Evening star., 1921-07-26


on the other side of the Alleghen
contrasted with eleven setbacks.
made by the tail-end Mackmen. W
less.
New York and st. Louis proved the
most successful clubs in the latest
clash Of east VS.. west. each winning
ten and losing five. while the White
SoX and Indians ranked next with
Following were the Boston Red SoX.
with eight successes and nine set
backs: the Athletics with six and
ten: Tigers, five and ten. and Grir-
men, five and eleven.
To New York goes the honor of
topping the teams in the intersec,
tional struggles. the two sets played
in the west and one in the east
showing the Yankees to have gained
80 verdcts while losing 20. st: Louis
is the runner-up with arecord OF 20
victories and Is defeats. with the
others standing in this order: Chi
cago. 81 and 20; Cleveland. '25 and
%; Boston. 23 and %: washington.
"a and &c: Detroit. Is and 80; Phila-
delphia, Is and 20.
West Now Holds Edge.
As result Of the invasion of the
frontier just ended the teams of the
sunset division now hold an adVan-
tage over those on the Atlantic sea-
board in the total of 1SS intersec.
victories, offset by only 90 defeats.
but the relative superiority in the
aggregate of the teams from the RI
val sections will not be indicated un-
til the western clubs finish their sec
ond swing through the east, which
opens today. At home the western,
ers have an edge with 69 wins anu
SIS losses. but on their former visit
TO the coast cities they won only -
and dropped Sc.
Judged by their gait for the past
two weeks the Nationals seen seer
headed straight for the. second divl-
sion. but being scheduled for a long
stand in the familiar confines OF their
own lot before crowds normally sym
pathetic rather than hostile, NC
Brides men may be expected to take
a decided brace. Now, as on the oc-
casion of their return from their
first tour of the west, the Nationals
. have a 500 average from an even
split in ninety-six games played. II
will be recalled that following the
former return OF the prodisais ia.e
in May they took four out OF seven
games from the Yankees and Red
Sox. and twelve of eighteen contests
from the western entrants. wnich
landed them in third place, 81 points
better off from their total OF "a games
-
climb started. Since then the Griffss
have dropped exactly three-ffths Of
their games. winning fourteen and
losing twenty-one.
Harris and Miller Cl0utinE.
The expected return to the lineup
Of Charity, who heads the local
batsmen with a mark of .341, will
bolster the teams offense, which will
be adequate with Miller cloutfng at
weeks and Harris, for similar pc
riod. furnishing the ball for an av-
erage of .391. due to "a safe swats in
81 times at bat in the last twenty
two games. This is provided Judge
and Rice have recovered from their
in Detroit. and henceforth display
their normal level of efficiency with
the fail. for Shanks continues to
hover around the .315 mark and. of
late, has been putting up the fash
lest fielding of any, third baseman in
the league.
There is little hope for much of an
Improvement in defense, although
coaching will help Miller to get the
ball away faster and remedy his
penchant for throwing to the wrong
base. while both Rice and Milan re-
Gently have demonstrated unsuspect-
ed ability in pegging.
Cnle1 weakness at snort.
The chief weakness. Of the Ma
tionals. as at present constituted, is
around the keystone sack, and is due
to ORourke's poor throwing arm.
Blackie has every requisite for a
fine fielding shortstop. except ability
to throw. He knows the game thor
oughly. Is smart and aggressive, and
the finest kind of a chap personally.
with 1t all, but his weak wing in
variably means base hits for aliens,
when O'Rourke has to go after balls
to his right. and his uncertainty in
throwing also lessons the efficiency
of Harris in pivoting at the midway.
II ORourke was an exceptionally
heavy hitter his shortcomings in
throwing might be overlooked, but
he is at the very bottom of the list
of Washington regulars, with an
unofficial average of .237, according
to the latest figures.
Game as pebble, O'Rourke has
appeared in all but three or four
games this season. often playing
with injuries which would have put
less courageous athlete on the
bench. 1t is more than possible a
rest would help him.
La Motto and F'oss Available.
La Motto, his understudy, while not
regarded as strong hitter. un-
dpuDleuly COulu WleiQ Hall WIN dS
much effect as ORourke, can cover
even more ground and possesses a
wing of 6ufficient strength that he
does not have to hurry all his plays.
And there is another youngster
whose pants have become shiny
through confinement to the bench
Foss. Deeby gives Indications of de-
veloping into u consistent and hard
hitter. He knows something about
the duties of a shortstop. having
started his professional career in
that position, and, with the possible
exception Of Harris. has the strong
est throwing arm Of any of the Ma
tionals eligible for infield duty. Earl