The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-07-19
Golfers Clash On Rain Soaked Greens

Gree upor a time a left-handed pitcher was looked upon as something of a nee essary evil in baseball. But things have charged and today a good southpaw con stitutes one of the greatest assets of bah club,
 It was a trio of 'lefhes" Ben ton and Schupp-which pitched the Giants to pennant heights in 1917. Given the same brilliant work of those three men in 1918, the Giants probably would be so far out in front now that they would have the race just about won. But Benton has gone away to war and Schupps arm has been ailing since spring.
 Glance over the record of any pennant winning club of the past few years and you will find that southpaws had much to do with the achievement. No longer arc left handlers used only against team cluttered up with left-handed hit ters. Those southpaws go in against any ball club in the circuit-and they usually win
 It was the Ruth-Leonard combination that assisted so materially in the 1915 and 1916 successes of the Red Sox. And
  shoots of "Rube" Marquard helped tho Dodgers to championship. Eppa Jeppa , Rixey, the elongated left handler, was the boy who, with Alexander, gave the | Phillies a pennant in 1916. If 1t hadn [ been for Southpaw Doc White in 1906 and Southpaw "Reb" Russell in 1917 the | White Sox probably never would have l earned the right to battle for world se- rles honors.
 | Two twirlers are mainly responsible for the wonderful showing of the Cubs this year. They are Jim Vaughn and George Tyler. Both fling with the offside wing. Love and Mogridge have kept the Yam kees around the top all this season. Those boys are left handlers. l And so it goes. The team fortified witk southpaws which has a fair ball club to support, usually is the team that's right in the thickest of the battling. The l team which hasn't at least two really 1 good left handlers in these days cant be rcckoned as dangerous.
 "Why is it that southpaws, looked upon with little more than pity in the old days, are really more effective than | right handers?" I asked one of the big leaders.
 1 Because the bulk of batters hit right handed in the old days, whereas the great majority of them are left-handed hitters in this era," he replied. "A left-handed pitcher isn't more than fairly successful against right handed batting. But he has a rather easy time of it with men who hit from the left side.
 Cobb, Speaker, Sisler. Collins. Ruth, Doyle, Baker and host of the other truly greats among swatsmiths are left handed hitters. A few of them can hit any kind of pitching, but most of the others are a little weak when faced with southpaw shoots. So when a left handel goes against a handed team of bat ters the edge is with him.
 Study the records of the 300 hitters and you will find that a left-handee
 clubber will average only about ,25'
 against a southpaw, whereas he gets .3o
 off a right handler And, with the leagues
 full of great left-handed pitchers yot , can see why there isn't so many hit made today-and why southpaws ar such great assets for any ball club. 'In the old days all the great batter
 -Anson, Delehanty. Lajoie, Wagner ant
 the others-were right handlers The.
 didn't have any trouble with left-handet
 pitchers. And, as a result, left handler
 weren't very much in favor with mana
 gers They didn't want pitcher wh would be hammered out of the box ever!
 other day. But as soon as the new 1 corners in the batting world took to hit
 ting from the left side, the left-hande' twirler came into his own"