Evening star., 1919-11-16


ins sied the way the Braves rode tn
easy They told me personalities A;
a, The Athletics. Family affairs an
the world
Doubts Worth Of Tactics.
I have always taken such talk with
q grain of salt. No one can make me
believe the Braves won purely on con-
versation. 1 think the Braves won be.
cause the team played the better ball
was favored with airtight pitching and
some one always was able TO come
through with a timely hit when an
opportunity to. score was oHered IN
addition. the breaks favored the
Braves Usually the breaks favor the
winning team.
In many cases the style Of play
adopted by such a team makes possi-
BILE such breaks. To top off the work
of the Braves, it was team that
played with confidence in its ability
to beat not only the Athletics. but any
old team. Perhaps this or that Ath-
letic player was a bit affected by the
ride" given him by the Boston play
ers, but it played only small part In
the final result. l have always figured
the Braves deserved to win because
the team outplayed the Athletics in all
departments, not because there were
a couple of fellows on the club who
could say unkind things to the oppos-
ing players.
Recently 1 read a statement by
Johnny E,vers. who assisted Manager
Moran Of the Cincinnati club in prep
aration for the series with the White
Sox. Evers said no player on the Gin
Cinnat team played more prominent
part in the success OF the Reds than
Smith. Perhaps many people will be
surprised to know Smith was on the
club Evers said Smith. by lis per-
sonal remarks, so got the goat of 4
number % Chicago players t1at they
were uuabie to 10 themselves justice.
E;vers mentioned Eddie Collins among
the plc ye-s affected. OF course, TO me-
that was laugh Knowing Collins as
] do. S:aiti, Is substitute on the
Cincinnati club, VINO had evidently
been appointed as the cheer leader of
the Reds crew OF goat getters."
Smith Gets Too Much Credit.
1t seems to me that Evers' state
ment in giving so much credit to
Smith is hardly fair to the rest of the
team that played such magnificent
base ball. l would say the first game
won by Cincinnati was made possible
by Ruether's good pitching, his own
hard hitting. and the general excel
game Il seemed to me. was won
through Sallee's ability to pitch air
tight ball IN the pinches. coupled
with timely three-base wallop by
kopf, after Williams had passed sew
eral men. kerr's pitching for Chica-
go was responsible for the third
game going to the Sox.
When a team can't make a run, it
hasn't much chance TO win. That is
what happened to Chicago in the
fourth game. 1t strikes me that the
superb pitching of Jimmy Ring was
the deciding factor in this game. Ed
die Cfcotte pitched about as well, but
his two errors defeated him. The
NTH game stands as q monument to
the prowess OF Hod Eller. In that
game ne caused nine of the Chicago
players to go out on strikes, getting
six in row. Chicago won the sixth
and seventh games. because the Reds
faitered in the sixth. their only break
In the series, while Cicotte was mas
ter of the Reds in the seventh. A
genuine batting spree by Cincinnati.
made possible the winning of the
eighth game, 10 to 5.
resume of the series makes it
apparent the pitching of Ruether, Sal
lee. Efer and Ring had much to do
with winning. Likewise, the timely
hitting of Kopf. Duncan. Groh, Dau-
bert and Neaie had considerable to do
with the Reds finishing on top. In
cidentally. the brilliant work in the
neid by Eddie Roush and the splendid
catching by Wingo and Rariden
played an equal part
Unfair to Players Who Won.
It seems to me that to give a SUBJ