Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-06
Fiue Of Chicago's 81.
Runs Result From Gifts.
Morans Cross Plate 20
Times
SOUTHPAWS IN LINE
BY GRANTLAND RICE
Cbicapo- Ill. Oct.

tney m8y-Stlll nave II Cnance W ciheikc |
from the somber grotto which now
surrounds their fading hope.
Yesterdays rainy rest gives Kid |
Gleason's pitching staff tidy breath
ing spell and practically insures fine
pitching for his next three stars. He
will have Claude Williams ready and
rested for today, Dick Kerr poised and
primed for tomorrow and Eddie Ci-
cote yearning for revenge on Wednes-
day, all with suitable period OF re-
pose for their left and right wings.
These three Sox pitchers in their last
three starts have held the Reds to
twelve blows, an average Of only four
to the afternoon.
But even gay and gaudy pitching
isn't going to matter very much un-
less the once famed Sox attack can
break its way through the Red defense,
which so far has held the Sox strug-
Cling vainly in the outer meshes OF
the barbed- wire entanglements.
One Earned Run
There have been many varied and
subtle reasons offered for the White
Sox disaster up to date, but the main
reason is as clear as rugged noun
tain peak outlined against an autumn
sky. In their four starts the Sox have
earned exactly one run, depressing
average of one fourth of one run to
each contest.
With this sordid and impassive fact
confronting you, why look deeper for
minor .sidelights that mean but little
when q ball club can earn only one
run every fourth game? 1t has about
as much chance of winning as the
Fifty first Landwehr requirements had
of driving the First Division out of
Cheppy just year ago.
The Reds havee rolled up twenty
tallies in the four games, where the
Sox have gathered six and of these
six precisely five were pure and un-
contaminated gifts. To win now they
must bag four Of the next five games
and the only sure way of turning this
festive trick is to go out and get
few runs for Williams, Kerr and Ci-
cotte as they take their respective
Glands in front Of the Red bats.
Strong Red Pitching
II requires no world beating brain to
srooest that the Reds now have the
coll. They only need two of the next
five games, and they have Ruether,
Ring. Sallee, Eller and Fisher in fit
condition to handle the assignment.
These have been sufficient to hold the
Soy attack in check SO far, but you
never can tell when slugging outht
such as the Sox always have been, sud
denly will wheel and begin hitting the
ball into safe territory.
Before the series started 1t was
mainly a question as to whether Kid
Gleason's pitching staff could stand the
test. No one fretted much over the
ability of Eddie Collins, Joe Jackson,
Happy Felsch, Buck Weaver, ETC., to
step forth and pummel a few runs
across. But since the series opened the
done has Topped, one of the best things
the dope does when the cage door is
opened and it is allowed to roam at will
il Is no longer a question of Sox pitch
inc but of Sox batting, for the indica-
tions now are that Williams, Kerr and
Cicotte will turn in their share of the
stuff through the rest of the series.
In chiding the Sox for their inabil-
ity to break through, it is just as well
not to overlook the rare praise due the
Red defense for its fine pitching and
its sharp support from the field.
3 The Red Defense
The Sox attack has not got started
for the simple reason that Red pitchers
and Red fielders have risen to cham
pionship heights and have offered far
greater resistance than quite a number
ever gave them credit for possessing.
Ruether, Ring and Sallee held the Sox
without an earned run whilQ, Ray
Fisher only permitted one untainted
tally.
Sallee was hit harder than any of
his mates. but the ancient Sheriff has a
way of rising in the nick of time to
suppress a run. He will have harder
time on his next appearance, despite the
rest he has drawn.
Those who are supporting the Sox
still have this hunch to work on There
has been only one nine game world
series on record, and in this series
Pittsburgh won three of the first four
games and still lost to Boston, who
rallied, got going, and bagged four of
the last five starts. The Sox cause
isn't any too bright, but it isn't nearly
as desperate as many seem to figure it.
The Squawk
With Williams, Kerr and CicottC
primed, they have an excellent chance
of bagging two of the next three games.
This will leave the Reds leading by a
margin of four games to three. If they
should lose them, what terrific squawl
there would be from Red rooters over
the extension of the series from seven
to nine games. You will hear it from
California to Florida, and the rising
wall will break in upon the jazz melody
of Broadway and the autumn music Of
the Oregon pines.
The extension Of the series to min,
games now favors the Sox, which shows
again that you never can tell what the
future will slip you when fate gets tC
\ work. The Reds are working their way
IN the general direction of the triumph
al arch. They have played great base.
ball and have deserved every game they
have won. But they still have to VIII
two ball games from a fine ball clui
that is now thoroughly aroused witt
three fne pitchers to help out the rally
Must Maintain Pace
They can only do this by maintaining
the swift pace they have set from tn,
start. They are not going to drift int,
the winners end unless we have mis-.
judged badly the general character ant