Evening star., 1925-12-03

end OF hIS string, was the pest pitCHt
To have won a majority Of his
games last season would have been
an achievement in itself foT Covey.
who failed in this regard with Cleve-
land in both of the two campaigns
Immediately preceding, but TO top the
entire field with 20 victories against
hut defeats for an average OF 500,
and, in addition. to prove the second
hardest hurler in the circuit to score
on. stamps the Polish spitball special
ist as one of the truly great pitchers
III the paStime.
Only Pennock Tops Him.
BY but one Finger. Herb Pennock.
was COveleskie outdOne in particu-
lar indicative Of all-round worth. and
then by only a narrow margin. The
slender southpaw of the Yankees is
credited with yielding but 2.Sl earned
runs per nine-inning game, as against
The 2S4 mark attained by Stan, but
in the matter of winning ball games
Pennock finished far back, having
only Is wins TO counterbalance his II
reversalS The difference in the cali
her of their supporting cast accounts
In large measure for this. of course,
the Hugmen finishing just one notch
removed from the bottom of the heap.
In achieving his 2.S1 mark for earn
ed runs allowed Pennock succeeded
Walter Johnson as the most effective
pitcher. Barney having earned that
distinction in 1924, when he establish
ed figures of 2.72. Pennock then trail
ed him with a 2.S3 mark and won 2l
of 80 games for a winning percentage
of roo TO stand second to Barney's
1857 mark for % wins and losses.
This year Johnson showed a loss in
effectiveness to the point where 3.017
earned runs were made off him. but
his was good enough to make all but
Pennock and Covey trail him, and his
1+1 percentage for 20 wins and Z
losses was surpassed only by his
Polish teammate.
Marberry in 55 Games.
BY finishing with an earned mark
Of 24S Marberry enabled the Ma
tionals to get 3 representatives in
the first 10 pitchers in the league.
~ against each for the ChiSoX and
Nackmen. and by answering the
summons on 50 occasions the big
Texan took part in more games than
.uE other performer. For all the
frequency Of his appearances. how
ever. Fred did comparatively little
tork in the aggregate, for he did
not start a single combat. and hav-
ial, tuiled but 90 innings all told. !
averaged considerably less than two
rounds in each game he went to the
hp=
The hardest working member Of
the profession was Pennock, who had
292 innings pitched to his credit
but to Howard Ehmke of the loWly
Red SoX went the honor of pitch
ing the greatest number of COM
plete games. his 90 being one more
than the number compiled by the
Yank.
To Ted Blankenship Of Chicago
goes credit for displaying the most
Improvement in the course of 1925,
gaining in skill to such a degree as
the season progressed that in the
last half of the year he was about
the most effective finger in the cir
cult.
Griffs Spoil No-Hit Bids.
The no-hit hall of fame received no
new members during the year. Two
made sturdy bids for the honor and
il is notable that in each instance it
was q member of Clark Griffith's
championship array who ruined their
records. Ted Lyons of the White SoX
approached closest to the goal. He
held the Nationals at his mercy until
the ninth inning Of the second game
of a double-header on September 19.
when Bob NeaCh connected for q
safety that spilled the beans, and but
for a double by Walter johnson in the
sixth inning of a battle on August 81.
Joe Bush of the Browns would have
earned a no-hit niche.
Johnson himself turned in two
games where opponents were limited
10 a pair of bingles. while Pennock
and Jones of the Yanks, Rommel and
Harris of the A 8 and Whitehill of the
Tigers performed the feat once.
In two particulars where he usually
shows the way Johnson was eXcelled
this year. In total strike-outs Bar
ney's 10S was surpassed by Bob
Groves of the MaCkmen, who regis
Tered 116 and, incidentally, issued the
greatest number of free tickets, and
in shut outs recorded Walters three
was equalled by COveleskie. Blanken
ship and Ruffing. Ted Lyons was the
leader, with five, while Sam Gray Of
the Athletics and Joe Giard of the
Browns each pitched four.