The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-09-08

personal pleasure to name MIN 1lrSt.
In center field iris Speaker
1sAis. boss. again this year. The
Votes. with one each to Witt
Gland Rousch. Speakers batting
:asav@age is high. As for field.
cling. they say he's not as last
.as In other years ears IL Ma sIgTS n tSi::
-f!e;year that recalled the old days
..HAwhen his work with the Red
1on 6Ox was hypnOtizing tine rams.
Next to Speaker I would name
~ Whitley Witt for center fleio. He
is playing the best game OF his
life. and a large share of credit
FOR a. third Yankee pennant goes
-eb Charley Jameson. also of cleve-
Iiand, lis my choice for left field.
The baseball writer's give him
a22gtrong vote over Rousch and Wheat.
etff it had not been for Gripping
sGhis wonderful throwing arm, Bob
+RMeuseI might have captured ia
EafhtesOh's job.
80 In the infield, first base presents
- some strong names, with points In
safavor Of each. Blue of Detroit -
ik4x,ny choice. Three Of the writers
-zoeommittee agree with me while the
others split their votes on Pipp,
arKeIIy, Judge and Bottomley. am
seieurprised that Burns of Boston ana
5s4Grimm of Pittsburgh are over
r1ilooked. Burns and Ehmke nave !
~ been the whole show with the Red
a'NSex. Pipp would have had much
0cbigger year but for several tough
,,aafumps, which every player Is
n bound to experience. Blue is not !
Esp strong at bat but hits when they |
need em. AS a lead-off man he /
knows how to get on and score !
runs. His fielding around first base
has been as classy as circus
S3.Now comes the soft part OF my
1923 job.
-fOIs I'd like to see a sailor unite the
s7knot at second base. Hornsby,
eaFfisch and Collins!
Where is the ballplayer or base
,kAa1l expert with the nerve to hand
: the public an All-American Team
-srWfthout including both Frisch and
81 Hornsby?
* Because of Frisch's ability to
move around the infield the
problem Is eased up by sticking
sn'McGraw's flSsh over at third
ia base. Now all we have left for
second base are HOrnsbY, great
and Eddie Collins, still king Of
-. base stealers In the American
,ozLeague and one of the games
- +smartest stars. Eddie, i guess
r. that old 400 batting average Of
:. Hornsby's gives him first claim at
second base. /
By putting Frisch at third / |
have almost committed murder!
1es What am going to do with Joe
tfDugan, the SWEETEST little fielding |
third baseman in the big show?
What am I going to do with Tray
fIDr, of Pittsburgh. and his batting
average of $50?
On personal grounds I would like !
TO stuff the ballot box for Joe. Not |
only for his spearing, scooping, |
throwing and hustling, but for his /
wonderful nerve in the face Of un-
fair crowds. But I am sorry those |
things do not offset hts weakness |
at bat as compared with Frfsch and |
others.
At shortstop a grand little player |
has got to be passed up. Everett |
colt cannot be named again this |
year, but I do name him as the |
finest example OF loyalty and en-
durance in baseball. Rain or shine, /
Scotty Is In there working hard but |
quietly, always for the good of the /
club, strong in the tight places ana |
never out Of a single game in over |
seven long years.
That is the reason Scotty is show ]
ing signs Of wear and tear. We've |
eli got to come to it. The greatest |
of all shortstops, Honus Wagner, !
went Just so far and then Father |
Time tagged him out. 1 only wish |
Scotty could have had some of the |
breaks / have enjoyed
Gerber is the best shOrtstop of
1928. Galloway, of the Athletics,
and Bancroft, of the Giants, are
leaders, but both have been out
Of the game too much. The
Browns shOrtstOp is more sea-
eOned than Sewell an extremely |
good man, and with HollOcher, of
the Cubs, on sick leave, no one I
else but Gerber deserves the
honor.
have saved the battery prob
lem last. To a great extent it IL /
the most important thing a man.
ager has to consider, and In this |
case the selections are surely going |
TO cause a big difference Of !
opinion.
Seven different players got one |
vote each for the catching Job, |
something that did not happen in |
any other position. Wally Schang |
might have been my choice again |
this year, but his accident on Dec |
grafton Day kept him out too long.
Ray Schalk doesn't seem to be the |
wizard he was last season but he
is still one of the best. I think he |
IL heavier and little slower. Bass
Ter of Detroit and Perkins of the
Athletics have both been doing fine
work, Muddy Ruel is having a good
scasOn and went like a house afire
early in the year.
The only two National Leaguers
mentioned are O'Farrel, Of the Cubs
and Schmidt, of Pittsburgh. 1 have
seen Schmidt work and consider
him one of the Pirates chief rea-
sons for keeping on the heels of
the Giants. Schmidt is my choice.
The final consideration is pitch
ing.
If you go by the averages there's
q long list of possibilities in both
leagues. If you go by the sport
writers, Shocker and Luque are
almost unanimous. II you go by
1923 performance aIone, which Is
really the official rule. some mighty
good men are eliminated.