The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-25
SHOCKER SETS
HURLINC PACE
IN AMERICAN
ST. Louis Browns Star Threatens
to Exceed Last Seasons
Record.
By JOHN b. FOSTER

copyright, 1877, by Inc ATSuS.J
New York, May 25.-Shocker of
the St Louis Browns probably will
beat all major league pitchers 10
the ten victory mark. The first
big distinction of the season for
any pitcher is to win in double
figures.
Nine times he has defeated his
opponents and he has lost four
games. Two of the latter were very
hard luck affairs. OF this nine vic
tories, he won two in the series
played against the Yanks on the
Polo grounds. That takes the blue
ribbon of the year to date more par
ticuIarly because he faced Ruth
and Meusel for the first time that
they had been out in 1922.
Reuther of Brooklyn is the next
best He has won seven games and
he is the only pitcher of the Brook
Ign outfit who is showing much.
The others appear as if they were
ex-members of what Uncle Robbie
proudly declared was the best pitch
ing staff in the National league.
BuSher Leads Pitchers.
A busher leads the procession of
the big pitchers so far as node
feat record is concerned. Couch of
San Francisco, sent to Cincinnati
for the summer, has won five games
and lost nine. ALI the others ex-
cept an occasional four or five who
have pitched only a game or two,
and Joe Bush of the Yanks, who
has won four and lost nine, have
G., 49, h.
lamp black of defeat.
Going back to Shocker, it is not
out of order to state that he has
great opportunity to win the Amer
lean league laurels this year. All
of the old timers who were just a
little better in 1921 than he proved
to be seem to be running in the ruck
and some OF them look as if they
were anchored there Shocker had
a good mark last season, with y
victories and II defeats, and at the
speed he has shown to date will
probably take part in more games
than SO and even if he has no bet
ter average of success than now is
likely to be a top liner because so
many of the other pitchers have
plainly looked bad
West Has Edge.
The first tilt between the east
and west is over The New York
teams are still leading their respec-
tive leagues although neither of
them has shown such skill against
the west as against the east. The
Giants were particularly bad. How
ever, look out for one thing-they
will play a lot better baseball when
they are home on the Polo Grounds
with their long stretch of June
games, provided they are consti-
tuted as Giant teams have been
constituted in the past
Another thing, the west hasn't
sent out a National league team for
some time which has been a high
class winner in the east, except the
Pittsburghs of last year, and thev
became an awful cropper in their
final round
The last game of the Cincinnati
series was won by the Giants after
they had passed up the first three
to the Reds and the Giants were
forced to go ten innings to come
through with that. The New York
team isn't much on batting.
Philadelphia began like a whirl-
wind in the west and finished all in.
Marked distress in the pitching
department caused it. The storm
signal is up and Manager wilhelm
will have to hustle for new pitch
ers.
Cardinals Drop.
The st. Louis Nationals dropped