The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-08-12
Pitching Rather
Than Batting Will
Win the Pennant
CBy ALLAN MARKLEy.1

New York, Aug 11.--Pitching will
win the American league pennsnt this
year
The art of hurting. the most tcien-
tifc part of baseball. has always
played an immense part In the. ma jor
| league races, but this year the value
of delivery is more important than IL
ever was before, and will be a bigger
factor in the hnal outcome Pitching
will have a great deal 10 do with the
result in the National league. but as
it stands now. the mound will be more
important in the American league
AS the teams prepare for the long
double header season. four clubs stand
out as probable contenders for the
honors. Some baseball authorities have
even gone so far as to say that the
race is already limited to these four
clubs. Certainly 1t now looks imrreb-
able that any one Of the remainin g
four will become dangerous
These four clubs-Boston, Cleveland,
New York and Washington-are fairly
fer injuries, will wage hard battle,
which may be neck and neck TO the
end But the striking feature OF the
race is that only one of these clubs is
what might be termed as a heavy bat
ting club--the Yankees. The other
three have not been showing any extra
ordinary strength in their offensive.
From the fact that the leaders are
low in batting, we infer that they
must be strong In the defensive side
Of play. On the defensive. pitching
Is the controlling factor.
Last year Cleveland was much
stronger In batting, but farther down
in the club standing. At this stage
in the game the Indians were Leading
q Il 4
were hitting at least go or SIS per
cent better as club than theY are
now, yet then the Foil clan was not
considered dangerous In the league.
The same is true of the Senators,
who practically at no time threatened
In the league last year. The Senator'S.
, in comparison with the st. Louis
Browns. this year show very plainly
! the value of pitching and effective
| pitching in the pinches. The Browns
are hitting the ball good fifty points
better as a club average than the Sem
ators. but a different story is told
when we glance at the club standings.
| There is only one explanation TO
| this peculiar turn of the game this
year, and that is that the winnin g
clubs of 1918 are winning their games
| by narrower margin. This credit
must. of course. be given TO the pitch
! ing STATS OF the different clubs--that
| is. the leaders.
The case of the New York Yankees
| is somewhat different than that of
the other clubs at the head of tho
| list. The Yankees are hitting the ball
and hitting hard. and the credit for
their present standing is largely due
TO batting While at the same time
the work of Miller Hugginss patchers
/ must not be overlooked.
The great battle for supremacy now
must depend largely upon the relative
| strength of the pitchers. In this re-
spect the Senators seem to be the most
handicapped. Although Clark Griffith
| has a total of eight pitchers, he has
/ only three upon whom he can depend
| Walter Johnson. Doc Ayers and Harry
Harper. However. Ii was three pitch
| ers which carried the Braves through
| a successful season in 1914. and then
pitched them to the worlds champion
ship. winning four straight from the
/ Athletics.
| Boston measures up strong in the
! line of pitchers. but the loss o.
Dutch" Leonard may have a greai
deal to do with their future record
/ Cleveland has fairly good STAFF OF
| hurlers. with Stanley Coveieskie as
the ace and Guy Morton. Coumbe
| Groom and Enzmann to start the home
stretch run.