The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-02-26
 ORTS GRANT MEETS PARAN HERE MONDAY NIGHT --SPORIS
TANK MOGUL SAYS
 FIELDING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
Ed Barrow Says Pitchers Can't Win Games Alone.
 Must Have Support
By GEORGE CHADWICK peciaI Correspondent Of The Age Herald Copyright, 1922, by The Age -Herald)


 Copyright. 1922, by The Age-Herald)
 New York, February 25.-Ed Bar row. business manager of the Yankees, seized a moment today in the midst of his preparations to get the Yankee training camp show on the rails for New Orleans, to make a sage observation about baseball in 1922. He declared that fielding will play a big part in winning the cham ptonship this season. That is a really radical statement if one takes time to analyze it and realize what Bar row is intending to convey.
 Every year each good little mana ser comes out with the announcement hat it takes homes runs to win ames, and that if his team only bats to expectations it would be in the first flight of homing pigeons. That is perfectly true, but if every club could do that little thing, the race ight result in a general deadlock.
 Barrow Picks Fielding
 Barrow picks on fielding because he believes that some pitchers are rolling down hill in both leagues, and If they cant do any better than they have been doing, it will be necessary for the infielders to come to their as sistance.
 He calls attention to some facts which are interesting.
 1. There were teams in 1921 which made better showing than their pitching strength warranted because they had all-fired good infielders. The. Boston Americans who didn't have anything that could be called good batting, were in the thick of the fray, battling for every game. They could not have done that if they had not been one of the best defensive teams in either leagues.
 2. Barrow would not say a word about teams in other leagues, but he admitted that anyone could reason by analogy that the New York Ma tionals might not have done so well had not the pitching staff, which wavered and slipped around all sea son, received support which made pitchers look like stars of the first magnitude.
 3. The chances accepted and under taken in 1921 were more numerous on the part of many infielders than in other years. This showed that the pitchers were being hammered and that they were being saved by their fielders, who were getting over more ground. The work of Dykes of the Athletics and Harris of Washington showed how much pitchers owed to them.
 4. In the outfield, there was some great work on the part of certain players and opportunities for great work on the part of others. The trouble with the outfields in general was that they did not develop to correspond with the batting. The sluggers were peppering the fences with chances, but the fielders were not there as compared with the days of the past.
 Good Balance Important
 The point Barrow made is that 1t is highly important that a team should be well balanced between fielding and batting. Realizing that it is out of the question to combine everything, however, some managers are proceeding on the theory that they will get ss many good fielders as they can, especially if their pitch CTS happen to be little weak.
 That is exactly the play the Giants made when they got Groh. They let almost the best outfielder in the Ma tional league get away in that trade. At least, he was the best for New York and was plenty good enough as he was playing for another season. But when they let Burns get away they propped a hole at third base that needed propping.>
 The luck that came Frisch's way in 1921 could not last forever, and he had to improve or the break was apt to come. So the Giants took no chances with the break and declared that the best thing to do in view of the long services of Barnes, Toney Nepf, Douglas and the rest of the pitchers was to prop up the fielding.
 Tanks Want Scott
 Perhaps the way Barrow feels about the emphasis to be placed on fielding this year may account for the willingness of the Yankees to make a trade for Scott of Boston, AL though Scott may not be the best between short and third and back of both positions as a moving ma chine.
 an excellent chance in the race could be sure of their pitchers, each would begin to choose a new color for the championship pennant right now. If the fielders of those teams fall down or have a bad year, there will be awful wailing next Septem- Der.
 The Cardinals are not sure of their pitchers. IT all their fielders showed the ability of Fletcher, when the lat- ter was shortstoppng for the Giants, St. Louis would have an ace the team does not possess now. Perhaps no one knew that better than Rickey when he suggested to Philadelphia that Fletcher might like to play with St Louis.