New-York tribune., 1921-12-23
Peck Regarded
Highly in Eyes
OF Loyal Fans
Yankee Captain Will Prob
ably Be First to Report
Despite Dissatisfaction
BY Jack Lawrence

Roger Peckinpaugh, Yankee shortstop
and captain, will probably be tho first
Of the rcbcllious players involved in
this weeks baseball deals to abide by
the weird workings of the hand of fate.
Roger. careful player and serious
thinker, will report to the Boston Red
Sox regardless of what the other men
named in Tuesdays trades decide to
do, according to statements made yes
terday by several persons high in dia-
mond culture who know the old Yankee
shortstop we'll.
The spectacular upheavAl caused in
Boston by the disposal of four star
players which has resulted in the therat
OF boycott of the Red Sox by the
fans. has aroused no voice Of SYM
pathy here.
Local American League fans, who
have drilled along the tedious trail of
failure and defeat for many years, have
world of sympathy for Peck, and have
not disguised the umbrage that is theirs
when the implication is made that Bos-
ton is getting the worst of the ex-
change of shortstops.
Getting right down to hard facts. the
trading of Peckinpaugh to Boston has
hit both the diamond sentimentalists
and the hard-boiled students Of the
game here q mean swat, and the outcry
from Boston has only added insult to
their injury. In the matter of short
stops alone New York fans cannot see
where or how in exchanging Everett
Scott for Roger Peckinpaugh the Bos-
ton fans have room for complaint.
Peck Superior Batter
Peckinpaugh ranks high in the eyes
OF local supporters Of the great pas
time, and while figures may indicate
locally as an aspersion cast upon one
this question will remain matter OF
opinion in the minds of New Workers.
When it comes to batting the fans here
claim q great superiority for Peckin-
paugh, even though the tabulated aver
ages may give only the slightest hint
Of this. The sum and substance of
their claim is that Peck is as reliable
q fielder as Scott and is q more valu-
able hand on the offensive side of the
game. Therefore, instead Of the trade
being q so-called insult to Boston, the
rumpus raised In the Hub is regarded
locally as an asperation cast upon one
of the greatest figures in the game.
The passing of Peckinpaugh would
probably have been taken by New
York fans as one Of those inevitable
things that must happen in the COM
mercial progress of baseball, and they
might have made the best Of it, had
not Boston raised row in which alle
cations were made that the Yankees
had been on the receiving end Of a
trade that was designed to wreck the
Boston Americans.
Secondary thought, which is usually
the most reliable, brought forth the
opinion yesterday that the famous
transactions Of last Tuesday had made
the Red Sox remnant contenders for
next year instead of wrecking the
team. The lineup Of the Sox, as given
out by Manager Hugh Duffy yesterday,
indicates that there will be at least
six men coming to the plate who can
ages Of 800 or better. The Yankees,
on paper, can<<t be figured to do better,
even by the Boston fanatics, who allege
that Harry Frazee wrecked his club in
order to give the Ruppert-Huston
forces another pennant winner.
In poor-poohing the uproar Of dis
approval that has shaken the staid and
steady city of Boston to its diamond
foundations New Workers point to the
fact that, as a rule, ballplayers leaving
the roster of the local club go out and
make good; They also aver that "Bul-
let Joe" Bush, while he may have
looked like million or more dollars a
few years ago, has shown nothing in
his recent performances that would
cause New Workers to go out and toss
up their hats at the prospect Of OBJ
tanning his services. So far as a good
listener could learn yesterday the most
hopeful addition to the Yankee lineup
is Sam Jones, pitcher who showed q
great deal of class last year and who
seems to have great future.
Red sox Needed Hitting Power
Boston's charge that the Red Sox
have been wrecked is largely bunk
The club is certainly no worse of than
it was last season and there are many
New York fans who have money to
wager that it will make better show
ing in 1922 than it did in 1921. Harry
rately that tho team needed additional
hitting power. No Boston fan who
followed the depressing history Of the
club last season could we'll dispute this
fact.
The deals Just closed undoubtedl,
add something to the teams attack
although some pitching strength has
been sacrificed to achieve this. The
latter phase of the situation provides
Mr.. Frazee with perplexing problem
Frazee reiterated yesterday that h.
had no intentions Of selling the Rec
Sox. He added that his main desire
was to give Boston pennant winner
and that the deals made on Tuesday
were consummated with that idea ir
view.
Ban Johnson, president Of the Ameri
can League, was quoted yesterday as
declaring that Frazee was "the cham.
pion wrecker of the baseball age
which was generally taken by we'll In
formed baseball men as meaning some.
thing less than nothing.
"Wild Bill" Donovan, former mana
ger Of the Yankees, yesterday signed 8
contract to manage the New Haven
team of the Eastern League for 1922.