The Washington herald., 1920-12-28
BROWNS MAY RISE
IN WORLDF FOIL
GETS new HURLERS
Better Pitchers Is Main
Need of Missourians',
New Manager.
By JACK NYE.

There's q saying that opportunity
never knocks but once. II that be
the case, 1t Is certainly playing a
tattoo on the door OF Lee Fohl, who
seems to be slated to control the
destinies Of the once meek and lowiy
ST. Louis Browns.
All Fohl viii have to do, assum-
ing that he will land the job, Is to
get some pitchers With the single
exception Of the slabbing stan, Mike
Burke left him a mighty sweet
bunch of ball players.
It's a triie early to begin doping
out the American League race for
next season. but II statistics mean
anything the Browns are going to
be q dangerous proposition IL their
new manager can land the necessary
hurting reinforcements.
1t was a three-cornered race be-
tween Cleveland, New York and
Chicago last season. The mighty
White Sox machine has been shat
tered. and the Browns, who should
show improvement over last season.
loom as a dangerous proposition.
They finished just inside the first
division in the past campaign and
should climb a notch or two in the
race to come
what the Brownies Did.
Here are a few figures. CLEANED
from the official records, indicating
Just how capable the Burkemen
were:
They were first in team batting
with the lofty average Of .3oS, top
ping the Indians by five points.
They were first in the number of
hits compiled and also in totas
bases.
They slammed out the second
largest number of home runs with
so, being exceeded only by Babe
Ruth and the rest of the Yanks, who
amassed lis.
They were third in three-base
hits with So and second in two
sackers with 27s.
In addition, the Brownies showed
n lot of speed on the sacks. swiping
lis of them. and finishing second
only to the Nationals, who ran their
total up to $50.
George Sisler. with a mark of .4O7,
was the star of their willow WELD
ers. but Burke put an outfield into
action which was capable of some
mighty damaging work. Jacobson
hit .355. Tobin $40 and Kenneth
Williams 306.
The only other member of the
team who finished in tho select cir
Gle was Earl Smith with a mark of
.306. But the rest of the team got
it's share.
Pitching stnn Failed.
Burke's failure was due to the
fact that his pitchers failed to
measure up to the standard. He
Iah II ~
Shocker and Dixie" Davis. The
former was one of the sensations
of the league, with 20 wins and 10
defeats. while Davis managed to
win Is and lost but l2. despite the
fact that he was the champion wild
man." with 149 passes to his credit.
The rest OF the Brown slabbers
were nothing much to brag OF.
Two more winning pitchers would
have made st. Louis a mighty dan
gerous proposition last year. If
FohI can land them he ought to be
pretty well fixed.
OF the six new managers who get
busy in the big leagues next year
the st. Louis chieftain will have
the rosiest opportunity. And, star
Ting as it may sound, il is not be-
yond the bounds of reason that the
Browns. long standing joke
throughout the circuit, may at last
be bidding for that piece of rag
which signifies the championship.
Ole Erickson, the red-faced Swede
who did some pitching for Mr.. Grif-
nth last season, was quiet enough
as a general thing. But when he
started to pitch he was sure a wild.
gzA
he didn't win more games was the
fact he walked Just 12s men in the
80 games in which he took part.
Ole and Davis, Of st. Louis, copped
all honors in this respect.
At the dinner table Erickson
looked like a different party. He
had q record OF never missing the
plate on any Of the road trips.
though he nearly always exceeded
Ithe full nine courses II he had as
much control on the field as he has
appetite, you couldn't head him.
Slapping on the wrist or else
where Is too rough for these high
toned boxers. Pal Moore. of Mem
phis, has been warned that he will
be penalized II he insists upon OPEN
hand hitting.
IL is still fair, however, to give
your opponent in the ring a
''narstry" look.
Outings annual football honor
roll Is out. 1t is also "off" OF the
165 stars honored, each of whom
was selected by at least two
coaches. the name of Jimmy Leech,
of v. NJ l., one of the brightest
backfield stars Of the year is con-
spicuous by its absence. Georgia
Tech. on the other hand. landed
three of its bsckfield on the list.
Any honor roll that doesn't bear
the name Of Leech isn't worthy of
the name.
Jack Flavin is Georgetown's rep
resentative on the Outing roll.
ENGTNEERC tn DTAV