The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-09-10
TALKING
1T OVER
WITH JOE WILLIAMS

NEW YORK, sept. ~.
TN every respect. except the high
il " publicized mathematical GER
tainties. both races in the major
leagues are over. The Athletics arc
"in" in the American League and
the Cubs in the National are what
the boys call the pay of.
The Cubs probably will go into the
series the favorite. For one thing
they open on the home grounds.
For some reason. possibly precedent,
this supposedly gives them an edge.
OF greater significance is the fact that
MAKE the Cubs frst choice in the early
vsgerinEs. All the odds in sports are
made al the tracks. This is because wag-
lovers.
HORSES DO NOT RUN IN THE FORE
NOON. NOR DO THEY RUN AFTER THE
EVENING vEsPERs HAVE CHIMED. BUT
IN THE INTERIM COMPETITIVE PROB
ABILITIES ARE DISCUSSED AND OUT
OF THE DISCUSSIONS CONE DEFINITE
CHANCE VALUES AND ON THESE VAL
UES THE ODDS WHICH ARE ACCEPTED
BY A BETTING WORLD REACH A FIXED
STANDARD.
A S a general proposition there is
"A not great deal of difference
in mechanical ability between the
two league leaders. Every so often
a greatly superior team will come
along that figures far ahead of it's
opposition. The Yankees in their
prime deserved to rate as a club of
exceptional power. They logically
rated ahead of the Pirates in 1927
and the Cards in 1928 1t would
have been a surprise if they had
been beaten, even in a short series,
when many things can go wrong
and frequently do.
And vet it was a great surprise that
they were able to beat the Pirates in four
straight and an even greater surprise
that they we're able TO come back the
following year and do the same thing at
OF clubs must have the breaks TO rise to
such performances, and in both instances
the Yankees were aided by the fact that
the opposition was oyer-awed from the
start,
RUTH AND GEHRIG DID AS MUCH
TO WHIP THE PIRATES IN 1927 AS THE
COMBINED EFFORTS OF THE ENTIRE
YANKEE TEAM IN THE WHOLE SERIES,
AND THEY DID IT IN BATTING PRAC-
TICE THE DAY BEFORE THE SERIES
OPENED AT FORBES FIELD. WITH ALL
THE PIRATES ON THE FIELD FORM
A
GEHRIG IN BATTING PRACTICE
SLAMMED SIX CONSECUTIVE BALLS
OUT OF THE PARK.
7 THINK this demonstration of
j batting ferocity created a psy-
Geological hazard that the Pirates
never were able to erase from their
minds. Ruth had this thought in
mind when he took two extra swings
at the plate and when he compelled
Gehrig to stay in the batter'S box
a few minutes beyond his routine
due.
uo,r..- ,,,a5io- han Climbs often win
the series. The White SoX of 1906 and
the Braves of 1914 are CLASSIC examples
often an unknown will beat Bobby Jones
in an eighteen-hole match. But when the
championship is over no one will coneede
that Jones the inferior golfer. Man
o. War was beaten in one race. The turf
historians stiIl write that ii was fuke.
q
Greatness should never be measured by
spurts. dasheS or an inspired stump
speech You learn from the book critics
that some of Shakespeare's writings
never saw print and in more modern times
that plays fated for ultimate greatness
lay for years in obscure pigeon holes
Of producers noted for foresight and i'm
agination.
A world series does not prove a
IA great deal beyond the fact that
over a short stretch of games one
club is temporarily better than an
other. Over the same stretch any
number of clubs might prove better
than the winner of the series. The
Cubs, for instance, did not get into
the series last year because they
could not beat the Phillies. The
Phillies we're a bad ball club in 1928.
Everybody else walked over them
But against the Cubs they were
formidable ball club.