Evening star., 1925-05-31

American League campaign in sixth
The Indians are playing better ball
than was the case last season.
Speaker has them on their toes every
minute and if he can keep them on
the jump throughout the campaign
his club will wind up with a better
standing than last year. The Tribe
has had some first-class pitching in
the early season and this accounts,
in a large measure, for its good
showing.
The return to form of Uhle must
be most gratifying to Speaker. George
seems back to the form which made
him one of the best pitchers in the
league in 1922 and 1928. He showed
me plenty of stuff when we were in
Cleveland recently. When Uhle is
going good he is a hard man to beat
as his 1922 and 1928 records show.
He won % games in 1922 and two
years ago won 26 to take his rank
as a really great twirler. He was
charged with Is defeats each of these
years.
Uhle OF Form Last Year.
Uhle was sadly off form last sea-
son. Much of the trouble of the
Tribesman can be blamed upon his
inability to reach real winning form.
He was credited with only vic
tories and charged with Is defeats.
He seems destined to do as we'll this
year as he did two and three sea
sons ago. That will be of a lot of
help TO Iris.
The Indians obtained a winning
pitcher in karr. The former Atlanta
twirler got off to a great start by
running up a string of victories that
attracted attention throughout the
league. He pitches in a confident
manner, due no doubt to his fine sue
cess, and he should prove most val
liable to the Tribe.
Spurgeon, Cleveland's young third
baseman, has been touted to me as a
coming star. I'm sorry we didn't
see much of him in action when we
played the Indians. The box scores
would indicate that he is a very
bright prospect. Good judges have
told me he can field and hit. The
combination ought to help him make
good in the majors.
Spurgeon's Record Convincing.
While I saw the youngster in action
for only one inning his record seems
enough to convince me that he is a
corking good third baseman. If it
didn't, the fact that Speaker benched
LutZke in favor of Spurgeon would be
enough to stamp the youngster as a
brilliant inf1elder in my mind. Lutzke
is by no means a bad third baseman.
Several big league clubs would be
mighty glad to have him.
Speaker is playing just as brilliantly
as ever before in his long and useful
base ball career: He Is hitting at a
400 clip, covering his usual great
amount of territory in the outfield and
directing his clubs winning tactics.
There are mighty few smarter base
ball men than the Cleveland leader.
iris Is one of the most remarkable
men in the history of the national
pastime. He is on his eighteenth sea-
son In the big leagues and doesn't
appear to have gone back a bit. 1t is
almost a certainty that he will again
hit in the 800 class. He has been out
of that division only two seasons in
his major league career. He hit a bit
over 200 when he broke in with the
Red Sox late in the 1908 campaign and
had an average of .296 in 1919.
Spoke Credit to Game.
Speaker seems to have several more
years as big league star ahead of
him. He has seen many player
come and go since he first broke in
with the Red Sox. iris knows how
to take care of himself and is always
in fine condition. He has been a great
credit to the game and has done much
to popularize it
There isn't a club in either league
but what would pay record price to
obtain a player of Speakers ability.
The veteran doesn't seem to age in
hitting. fielding or spirit He is the
biggest asset the Cleveland club has
He can be depended upon to get the
best out Of the Indians. He will keep
them prominent in the race as long as
such a feat is possible.
But even granting that the Indians
have improved over last year, conced-
ing Speakers great ability as a player
and manager and allowing for better
brand of pitching l can't see where
the Cleveland club will be fighting it
out along in September.
Copyright, 1925.)