Evening star., 1919-12-29
KANSAN TOPS ALL
HURLERS IN CIRCUIT
Allows Lowest Percentage of
Earned Runs, Official
? Figures Show.
BY DENMAN THOMPSON.

demonstrated than this year, when,
although performing for seventh
place club. he led all the other hurl-
ers in the American League in ef-
fectiveness by a wide margin. and
finished AZ the top of the heap for
the third time in the last seven years.
in that period from 1913 to and in
cluding this year. the Kansan has fin
ished out of the money" on only
one occasion, his ranking being as
follows: 1913. first; 1871. third: 1915.
second; 1916. third; 1917. eighteenth;
l21S. first. and 1919, first.
According to the official pitching
records. just released for publication
and which include all hurlers partici-
pating in forty-five or more innings
during the recent season, johnson al
lowed opponents average of only
1i9 earned runs per game, cons der
ably bettering the mark of Eddie
Cicotte of the champion White SoN,
next in line. who permitted allen
alone allowed less than two earned
runs per game. Carl Weilman of TIE
Browns. third on the list. having an
average of 201.
johnson Strike-Out King.
,Johnson's feat of tanning 147 bats
men entities him to the honor OF
strike-out king for the fourth con-
SrcutiNe season ana MARKS the tiSHti
time he has gained these laurels. but
is the lowest mark he ever has at
tanned the pinnacle with. HIS hlgn
mark in this respect was established
in 1910 when lie whitfield 3l3-
Jim Fha " stardS second 10 ms
teammate in strike-outs. with IL:
and is second among the Nationals
pitchers in effectiveness. although
far down the list. with an average
that has come to be well hXed IN the
public mind Stree July Il 10. John-
son. Cicotte and Bagby showed the
best cort~ol each averaging about
one pass for every six innings ne
pitched. Shaw made sturdy bld 1or
the mark of champion wild man OF
the league, distinction re attained
in two other years. 1914 and 1917. but
was rosed out by Howard Ehmke OF
the Tigers and Fob Shawkey of the
Yanks. who issued 101 and 99 oases
on balls. respectively. Shaw handed
out IS. just one more than Harry
Harper. whose average of earned
runs allowed 3.12. placed him far
down the list and suffers by com
parison With the mark of 2-9l estap-
lished by his companion southpaW,
Jezebel Tecumseh Zachary. 1acken-
local hurlers listed. however. Molly
Craft. who did just enough pitching
early in the season before De1he
Shunted to Minneapolis, to get MS
name in the records. has an average
of 3S6 and George Erickson is at
the bottom of the local heap with
a mark of 422. The Swede's hgureS
include games he pitched for the
Tigers before he came here in eX-
change for Ayers. however and a re-
uniform would give him much bet
ter mark.
Rookie Hurlers Not Listed.
What numerous young hurlers were
able to accomplish in comparison with
the veterans never will be ofhcialiy
known so long as Ban Johnson sees
fit to continue the present incomplete
system of figuring averages 1t would
be interesting to have the records OF
Harry Courtney and Schacht included
in the official lists. for instance. The
latter won two games for the Nation
ais and the former three, including
shutout but their names are not listed
because they did not participate IN
forty-ffve or more innings. The Ameri-
can League records since 1913, when
the earned-run system for rating pitch
ers was adopted, have been faulty in
that games won and lost have not been
included, although this is of much
more interest to the general run of
fans than the edrned-run figures.
Neither are the shutouts listed. The
National League records are almost
model in every respect. but all efforts
10 nave JONI 11tN uIcG StcHi duoplCu
have met stubborn opposition.
CicOtte Won Most Games.
This year seven American League
hurlerS won twenty or more games, the
unofficial list, according to the number
of victories, rather than the percentage
of games won, being:
Cicotte, % victories and defeats:
Coveieskie, 24m12; Williams. 2s-11;
Dauss. 2i-9; Shawkey. 20-11; Soth-
oron, 20--12; Walter johnson. 20-14-
Six pitchers who won Is games and
less than 90 are Shaw. with IS victories
and Il defeats; Ehmke. 17-10; Bagby,
I'LL; Pennock. 16-s; Mays, 15-14;
Quinn. 15-14. Other pitchers credited
with 10 or more victories are: A. Rus
sell, If: Leonard, 14-13: Boland
1L16; Kerr. 13-s; Thormahlen,
13-9; Shocker, 13-11; Gallia. 12-1f:
Jones. 12-20: Caldwell. Is; Faber
11-9; Uhle. I0-5; Weilman, 10-6;
Mogridge. 10-8.
However, the earned-run system
gives better line on the form of the
pitchers. as is shown in comparison
of the work of Johnson and Dauss
Johnson pitched go innings to 256 for
Dauss, allowed only 235 hits to 262 off
Dauss. and 48 earned runs as against
10l off Dauss- In strike-outs and con-
troll the figures are equally in John
sons favor, yet Johnson won 90 games
and lost II, while Dauss was winning
II and losing =.
In addition to being the most sue
ceSSfui pitcher in point of games won
Cicotte was the hardest worked hurler.
participating in a total of 307 innings
q little more than "a nine-innins
games. Jim Shaw took second honors
in the iron-man class, with 2sS in
nings
Washington boxmen specialized in
wild pitches last season. Shaw topping
he list with ten. Harper standing sec
m mo nd vi. Na;,
or third with Allen Sothoron of the
trOWnS each having eicht