Evening star., 1919-09-23

1
! make some runs for him. Therefore
as the unexpected feature that in
Even the most ardent supporter of til
had the temerity to claim that the So2
When the Chicago Cubs met the De-
troit Tigers in 1907 and 1908. there
was little doubt as to which was the
aggregation. with terrific hitting pow
er and better than the average pitch
ing, but there was bit more class to
the Cubs. 1t was a more highly pol
ished machine. The Chicago Cubs won
those two series, scarcely being hard
pressed. All three events were well
played. but the superior strength of
| the Cubs was nearly always apparent.
No freak situations developed that as
sisted the weaker club. In fact in one
series, an unsual break on the part Of
Catcher Schmidt Of Detroit prevented
the Tigers from taking the first game
of the 1907 series. With two down in
the ninth. and one run to the good.
Schmidt let third strike trickle
through his fingers, which permitted
a run tc cross the plate for the Cubs.
tie the score. and cause the game to
end in draw in the twelfth. That
was an instance where the favorite
got the break. Possibly it would have
made no difference in the ANAL result.
but there is no doubt that the loss Of
that game. after 1t had been appar-
emily won. didn't tend to strengthen
the morale of the Detroit club.
When the Pittsburgh team beat the
Tigers back in 1909. don't believe the
best team won. I regarded the Detroit
club Of that year as trifle superior
to the Pirates. The margin was not
great. but was enough to have been a
decisive factor. but for some of the re-
versals of form that invariably crop
a In
Manager Clarke OF the Pittsburgh
team had his back to the wall for
pitching. He took q chance on Adams,
almost an unknown from a big league
viewpoint. All Adams did was win
| three straight games from the Tigers.
the series going the limit. In figuring
the possibilities Of the two teams,
none of the critics gave Adams much
consideration. yet Adams was the big
noise.
Coming and Going.
In 1910 the Philadelphis Americans.
great team that had arrived. waa
arrayed against the Chicago Cubs. a
great team that was beginning to
slip. The Chicago Cubs were q hot
favorite, but the Cubs Of 1910 were
not the Cubs Of 1907 There are some
who may not agree with the state
ment. but I believe the Athletics
were a superior team to the Cubs, and
| the victory was won decidedly on Its
merits. That only ave games were
necessary to settle the series is
| rather conclusive proof that the Aths
letics had oodles Of class. In 1911
| Of the New York Giants. There was
little to choose between the two
clubs; perhaps the Athletics were
slight favorites In this series what
ever breaks there were fell to the
American League entry. Home runs
this series Frank Baker won undying
fame with two home-run drives that
in each instance won q game for the
| Athletics.
Coming into 1912 we lind that the
beyond a doubt. The Boston Red soz
| and the New York Giants met in this
| series. 1t was q case Of two very
| evenly matched ball clubs fighting II
| out. Most of the critics favored the
Giants. and if there was q shade OF
| OF the ledger. The Red sox got away
| to . flying start in this series, taking
| three Of the hrst four games, and
| threatened to make the opinions OF
| the leading critics look most foolish
| Then the strength OF the New York
| fore the Red Sox could realize it the
| series was a tie at 3 to 3. Coming
| from behind and evening up series
| that had seemed beyond recall made
the Giants a strong favorite for the
| deciding game, which was staged al
| Boston. Eight games were played
| in this series. by the way, one OF
| them ending in a tie.
| How Breaks Come.
No Giant supporter will ever forget
that game. 1t was the great Mathew
son against the youthful, almost un-
known Bedient. Up to the seventh in
ming the Giants enjoyed a l to lead
which seemed to be enough with
Mathewson going at top speed Now
for the breaks of the game, which nc
one can figure on in doping out a
series. With one down. Jake -Stahl hit
a fly ball to short left field. Since
happened to umpire that series, 1 was
in a position to carefully and closely
observe the plays. It looked like a
sure out. Inflelder Fletcher and Out
fielders Devore and Snodgrass all ran
for the ball. Then came an Alphonse.
CASTOR act and the ball fell safe at the
feet of the trio. This was break mum.
Der one. Cady flied to Fletcher and
with two down and the pitcher up. the
danger seemed past. Manager Stah
| sent in Henriksen as a pinch hitter
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