The Washington times., 1938-02-09
Pitching Stdff Holds Fate
Of TIGERS in Penndnt Bid
Chief Problem
Is Third Base
Replacement
By FRANK BUCK" ONEML

ny CNEAGNN DONN ~ ANG
(This Is the third of series
on the penn1nt chances OF the
American League clubs tDhtch
are preparing to enter spring
training for the 1888 season;
Tomorrow Buck O'NetH totH
discuss the CleDelGnd indians"
The Detroit Tigers will rise or
fall in 1888 on the swing,
rhythmic or otherwise, Of the col
lective pitching arm Of their hurl-
ing staff. With pitching. and so
per cent of the effectiveness Of a
team is found on the hill, the
Tigers have enough strength and
balance to make q fight Tor the
pennant. They can easily finish
second with just fair share Of
the breaks. But third place seems
to be the logical position for the
Bang-alls to finish his year.
The loss Of Mickey Cochrane be-
hind the bat failed to help the
Tigers last year, and trading
Gerry Walker to the White Sox
will not help this year to any ap-
preciable degree. Walker might
have been a doodle bug on the base
lines, but the official batting aver
ages of the American League at
test his prowess at the plate. He
was one Of the Is players in the
league who batted in 100 or more
runs last season.
The Tigers have a problem; not
too serious, at third base. A minor
breach there was created by the
trading of Marvin Owen to the
Chicago White Sox. The terrific
batting power of Rudy York makes
up in part, at least, for the loss Of
the dynamic Cochrane.
FIGURES TELL STORY
The Tigers led the American
League in batting last season with
an average Of .292, and likewise
set the pace in the fielding with a
mark of .976.
Hank Greenberg set the pace in
driving runs home, sending 1873 of
his comrades over the pan.
Having garnered honors in three
most important departments of
the game, the Tigers stand as a
powerful and balanced outfit.
Only in the box did they falter.
Lyn Rowe, the Scholboy of 1884,
was Of little service to the team
last year. Tommy Bridges suf-
fered from a curve-ball elbow, and
overwork. Eden Auker, with II
victories and defeats; Roxie Law
son, with 18 victories and Z de-
feats, and George Gill with ii vic
tories and 4 defeats, stood out.
Pat Mclaughlin, subsequent to
his return from Beaumont, won
ten games and lost five for the
Tigers.
SEEK PITCHING POWER
The Bengals will carry 20
pitchers in all down to Lakeland.
By these figures alone, Cochrane
puts himself on record for the
season. Out Of the score of heav.
ers, Cochrane hopes to find four,
or perhaps five, who can stand
beside the proved winners and
make the Tigers a factor in the
race.
Rudy York will be the first
string catcher. He is a terrific
hitter, as witness his performance
last August when he smashed 18
home runs over the fences Of the
league and shattered Babe Ruth's
mark for a single month.
The outfield looms with Pete
Fox, Chet LaabS and Dixie Walker
as the regulars, and the outfit is
nothing better than fair.
The infield Of the Tigers will be
Tecast. Hank Greenberg will be on
first base. That follows just as
Wednesday follows Tuesday. Char.
lie Gehringer, one Of the all-time
greats Of baseball, will be on sec
ond base. Which fixes the right
field side Of the inner works.
At shortstop we find Bill Rogell
aging and covering less ground
with each succeeding season. Ro-
gell last year hit .276 and handled
674 chances for an average of 1858
in 143 games. Too many balls went
through shortstop to suit Coch-
rane, and the probabilities are
that Frank Croucher, a brilliant
youngster who was farmed to To-
ledo last year, will be at shortstop.