Evening star., 1925-05-24

Sisler showed his stout heart when
he failed to get discouraged because
he had serious eye trouble. Few ball
players recover from major optical
ailments. When their eyes go back
on them they invariably are on their
way out. But not so Sisler. He
never gave up the fight to regain his
normal vision.
Held On Gamely.
When he was unable to play in
1923 many players thought he was
through. They all felt sorry for him.
At the time he had one of the bright
est future Of any one in the big
leagues. And he still has, thanks to
his refusal to throw up the sponge.
He managed to hit a bit over 800
last season when he got back in uni
form. Unless l am mistaken, he will
be far above this mark when October
rolls around.
It is a good thing for base ball that
Sisler has come back into his own.
He is one of the real good drawing
cards In the national pastime. having
a big personal following. The places
of players of the Sisler type are al
ways hard to fill. Such stars come to
the top mighty seldom. It would
have been a tragedy had the st. Louis
leader lost his fight against eye
trouble.
While Sisler is going great guns
this season, the same thing cannot be
said for the Browns. The st. Louis
club doesn't impress me as a combi
nation likely to prove highly dan
gerous in the pennant race. l don't
look for them TO be fighting 1t out
in the Fall, although they are fire.
quently a dangerous club to any
rival. But they hardly seem balanced
enough to rate near the top of the
pile.
This lack of balance can be blamed
upon the pitching staff. The st.
Louis hurlers, so far, at least, haven't
measured up to the standard expected
from a pennant contender. They
may get better, but it is very much
of question if they can now show
the stuff they will need to make
amends for a slow start. A game
lost in the early stages of the race
counts just as much as later on.
The Browns have lost number of
games when their batters have been
hitting the ball hard and getting a
flock of runs for the pitchers to work
on Where a club bats in more than
six runs and then fails to win there
is only one answer. That is that the
pitching has been inferior.
Can't Check Opposition.
It is true that the Browns have
won some games where the opposing
clubs have done their share of high
scoring, but the point is that the op-
posing pitchers on the leading clubs
in the league will hold the Browns
hitters to low scores more often than
the Browns will pile up big score.
It is the old story of the necessity of
having consistently good pitching
even with good hitting to stay close
up in a big league pennant race.
Joe Bush doesn't seem to be going
as well for the Browns as he did for
the Yankees. However, he should
strike his stride soon. If he gets
back to his good form he will turn in
some winning efforts for his new club.
Jacobson's absence in the first part
of the season didn't help the Browns
any. He is patrolling the outf1eld
again. The club is better for his pres
ence. He Is a corking good fielder and
an always dangerous hitter. He has
frequently robbed Washington play
ers Of extra base hits, by clever field
ing.
There is plenty of hitting power in
the st. Louis lineup. Ken Williams
is apt to break up any mans ball
game at any time. But in spite of the
offensive strength which Sisler, Will
iiams, Jacobson and their mates give
the Browns, the club isn't going to
get in the thick of the fight without
better pitching. The Browns are
weak in the blk and consequently &t
a big disadvantage. l can't see where
they rate with Washington. the Ath-
letics or the White Sox.