The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-03-16
WHEAT ENTITLED ID LAURELS AS BEST
 NATIONAL HITTER
SOuthwOrth Batted In an Average of 641 Runs Per
 Game-ROush Ranks Third
n, ERNEST ]. LANIGAN

By ERNEST I. LANIGAN ] Of the three players who claimed the
 lamming laurels of the National league last season, Eddie Roush hit in the great est number of runs-6l. Zach Wheat, Mo- | bile. 1909, and Billy Southworth. Bir- | mingham. 1918, knocked in 4S and il counters, respectively. Brooklyn had the poorest attack of any club in the senior organization so Wheat drove in d | greater percentage of his clubs runs than either Roush or Southworth, and thus Brooklynites can say what the editor of the National league guide says-that Zacn 1 is entitled to the batting crown, even if lSouthworth did have higher average and even if Roush would have led him, too, had couple of protested games not been ordered played over
 However, another mode of reckoning | makes Southworth out a better swat smith than either of his rivals, who hit 1 from the same position in the batting order-No. 1, the cleanup berth-as he did. The former Baron had an average of runs ba tied in, calculated on the num- Der of games played, of 641 to Roush $ $40 and Wheat's 4j7. Biffing Bill kicked in with only one ! long wallop during the year that cleared | the bases of their three inhabitants. ! 1t was a double, gieaned on July in d game with Boston off Dana Fillingim. who has the same birthday as Walter Perry Johnson-Novemper 6-but who was born in a different part of the country Columbus, Ga, as against Humboldt, Kan.
 Queer thing about this cleanup rap is that the man who made it and the man off whom it was made both used to play with Cleveland under Lee Fohi. Southworth did play in championship games in the Sixth City, but Fillinghim was denied the chance, though he wa8 with the Indians in Cleveland Detroit and Chicago. the latter part of June. 1915. [ ohl threatened to start him against the White Sox, who generally are easy pick ing for a pitcher with whom they are unacquainted, but for some reason he didn't and Dana soon was returned to the minors.
 MERKLE LED NATIONAL The leader in batting in runs in the
 National last year was Fred Merkle Of
 the Cubs, with total of Il driven in. George Cutshaw of the Pirates, like Mer- kle a former Superba, ranked second, with 69 Dode Paskert of Chicago third, e; Sherwood Magee of Cincinnati ana Fred Luderus of Philadelphia fourth, 66 and Roush sixth, 61.
 Emil Meusel, once of Birmingham, was a good clouter when runs were in sight, for he hit in 59.
 Dutch" was one of a half dozen men who kicked in with homer when there were three gents on the towpath L. August 23 in a game with the Reds, Luque pitching.
 The other pastimers who scored three men (and themselves) with Bur- -bagger were Max Flack, Chicago's Fred Snod- grass off Bill Sherdel of St. Louis, on June 20; Eddie Ruosh of Cincinnati, off Rube Marquard of Brooklyn, on August 19; Fred Luderus of Philadelphia. off Leon Ames of St. Louis, on June 1S Mar ty Kavanagh of St. Louis, off Jaca Coombs of Brooklyn on June 4. and Rog-
 or Hornsby of St. Louis, off Garry For
 tune of Philadelphia, on August lS The perils of command were well illus trated in the case of Fortune the time he was nicked for homer with three on by the highly touted Hornsby. Garry's control was so bad that he passed three
 men in row. Hornsby came along, Fortune got the ball over and Rogers hit It out or the lOt ana DTOhe up tHt game St. Louis won this fracas, , to |.
 Hornsby knocking in four of the five tal- lies.
 Russell Blackburne of the Reds, re gently sold to Boston, is not considered
 much of hitter, yet twice last season he produced drives for two or three bases that brought in three men. Each drive was obtained off Burleigh Grimes. for merly of Birmingham, who was Brook lyns best pitcher in 1918 and Pittsburg s worst slabman the year before. Another Redleg who drove in three tallies with one blow when Grimes was the box1nan was Sherwood Magee George Anderson of St Louis also tripled whet, there were three on against the former pool and billiard hall manager of Bir- mngham.
 ROBERTSON BUMPED Dick Robertson, formerly of New Or leans, was located for two cleanup blows l a double by Justin (Mickey) Fitzgerald