The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-20
OF Batters In Southern League
YANKS SURPRISE
FANS BY RECENT
VICTORIOUS TOUR
Strong Western Teams Swept
Aside In Rush For
Pennant

NEW YORK, May 19.-The inter-
esting thing about a pair of dice,
share of stock, woman crossing a
crowded street, or the New York
Yankees, is that nobody, themselves
included, ever knows what they're
! going to do next, because that's the
one thing they're certain not to do.
The best minds of the army. Wall
| street and the traffic squad have
pondered these matters and have
given them up, except the Yankees,
who, being normal creatures, should
respond to the probabilities. saving
| of course, the few left handlers
among them who are crabby any
! way.
The Yankees left New York some
| time ago for their first Western tour
/ with a slender margin of leadership
over the field, having won a dozen
| games from the weak eastern ball
clubs and lost seven thereto. The
western clubs. the Detroit Tigers,
Cleveland Indians, st. Louis Browns
and Chicago White Sox. We're re
garded in the sprngtme as the
teams which would be most danger
Gus to the Yankees in their effort
| to win another pennant this year.
|
and its vast rewards next fall in
/ the Yankees big new stadium. If
the Yankees get into another world
! series against the Giants, who seem
| to be elected by acclaim in the Ma
tional league, they will make at least
$4,000 apiece even as losers and OF
course the heavy money element en-
hances the public interest in what
| they do.
| Were Hitting PIT
Well, the Yankees were hitting
PIT as a team when they went west,
ranking behind Detroit and Cleve-
land in this regard, and only three
of the members of their lineup,
formerly known as 'murderers'
row" were hitting better than 500,
the boiling point of the major league
| batting average Third Baseman Joe
| Dugan, First Baseman Wallie Pipp,
Shortstop Everett Scott and Catcher
Walter Schang were sailed through
| the column as far down as the aver
age of Second Baseman Erin Ward,
which was the slim figure of .203.
Three numerals were the only
supposition of the Yankees fortune
in the west and nobody built very
high prospects on such meagre I'M
derpinning.
But nobody, themselves included,
ever knows what the Yankees are
going to do next, because that's the
one thing they're certain not to do.
The Indians had won IL games and
lost s to other strong western clubs
when the Yankees went there to meet
them. The Indians had done almost
as we'll against the strong western
clubs as the Yankees had done
against the weak teams of the east.
swept Cleveland Aside
The Yankees swept the short Sc
ries in Cleveland and moved on to
| Detroit, where the Tigers. hitting 90
points better as team, awaited
them. The Yankees won three cut
of four from Detroit and hustled
! down to st. Louis. where they won
three in a row. Eight games won
and one lost was the Yankees rec
ord against those very strong west
ern clubs and in the achievement of
that reversal strange things hap
pened to the batting averages of
! individual Yankees. Babe Ruth
banged out three hCmers Whitley
! Witt the outfielder, who had hit 1928,
| performed Mt the rate of .406 In the
nine western games and his hits be-
gan to happen when there We're rum
ners on the bases. Walter Pipp. who
had hit only $50 against the weak
eastern clubs. hit even better than
Witt in the nine games up to Satur-
| day out west. Bob Meusel went at
| the rate of 1915 in the nine games and
| Wallie Schang in eight games hit
.346, whereas he had been going at
the slow pace of .227 before.
Last fall, when the Browns were
pursuing the Yankees right into the
last week, and the Yanks seemed to
have the precious dry goods cinched,
what did Babe Ruth and his sup
porting company do but lose five of
their final half-dozen games to the
Boston Red Sox, the weakest team
in the American league, or for that
matter in any other, and almost lost
| the pennant. But nobody ever knows
| what the Yanks are going to do. be-
cause whatever that Is, they just
won't do it.