Evening star., 1923-12-04
AVERAGE Of JUDGE,
.9909} TOPS RIVALS
Other Local infie'ders DEM
onstrate Agi.ity-Yanks
Strong on Defense.
BY DENMAN THOMPSON.

A LTHQUGH the Washington
~ club accomplished nothing
noteworthy 50 lar a. team
marks are concerned during the
pas. season. official American League
fielding record, for 1923. released for
publication To-Day, disclose several
morsels OF Interesting dope in addi-
ton to Is widely commented upon
feat OF establishing for he second
year in succession a new record for
double plays. Twin RlHngs engi-
neered by the Nationals this year
totaled lS2, exactly tl;rty-Seven
more than <ere compiled by their
closet RIVALS, the St. Louis Browns
VIA Joe Judge the G"itfmen at
tai<sd leadership in fielding in one
6rpartmcnt. his average of 1898 top
ping that of any other first has"man
who participated in majority Of
games, although Shccly of the White
SOX. Pipp of the Yankees and Clue OF
The Tigers gave him a battle, this trio
being tied just on" point in the rear.
Ituei also showed tn" way to CatCherS
IN total putou's with 52S. de;hroninS
in this respect.
Roger rcckinpaush the aging in
fielder of the locals. DISTINGUISHED
himself by going through the cam
paign missing hut single engage
m"nt and handling more chances than
any other sh"rtstopper in the cir
cuit-S2l.
Harris Proves Agility.
stan Harris showed the way for
the second basemen in the matter of
ruJ-outs with +l> and WaS far above
all infieid competitors 1T participate
ing in double plays taking part in
I20. fcCk's record of helping in no
dual dea tbs was the best among the
snortstupperS, ds WAS OssI" B!urSc :
20 for the third basrmen. while judge :
total Of li3 coneCtiOnS with tWO-p!N
rrtirementS tied that of Shc"lN.
The activity of the tntielderS was
largely responsible for the fact that,
although the team finished no better
han fifth in fielding. il successfully
handled more chance than any other
entrant. its aggregate 81 6.I?G heing
20 in excess Of the total u: the White
SOX, second on the list.
The statistics indicate that field
:ng on whole in the circuit was
Improved over the previous cam
paign, especially IL third base where
:t was nOticeahly V ak in 1872. the
performances Ot Willie kamm with
She White SoX: sammy Hale with the
AtnlettCS, ana w AFTER l-uLEht OF Jnt
Indians, all newcomers, in addition
to the comeback OF Joe Bugan with
the Yankees. accounting for it.
New York 5 famous attack. led by
the Batteriug Babe Ruth. has been
20 widely advertised that the de-
"ruSivc strength of the club often
s overlooked, but the statistics in
dictate that the Yankees do not mere
~ hammer their way to ChHmpion-
hnipS. FOR thcy lead in three infrId
positions and rank well un in the
garden DUgau'S work at third was
better il most departments than that
# MS rivals: scott tops the regular
.nUrtscoppers in the percentages, and
Wards work at the Keystone proved
,nr of the sensations OF the season,
while Ptpp coHtrived Ia hold his
pwu will The initial sackers.
Wards 4@3 assists speak eloquent
l. of his worth, and the question OF
whether the high priced kamm of
the White SoX, LutZke of the In
dians made good is partially an
Swcred by their respective assists
total of sos and 352.
Most notable among the perform
..nces OF the outfielderS were the
s29 putouts of Mostil of Chicago,
and the 400 credited to jacobson OF
st Louis No other NyChaSer last
year reached the 400 mark. In as
sists Ira Flagstcad. who divided his
time between the Tigers and Red SoX,
was the leader with 3j.