Evening star., 1925-06-24

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Old-timers love to talk about the ex-
plot of Fielder Jones in winning the
1906 American League pennant with
the hitless White Sox. The fact is,
though, that the same team finished
second the year before, and that, al
though Jones men could not hit, they
were marvellous on the bases, in the
held and at both ends of the battery.
Jones deserves credit, surely: but his
was no miracle performance.
Gleason Had Good Team.
Kid Gleason jumped the White Sox
from sixth place in 1918 to first in
1919. Good work. And yet that same
team had won the pennant and the
world championship in 1917. and by
winning the pennant under Gleason
was merely returning to its previous
form.
Jake Stahl took the Boston Red Sox
from fifth in 1911 to first in 1912, and
that was great achievement. Hughey
Jennings copped the American League
pennant in 1907 with a team that had
finished sixth in 1906, and that, too,
was mighty creditable.
These instances are the only ones
in the American League that have ap-
preached what might be viewed as
sensational management
In the National League McGraw'S
Giants finished last in 1915, fourth in
1916 and first in 1917--one of the out
standing cases OF complete reversal of
form. Stallings took the Boston Braves
from eighth place on July to first
at the end of the season in 1914, but
these same Braves had finished fifth
the year before and weren't really as
bad as they looked on July 4.
Mitchells Chicago victory in 1918
and RobinScns Brooklyn victory in
1920 also were with teams that had
finished fifth the year before. When
Pat Moran copped with the Phillies in
1915 the popular 1rishman made the
League history. for the best the Quak-
ers could do the year before was to
finish sixth.
Summary of Sports.
All these performances summarize
this way:
American League-Fourth to first,
Harris; fifth to first, Stahl: sixth to
first, Jennings and Gleason. Total
four.
National League-Fourth to first,
NcGraw; fifth TO first, Stallings.
Mitchell and Robinson; sixth to first,
nforan. Total-five.
Thus of 40 big league pennants Q905
TO date exactly nine have been won by
managers who sprung something of
Il surprise on the field, and in the
record of nine no managers name
appears more than once. That might
mean that when a manager wins the
pennant he usually keeps his team
right up there and repeats.
However, Mack, Jones, Stahl. Row
land, BarroWS, Gleason and Speaker
each won a single American League
pennant only to drop back again,
while in the National League McGraw,
Moran and Robinson twice won pen
nantS without repeating either time
and Chance, Stallings and Mitchell
coped once each without repeating.
On the other hand, McGraw once
won three in row and then four in
a row with chance to lengthen that
string still farther. Frank Chance
won three in a row. So did Jennings
and Higgins. Carrigan won two
consecutive pennants. and Connie
Mack won two successive pennants
two different times.
Master Minds Fail.
The failure of the intellectual giant,
Branch Hickey, to make anything
like favorable showing, the failure
of Connie Mack to come back in a
l0-year stretch, the failure Of Miller
Huggins to rebuild his team in time
TO keep on winning-facts like this
seem TO indicate that miracle mana
gers are mighty few, and that play
ing ability rather than managerial
ability is what actually brings home
the bacon.
Evidently, then, the value of
manager in dollars and cents depends
very much on his wisdom in selecting
playing talent and in keeping the
team in repair rather than in con-
trolling the actions Of his men on the
field.