The Washington times., 1932-09-13
BY FRANK G. MENKE

NEW YORK, Sept 1S.-1G 10 Gus
tomary, prior to each new world
series, to pluck the cogs from out
of the rival machines, put them
under a microscope, analyze them,
spray on some acid, summon the
statistics and then declare one
man null and void and another
q potential hero as the result OF
such findings.
Which is a hazardous and oft
times a most foolhardy thing.
Prospective satellites become
buns and the lowly and seemingly
mediocre gallop into immortality.
The end of every series finds the
survivors gazing at bizarre col
lection of facts and finds the
something that is called form"
knocked into the general appear
ance of a 20-pound watermelon
after rolling down from the top
of Mr.. Pixies well-kpown peak.
No Telling
What a man does in the Ma
kional League has nothing whatso-
ever to do with how he will func-
Eion against American League
pitching and American League
strategy. What he does in the
regular season of 154 games has
no definite bearing on how he will
disport in the autumnal classic.
Everything goes "wobby lobby"
when the first play ball" sounds
over the battlefields set apart for
worlds conquest.
When a brace Of flag winners
go to tussling during the ides OF
September and october, all that
has gone before means nothing
Regardless Of what each club has
done against rivals in its own cir
cult, the affair resolves itself into
an even-Stephen proposition and,
if a fellow feels that he must make
a bit of a wager, he perhaps exh1b-
its the greater wisdom by sharp
shooting on the short end.
Ty Cobb who wrecked every
thing in the younger circuit a
quarter Of century ago, never
was more than a dud in any OF
the series in which he participat-
ed. The pitchers, knowing his
power, bore down on him with all
they had, and smothered him in
his every desperate sally.
In 1881 the horsehide twisters.
working under command OF Con-
ME Mack, devoted themselves to
conquering Bottomley, FriSch and
Hafey, of the Cardinals. And
paid no heed to a fledgling known
as Pepper Martin, who took ad-
vantage of every opportunity,
stole the show and turned back
the onslaught Of the AS.
The mighty Babe Ruth, veteran
of nine series, has been good, bad
and indifferent through those
struggles. At all times, the
enemy pitchers levelled with him.
Sometimes they made him look
like a high school novice, and, at
others, he knocked everything into
the next county.
Never Can Tell
One never could forecast &C.
curately what Ruth would door
fail to do-and he is the glittering
individual example of how weird
are the world series transpirings.
Eighteen years ago the lin
vincible Athletics" were beaten in
four straight by the scoffed-at
Braves, at a time when it was
100000 to l shot that such a
thing could not happen. In later
semesters the Yankees whanged
the Pirates and the Cardinals in
four straight and. although they
figured to win both encounters,
it was the Brooklyn Bridge
against dollar bill that they
couldn't eliminate both shows
with record tying abruptness.
In 1915 Duffy Lewis and Harry
Hooper, who had made about
one home run apiece all during
the regular season in behalf of
the Red Sox, contributed more
homers in the fifth and final
World Series jamboree against
the PhillieS than they had created
all season.
So whel Elm is the value of
solemn doping and ponderouS
juggling with pre-series figures in
the effort to determine who will
win-and by what margin?
(SecOnd Chapter Tomorrow