circuit. But
then the White Sox again pulled them
selves together and started to win with
astonishing regularity on two, three and
four hits a day. Great pitching by Ci-
cote, Faber Russell and Williams is
turning the trick.
Eddie Collins. starting his twelfth sea-
son, evidently Is going back rapidly.
Eddie. a .siD to .3s5 hitter a few years
ago. has b. 4 unable to work above .220
80 far. Collins hasn't hit under 800
since 1908, and will do better. but Eddie
isn't the player he was. Neither will Joe
jackson ever hit .408 again. Then
Schalk. formerly fine batter. isn't hit
ting u lick this season, while Swede Ris-
berg. the new shortstop. is batting be-
low $50.
There you have the White Sox. They
recently were curbed bit by the iowly
Senators. who shut them out on success
eive days. but the Sox appear to be
team that must be reckoned with all sea-
son. Yet just how good they really are
nobody seems to know.
sunday Ball i'm Manhattan.
The championship game which the
Yankees propose to play with the ST.
Louis Browns next Sunday following a
patriotic band concert will be the nrst
major league game ever played on the
Island OF Manhattan. AS the entire re-
ceipts of the band concert will go to the
war charities no opposition is expected.
The Yankees of the old regime wanted
to play a league game in 1906 for the
benefit of the San Francisco earthquake
sufferers. The authorities would not
permit league contest, but allowed the
Yankees to play Sunday exhibition
game with the Athletics on the old
Hilltop grounds. However, It 10 hard
for a layman to understand the dif-
ference between an exhibition game be
tween two major league teams and one
which goes into the standing.
The game In question was played or
April 20, 1905. and drew crowd OF
10000 The owners of the team turned
over IS. 500 to the earthquake fund. New
York won the game. IL to 3.
Bill Byron is a good umpire. one OF
the best in the business. At times he also
has nut lot of color into ordinary drat
games, but this season his lordship has
been OVERRIDING his act. Byron. gas
filter by trade enjoys his work as ar
umpire, which y thoroughly proper. Bu
several times this season he has actec
like a youngster who tries to SHOW on
before a big crowd. His stuff. cooking
his fingers under the noses Of players
and his stern rebukes and warnings. are
too theatrical.
The last time Byron was here his stun
was interesting for few days but later
ne became a bore. II he must fire play
ers from the field he can do 1t in less
dramatic manner. For an umpire ne
makes himself too conspicuous IN Iac
when he last was here 1t came to sucf
a stage that he. Byron, was the leading
act and the ball game was secondary.
Devore a Mil<man.
IT may be of interest to Giant fan'
20 know that Josh Devore. former Clan
right fielder and known as the world
series charm, has retired from baseball
and Is running a milk route at his hom'
town, Chillicothe. Ohio. Josh was
great little character. At one time i
looked as though he would develop Int
one Of the games real star players. Hl'
best year was 1911. when he got hi
first worlds series money.
Josh played on two Giant pennan
winners and made a catch In the lsl.
worlds series which put thousands o
dollars into the New York and BostoI
treasures. But for catch by Devor'
In the third game Boston would haV'
won the series In four games, one o
them being tie. AS 1t was the serie
stretched into eight games, ana atte
the fourth game all goes to the ciubs'
Devore. Ames and Groh were sent Z
Cincinnati In the Fromme deal In 1919
but after being released to Philadelphii
Dcvore landed with the Boston Brave
M tine to get a $4,000 slice which wen
10 the individual Braves for beating tn
Athletics IN the worlds series or l9lf'
LEONARD TO UMPIRE GAME.