The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-21
JOHNNY EvERS
LAUGHING NOW
AT THE GIANTS
Is Getting Unbounded Joy Out Of
the Victories of the White
Hose.
By JOHN B. FOSTER.

tOOpyT1Sul, 1SHS, ny lie al Suc.B
Strange noises on the Texas
plains like the bowling of the
wolves in the timber come from
John Evers and Kid Gleason, laugh
ing because of their victories over
the Giants. Particularly long and
rasping is the sneering yowl of
Evers, who wasn't good enough for
the National league and was let go
to Chicago to help the Sox- He is
helping them all right. Whether
he does any more or not he will
send them back to Chicago better
advertised than any Six team that
has played baseball for Comiskey
since 1919. Eyers knows the Gian.s
like a book ana has made his team
play for all it is worth.
1t is a true that a few old spring
games do not win a pennant but
Evers revels in situation like that
of the present He went away from
New York vOwing that he would
show the world few things about
baseball before he was through
with it, and he has assisted in max
ing the best start for the Sox that
any second division team has had in
the American league since the or
ganization was pup.
The Giants have won one from
Chicago, tied a ten-inning affair
and lost three. There are a lot
more games to be played but Evers
is talking to himself with joy when
ever he is in the solitudes where
he can commune with nature and
applaud his own convictions.
May Be Dangerous.
Another way to look at it is that
the SoX are q team of concealed
strength and dangerous when they
have anything to help them in the
box. They haven't been getting a
lot of pitching but that of the Gil
ants has been lower than par and
the sox have fought the games
out with more pertinacity than
their rivals. Gleason reiterated
last season that if only he had
pitchers he could get into the first
division. Other managers in the
American league laughed at his pre-
tensions. Some of them said that
he did have half a club. The Kid,
almost fearful in his protests, de-
clared on the lest visit of the Sox
to New York that if he had only
one pitcher besides Faber and Kerr,
who could just throw the ball over
the plate he would be in the first
division and Washington would be
out of it.
If his players are taking up the
game seriously this spring as they
seem to have been doing another
elements introduced into the Amer
lean league campaign for 1922. 1t
isn't going to be any milk and wat
er mixture that fights for the pen
nant. If the teams remain intact
there may be five contenders for
the championship instead of two.
1t would not be possible to tell
much about batting in the major
and minor league games this year
if We were to take contests here
and there which have been played
by teams in spring training prac-
tice and try to analyze them. Some
games would show that the batting
is bound to be heavy and others
would lean a little more toward
the pitchers.
Pitching No Better.
Take all of them, give them a
good going over, and compare them
with the preliminary games of 1921
and it is evident that the pitchers
are not doing a bit better than they
did last season. Not one iota. They
are being punished about as hard
as they were while playing through
the south and IN some instances
are being punished harder.