The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-10
BY j. L. HUGHES.

Is j.. L.. III 6HES.
Jack Fitzpatrick tasted defeat fol
the first time as an Islander, not
because his pitching was not up &c
scratch, but more so because OF
Ralph Lefty" Miller, ace of the
Bloomer staff, and one of the
leagues stellar moundsmen, OPP
posed him. Both hurled winning
brands of ball, with the visiting
southpaw having a wee bit the bet
ter of things, particularly in the
pinches. The score was 3 to l.
Fitz worked like a trojan, and
though touched for II hits, was
never really in danger of facing a
stampede from the bats of the
Boomers. He yielded two earned
runs, but one of them was the re-
suit of break that Umpire George
Hughes passed out to the Boomers.
The arbiter'S failure to call a per-
fectiy good third strike developed
into a base on balls with two on,
and then Fitz hit a visitor to force
a run. One of the trio Of scores
was assisted by a passed ball of
Connolly's.
Miller demonstrated the class
that has given him a. preponderance
of victories during the season. Al
though the Islanders collected nine
hits off his good left wing. he was
superb when one safe blow might
have turned the tide of victory
Rock Islands way. Not until the
eighth and ninth were the Islanders
able to collect more than one hit in
any lone inning, and then by putting
everything he possessed ont he agate
he managed to skim through two
very tight places.
The islanders best chance to pull
the game out of the fire presented
itself in the eighth, although in tn,
preceding rounds there were sew
eral opportunities, more or les!
promising. With two out, the
bases were loaded and Elmer Ben
son was at the plate. He got the
count to two and three. and with
the final pitch all hands started run
ming. But the ball bounded into
the eager mitts of Bobby CoItrjn.
N who pegged to Sykes for the retir-
ing out. A single would have
y counted three runs and given the
Islanders the lead, for Murphy. who
was on first. had rounded second
When the ball was hit.
In the ninth Bill Johnson hit safe
ly and Cole walked, being first two
men to face Miller in the final ses-
sion Aftermath flied out to left
field and Lord struck out. Just
when it looked as if the Islanders
Were doomed to a shutout, Wally
Newell sent grounder TO second
that was kind enough to hop over
BroWniow's head and permit john
son to register. Connolly rolled
tamely enough down the first base
line for the last out
The Islanders got at least one
runner on the bases in every in
nlng, but great pitching and fast
heldlng combined TO deprive them Of
scores. Double plays in the second
ana third innings stopped them in
the midst of uprisings, while in the
fourth Murphy was thrown out at
third attempting to stretch his |
double to left center into a tripIa. |
Murphy Gets Three.
Frank Murphy declined to be
bothered by anything Miller had - !
offer. The frisky shortstop collect |
ed three clean hits in four times al
bat Bill Cole got a blow his first
time up and accepted a pair of |
passes on his last two appearances.
Both telded their positions in their |
usual brilliant style.
Luck played prominent part in |
rle first score by the Boomers. In
the second inning, Eddie johnson |
up nrst, hit a tantalizing roller be-
tween the initial cushion and the
pitchers box. 1t was one of those |
slow, teasing kind and Eddie earned /
the base by step. Next. one of |
t1tZpatrick's fast balls got awav
from Connolly. permitting Johnson |
TO reach second. He scored on a
single to left by Jantzen.
The BloomerS failed to cause any
excitement in the succeeding three
innings. but in the sixth they PASSED
a run across with the able assist
ance OF Umpire Hughes. who. We
admit merely guessed wrong. John
son singled with one out and Janf-
zen did likewise. Woehrs rolled 10
Benson for the second out. with
the count two and two on Miller
Hughes called one through the mid
die ball This knocked FIT out NJ
gear for the time being. Miller was
walked, filling the bases. and
Brownlow was hit by a pitched ball.
forcing johnson in. Coltrin was an
easy ont.
In the ninth inning Miller led off {
with a single to center, and was
sacrificed TO second by Brownlow. ]
Coltrln rolled to deep short. giving {
no chance for play. Cal
laban sliced a roller in from. Of .b>l :
plate, on which he was safe at first. /
Miller scoring. Harkins singled to {
lett, Milling the bases. Sykes hit into S
a double play, Fitzpatrick to Con- 1
molly TO Lord. v
ft1STERDAY'S HERO - Babe I