The Washington times., 1925-09-21

In the world series the Pirates
will have to think as we'll as act,
and there will come the rub, be-
cause they win be against team
which can both think and act,
and which gets by as much on
brains as on Drawn.
One of the strong points of the
Brooklyn team last season was that
1t had, and still has, a wonderful
bunch of what might be called ana
lytical batters. Taking them as
they are batting now, Stock. Wheat,
Fourier, Brown and Johnston,
when the last named is in there,
are men who, after facing a pitcher
two or three times, are prone to
solve him collectively. That ac-
counted for the high average of
games won last year by the Robins
in the final two or three innings
and they have eked out number
of games this season.
Brains plus experience are the
requisites for that sort OF batting.
Washington's lineup has more OF
those two elements than has the
Pirates. and that fact should be
borne in mind.
Sam Rice. Peckinpaugh, Stan
ley Harris. Bluege. Judge are all
veterans who can learn a lot OF
new things in the course of one
game. When they have tough
nut to crack they turn 1t over to
find whether it is softer on the
other side. And they are mighty
likely to discover that the nut
has a flaw.
Pittsburgh has men who shine
p
ting eyes than because they go
through the mental processes Of
solving a problem. Cuyler. Moore,
Wright and Grantham are young
sters in the ma jors and, while they
are intelligent ball players with
natural aptitude for, the game, are
still in the first flush of their
physical prowess. They have not
learned to apply themselves to
studying their opponents as keenly
and shrewdly as do the Washing
ton or Brooklyn veterans.
No team we can recall had so
many genuinely fast men as have
the present Pirates. Barnhart is
about the slowest, apart from the
pitchers and catchers, and he is
by no means dead on his feet. In
dividually and collectively the
Pirates appear to be fleeter of foot
than the Senators, but one wonders
whether they will show profit or
loss from their expeditiousness.
In previous discussions we have
shown that stolen bases have seldom
cut a big figure in the world series.
although they have occasionally
done so. A stolen base by Nc
Nicely. who had walked with Peck
inpaugh on third, and two out, in
the fifth inning of the sixth game
Of the Giants series last
year. saved the Senators. Stanley
Harris came along with a single
that scored both men, and the Sena-
tors won by 2 to /.
Still, the odds are ten to one
that the sacrifice hit. and not the
stolen base. will be the big factor
when the Pirates and Senators
mix. Speed will figure. offensive
ly, i'm stretching hits. in beating
double plays. and in advancing
on outs.
: Will the Pirates, confident of their
speed, overwork it in running out
hits, as they sometimes have done
In the National League campaign?
Or, will the Pirates stress cautious
ness and not use their speed as
much as they should?
II is a good guess that they will
do one thing or the other. 1t is
possibly an even better guess that
they will go from the extreme of
over confidence to over cautious
ness. Should the Washington de-
Tense tame the Pirates wild run
ners a few times early in the series,
look for the Pirates to pull in their
horns. or heels.