Arizona republican., 1921-10-04

\1>0 I I<- lQlS IS the second or a series of special World Series fea- lures written for The Republican by Billy Evans, for 16 years umpire in the American league, and world s greatest baseball authority. No other observer of the "big show and it's preliminaries will give you such in- sight and expert Judgment as Evans articles contain.}
 BY BILLY EVANS
 Worlds Greatest Baseball Expert
 NEW YORK, Oct. s-Greater teams than the New York Yankees have represented the American league in the world series, but never q club with more color.
 A team possessing remarkable power at the bat, coupled with good defense and fair pitching, the Tank ene found 1t a very difficult matter. indeed, to win the American league pennant.
 The New York team has for sev- eral years been the enigma of the American league. With an offense apparently sufficient to crush any opposition, the Yankees have been in- and d-outers. At times the club looks like the greatest aggregation ever gotten together. Yet almost over night the same club can look very ordinary.
 Sudden ReversaIs of Form
 These sudden reversals of form can perhaps be best explained by types. The New York Yankees from the top Of the batting order down to the pitchers. is a team that can hit. It is team that likes to hit It plays the slashing style of game to the exclusion of all others. When it is hitting, it looks great. The crack of the old base hit tends to and r.1nv If fba club reflects the enthusiasm.
 On the other hand the Yankees are easily depressed. Batting slumps are . part of baseball. No matter how great a hitter the individual, there are times during the season when he suffers slump.
 Batting slumps are unexplainable; they just happen. When a couple of good hitters slump, it is very often contagious, the inability to hit spreading through the entire team.
 It is at such times that the New York Americans look like the ordi- nary ball club. It is not a team that fights it's hardest when in such slump, but rather a team that takes 1t as a matter of course. Such an attitude has at several times nearly proven fatal to the clubs chanceR
 Failure to hit naturally affects the temperament and spirit of the player or players. In a great many cases, the slump in batting is followed by similar let-up in the field. Worry over both, invariably clogs up the thinking apparatus. and 1t is not the unusual to have bunch of dumb plays work themselves into the pie ture.
 A team made up of free swinging hitters-batters with tendency to hit for extra bases-is the type most liable to suffer batting slumps. The New York Americans is just such a team.
 slowness On eases
 The Yankees are slow on the bases and very naturally this slowness of It is a team that lacks a varied at tack-but how those athletes can hit the ball!
 I seriously doubt if there ever was team more dangerous at the bat from the standpoint of slugging strength, pure and simple.
 Home runs are- nothing out of the ordinary in the lives of the Yankees. Any man on the club, and l don't except the pitchers, is liable to bust one for a homer at any time.
 If pitcher elects to pass Ruth, he must face Meusel. If he refuses to take chance on Meusel then he must pitch to Pipp. If Pipp looks dangerous, there looms up Home Run" Baker of the old days. After Baker comes Ward and then Schang both take a dangerous cut at the ball. Even the lead-off men, Miller and Pecksnpaugh, loom up in the home r11n column. while Carl Mays and Bob Shawkey usually come through with a couple of home runs every year.
 The Yankees certainly are color- full aggregation. There is no getting ayay from it. Despite it's slowness of foot, and the fact that at times the club can look very ordinary, it is one of the most interesting aggrega- lions that has ever represented 2 major league in the big series.
 IL is a team noted for it's hitting ability. Random has demonstrated that it loves the slugger. and the New York Yankees lineup fairly teens with sluggers. It is a clup that gets runs in huge clusters.
 In a very important series witt the Washington club before the clost of the season, it scored 59 runs in si, games. In one of the all importan games in the final clash with Cleye- land it went out and scored 21 run: for Mays. Such hitting should cer.
  for any pitching staff.
 What about the Yankees pitching staff? During the final stages of tn, race the staff wobbled badly. due t Shawkey's injured arm and ten s]encv on the part of Mays to hav' one bad inning.
 Shawkey has had peculiar sea Sou. A sore arm handicapped hin Sor about six weeks at the start The he hit his stride, and for ] couple of months was the most de vendable man on the staff. The fal weather brought a return of the sor arm and with it a reversal of form.
 Pitching Comparisons
 Mays. a glutton for work-and h V Las received plenty of it-seened | sbow the effects Of it at the finisf hv a tendency to let down at som sfaoe. In most of his games he wa sorfunate enough to get plenty of hit sinp so that his one bad inning habl vas n3 handicap to his winning. Hovt in the final stages was at tn .on of his game. which makes It seer hat he will play prominent part l he clash with the Giants Thus it is apparent that Manage anreins will confine his pitching SC sections to three men-Mays, ShaW lSev and Hoyt. Jack eulnn, the Ve' ersn spitbal pitcher, Is prone 10 con .i.-n,,gb with a brilliant game ju' n,, most of the fans have abol sera+ten that he was with the tear couldn't surprise me if ou1n
 chance against the Giants, WI ,.,, snitball pitching none too we LAe ,,rrv Harper and Rip" Collin III A.-i-oas have two peculiar pltcf