Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-11


| sity of Pennsylvania team, is one of
| 15 American aviators who are aiding
| the French tliers in the defense of
| Paris against air raids.
Earl Baird, the national amateur
| featherweight champion who lives on
! the Pacific coast, has successfully
| passed the student aviator eXamina-
| ton and will probably be sent to the
California flying fields to complete
! his course.
Jimmy Britt. former lightweight
| champion, says that the war will re-
| store boxing in all its pristine Vigor
J all over America. Says he: 1T is alto
| gether too valuable and health-g giving
sport to be eliminated. The Army Of
| ficials consider it one of the principal
asserts of the soldier preparatory to
his sailing to fight the Huns. One
I soldier well trained in the art of
| self-defense will trim a dozen of
| Boches." Britt expects to be ap-
pointed an instructor in one of the
| cantonments shortly. In has day
Britt has met the greatest light
weights, including Joe Cans, Bat
tling Nelson, Wolgast and Rivers.
]
/ ed as one of the greatest pitchers the
! game ever produced. For the last de-
/ cade he has ranked among less than
| half dozen great twirlers in the ma
, jor leagues. While an individual
! pitcher may have excelled him for a
| particular season. Johnson's' record.
along with that of AleXander's
stands out conspicuously as the best
| for the last eight years. He is now
| serving his eleventh season with
| Washington, the club with which he
entered the major arena. Includ-
ing the games he has won this sea-
son. Johnson has a string of 263
| victories to his credit. This means
that his average per season reaches
nearly twenty-four games. This is
a remarkable record, especially when
| it is considered that the speed king
| won total of only thirty-two games
his first three years in the majors,
he entering as a boy in his teens.
Like his compeer of the decade,
Alexander, johnson never has achiev-
ed the feat so dear to the heart of
! every pitcher-a no hit game. Three
| times, however, he has held oppo-
nents to a single hit, while he has
| figured in seventy-two shut-out bat
ties. Including the games he has
/ lost this year, he has suffered defeat
in 1SS games. While Alexander's re-
cord is not available now, it might
be stated that in his sixteen years
of service Mathewson Won 372 games
and lost 1S9, while for the same per-
iod Eddies Plank won 209 and lost
179.
John F. Morrill,, who was a mem
ber of the Boston National League
club from 1876 to 1889, the last six
years of which he was both captain
and manager, believes that baseball
clubs could get along with fewer
players than they have during the
last sixteen or seventeen years; that
three pitchers and two catchers, with
one man for each of the other posi-
tions, would be enough players for
any club.
Morrill, calls attention to the mum
| Der of championship that were won
by Boston and other clubs, including
! Chicago, Detroit and the ST. Louis
Browns, previous to 1900, when thew
carried eleven or twelve men.
| For the first time this season the
! American League batting average
/ looks natural. Course you can guess
why. T'y Cobb is out in front and the
| detractors of the Peach. who have
4
| are not footing their horns so loud
| ly-in fact they're not footing at all.
| Ty's climb has been a sensational
| one. Three weeks ago he was bur-
led down among the 200 hitters. He
had lots of company and the knock
! ers proclaimed that he had become
an ordinary ball player. Gradually
! Ty climbed until he got into the 300
list. Last week he was hitting .351.
and 1t was anticipated that Ty had a
long, hard battle to get to the top,
or to within striking distance. And
then 1t was that Ty proved again
that he is not an, ordinary ball play
er. He boosted his mark 81 points in
| one week and is now showing the
way with mark of .351.
Heine Groh is leading National
League batters with a mark of $50
the Cincinnati third sacker having
gained 10 points, while Fred MerkIe,
who led in the last batch of averag-
es, dropped 13 points, to .347. Doyle
OF the Giants. is the nominal leader
with All, but he has not played
enough games towarrant being rank
ed ahead of other star swatters. Car
ey, OF Pittsburgh, leads in thefts with
81 stolen bases opposite his name;
Burns, of the Giants, is in front in
run getung with 4S tallieS, while
Roush. of Cincinnati, and O'Mars, of
Brooklyn, are tied for the honor in
sacrifice hits with 16 martyr acts
each. Mann, of Chicago, is leading
IN doubles with IS. Wickland, of
Boston, in triples with IL. and
Cruise, of St Louis, in home runs
with 8.
Two years ago they said Cactus
Crayath was through. But the oil
boy is still earning his cakes on big
time and still slamming the ball out
of bounds. In a game against the
Cardinals at Philadelphia, June IA,
Cravath hit home run in the tenth
inning and won the battle for the
Phillies, to /. That homer was
No. 100 on Cravath's long list of
circuit swats. 1t was the home run
hit that gave Cravath a record which
will probably not be equaled in
mi n n 60