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- EDITLD & W. S FARNSWORTH I
\Jf Mutt Is a Savant, Jest Is Some More Savant :: :: ;; :: ;; ;; By “Bud” Fisher
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Dixie Pitching Averages Are Stupidest in World
••*•’•* v®v •.••%* ••••.• %-•<• •?•%• •>•*? %••<• %•••>
Sport Writers Association Needed to Effect Reforms
|J\ Pri’cv 11. W hit ilig.
r-t-yliE stupidest thing in baseball
I is the pitching averages. The
stupidest pitching averages in
the world arc those of the Southern
league. Hack in the dru k ag<
-onic secretary to President Kava
naugh thought out a. way of de
termining how a pitcher should get
credit for tic work lit did in win
ning a ganic. And ever since lids
method has stuck—not because it
was a good one (for it isn't): not
because it contains sin iota of hu
man intelligence (for it doesn’t);
not for any reason in tile world ex
cept that nobody lias bothered to
change it.
In the American league they have
had for years unnumbered a bet
■er way of figuring pitching uver
iges than the Southern's, but Ban
Johnson has gone that one better.
He has abolished entirely the old
scheme of ranking pitchers by the
games they (and their supporting
reams) win and lose. Instead he
will, before next season, devise a
system which will show how many
hits or how many’ runs a pitcher
allowed per Inning or per game.
I’ll is will afford a fair method of
measuring pitching efficiency.
rp HE idiocy of the Southern
* league's system of figuring
gamer- won and lost by pitchers and
the unwillingness of the league to
bother to make a change brings i
out strongly the need in this league
of a baseball writers association.
There would have been an asso
elation of this sort long ago ex
cept for one fact, w hich Is that the
ii.iteball writers never get together
in large enough numbers to justify
a meeting
It D possible, however, to work |
out a pretty efficient organization
which should hold meetings and
transact business by mall. About
seven-eighths of the time the
Southern league does its business
by wire. There is hardly a day I
during the season when -ome mat
ter of waivers, rules or some con
stitutional fol de rol isn’t on the
wiris. Tin Southern league could
l:>e mighty well run without a
meeting oftener than once in fifty
years. The honest truth is that the
Southern would have been a lot tau
ter off if it hadn’t held a lot of its
meetings.
But. anyhow f tin* Southern
league tun be run by wire, why
• tio't a Southern League Baseball
Writers association b- tun l»y mail?
Tile answer probably Is: it tan
Anyhow , a test will soon be made
• «
pHE point is in organization of j
" this son could put n deni of
uiessur. on th. South) u ■ ague to
think over this matter of pitching
averages. If the league stopped to
think on. , p would thereupon d
reel .Presidon- Kat.uiaugli to de
vise u new and a fair naans of
kv- ping pitching ateragts
A lite organization of baseball
writers might noi stop here, tint if
they would oven accomplish this
they would not liavi lived m vain
• • #
'p HE thank- of 11 basebal play
< rs will be due to the man who
det ises some really Intelligent way
of figuring pitching : verage-. Even
Hun Johnson ba.- be. n forced to ad
mit that h< hasn’t devised it per
fect method yet and w hen Uy ion
Bancroft gives in that l e s shy of
perfection he has indeed tackled a
difficult problem.
Baseball magazine.- and sporting
pages save been full of the mat
ter for a year or so, and as yet no-.
b<.< | IU s r.-ached mtlsfaetory
conclusion, a mo el method of tic
urmg ri'- .c-o. . ffi.-tf., . w;1 ,
i
cent.ly proposed by h New York inau I
in Sporting News, as follows:
1
Taking up the subject of a sys
t» in of averages for pitchers that
w ill do the twirlers as near exact
justice as is possible and give the
fans an idea of their true worth.
Henry Harwich, of New York, of
fers a suggestion and presents a
few figures to show how it works
out Harwich’s idea is that the
percentage of runs allowed by a
pitchei should be balanced with
a team's fielding average, the idea
being thus to reach a basis of runs
fur which the pitcher is really re
sponsible.
< me fault that may be found with
this system at the outset is that
Harwich uses the season’s field
ing average of the team to reach
ids basis of run for which a giyen
j pitcher is responsible. It must
occur to him on second thought,
that the team has not fielded at
the same per cent behind each
pltejier. if ids work is
to be carried out to an exact
science it would he necessary to
take the fielding done behind each
pitcher in each game, or even
part of a game in which a pitcher
worked.
The Harwich letter:
Having read an article on pitch
ing axerages. I thought over the
subject, and would like to sub
mit the following system of grad
•ng pitchers, aeeonling to their
run-preventing efficiency, which
would represent their true value t«<
the team. This system would take
into account th< fielding avuragt
of tlie team behind that particular
pitcher.
Excluding errors, men get on
first base bj safe hits, hit by
I pitcher, and bases on balls, and a
certain percentage of them score.
Now, this percentage will b«-
greater or less, according to the
ability of the pitcher If hr had
[
Here Are Five Greatest Heroes of 1912
Thorpe, Wood. Ritchie. Brickley, Mathewson
HERE a.v rib tl\< gieatrst uvfoCH of 1912 sportdom: Jim Thorpe, of
i'ai-lisle, .inks fit si. Not only did he shim- in th.- intercollegiate
H ick m< ct and win th 11-> unci championship of the A. A. (’..
but be also won the penlath don and decathlon at the Stockton Olympics
and was the greatest point manufacturer among the college football
players. Joe Wood slnuihl eome next. Hr made a remarkable record as a
pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and contributed largely to the victory of
the American leaguers in tin world’s seri-■ Willie Ritchie, by his vic
tors ov< • k< W 'Z.if n th< ba fdi In lightweight fistic crown, mds
in third place. Charley Brickl y. ihe great Harvard halfback, is entitled
I io fourth place because of Ins wonderful kicking and all-round playing,
while Christy Mathewson also g< > p’mc in tin ba’l of fame by virtue of
: his sterling work against Boston in the World s series pitching that was
all tin- mon emarkabh by ; • -a of Mathvwsuii ha ving been a big league
inirler for eleven years.
BIRMINGHAM THREATENED
WITH 2 GAMES SAME DAY
BIRMINGHAM. Dec. 26. Her, s a.
pu tty howdy-do:
Birmingham's two bigg, si football
games are .-ehedulcd for the inn day
in 1813.
tn the announei mem oi Sewanee's
. rootball schedule for next lull appears ti
I game with Alabama In Birmingham for*
November I
X short while ago aimoimcemeu was
made that Kuburn ami Vanderbilt had
agreed to play In Birmingham Novem
ber 15.
Isn’t thi« enough to make any wild
ey cd football tan;.tit sit down on the
curb and scalp himself'.’
It means that the ithletic associa
tions of four institutions Auburn. Ala
bama. Sewame and Vanderbilt must
get together, for the two games on the
same day for Birmingham would hardly
be tlu thing It means that one of
the games will have to be moved up a
bit and of coirs.- it should hi played
In Birmingham.
PAPKE MAY MEET M'GOORTY
< 'll 1< ’ XGt\ De- 26 Billy Papke, who
elain s • middleweight championship of
-he w rl- aid fiddle Mtloorty. who does
ditto. agree. saying kind words about
each '.till r. an th. i» -a prospect of s
mat.-! l . ..a ,
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.TIIERSDAY. DECEMBER 26. 1912.
1 1.000 per cent fielding behind hinn
Taking Walter Johnson for an
j < xumplc, we would compute his
| efficiency thus, based on his rec-
' ord:
Number of men reaching first
bus** while Johnson is in box:
Hits 25’J. Hit batsmen 16. Bases
on balls' 75. Total 851, reaching
first base through Joimson’s
agency. Divide this by number of
runs scored on him. R 9, and we
have .254. which w r ould be the
percentage *»f runs to men reach
ing lirst scored against Johnson.
Now, let us assume that every
team fields 1.000, then all pitchers
would be equal in the matter of
fielding support behind them. If
this were the case we would mere
ly subtract .254 from f.OOO, but
would have: .954 less .254, or .700,
which would represent Johnson's
run preventing efficiency and true
value to his team. According to
this basis we have this grading:
K
c
x x
x'S C z
z ~ s - -z? .£ A Z
"z Tie 04* t: o i-C /
= - G Cq u TS'C -
U Si
Johnson 351 89 .254 .954 .700
j R. Collins ....236 65 .275 .957 .682
blank 323 90 .279 .958 .679
Wood 361 104 .288 .957 .669
Walsh 428 125 .292 .956 .661
Gregg 342 99 .289 .953 .664
Render ... .203 63 .310.958.643 .
diskette .162 50 .309 .95.“. .644
«• Brien . .337 107 .317 .957 .640
Dilbuc333 10G .318 .949 .63)
• ’ashion2sß 84 .326 .954 .628
Baumg’ner .312 101 .324 .947 .623
Ha 11252 85 .337 .957 .620
Groom .. . 386 133 .345 .954 .609
Bedkni .264 93 .353 .957 .605
(’o. nibs 331 120 .362 .958 .595
Now. wr all know that Bender
and Gregs pitched better last year
than this. This system empha
• x( . this strikingly. Bender’s av
ct ixe being .710 and Gregg's be
ing 7C.. Johnson’s was .637.
I
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BRAVES WON'T WAIVE ON
M'MILLAN: MAY GET HIM
■ NKW YORK. Dec. 26. Tonin i .Mc-
Millan may not play with the New York
Highlanders this year probably rill
not. But he will nevei get out of the
big '.-agues, IV Liu e Tommy looks
'w in worth i u waiver price to George
Stallings. manager of the Boston
Braves
rib olio day til. Yankees tried to
pass McMillan l>,.ek to Rochester. Tin
attempt failed, however, for the Bos
ton Braves refused to waive.
It fs possible that a deal may b. fixed
up before long which will allow the
Atlant:, lad to go to Boston.
ST. PAUL TRYING TO GET
RID OF CHAS. HEMPHILL
Lol ISV 11.LK. Dee. 26.- The St. Paul
team evidently isn’t tickled with its
purchase of Charley Hemphill, deposed
Cracker manager, for within the last
day or two th. Saints offered the for
mer star to th. local team. Thi offer,
i.owev. .. was turned down, along with
th. tender of La. ry McLean. The ’oral
’.lb - no .-> t..- o’ ><
FOOTBALL STARS
- ON MNDERBILT
OOINTET
rpHE Atlanta .Athletic club will
I play its third game of the
season Saturday night, and
tueii opponents will be the Vander
bilt boys, who eome highly touted.
All there is to say about the game
is that it will be a bearcat strug
gle and some classy, speedy and
unheard of stunts are sure to be
pulled off by both squads.
The Vanderbilt boys are out for
revenge, for the local lads pur one
across on them in the game last
season. Atlanta won, but they will
clearly remember that they had to
go some to do it.
Vandy is made up of a bunch of
celebrities, who have won for them
selves a. name on the football grid
iron this season. Following are the
men to compose the team: Nelson.
' captain; Enoch Brown, star end
and captain of 1913 team; Buddy
Morgan, the hefty center; Swafford,
the big guard, and Tom Brown, the
all-Southern tackle.
\ underbill has always been a
big drawing card in this neck of
the woods, and a victory over the
locals would mean a heap to fheth.
The A. A. C. team has a record
of three straight wins, and they
are going to work their blooming
necks off to annex the fourth one.
A treat out of the ordinary will
be put on during the intermission.
It will in- a tumbling match be
tween House and Francis, both
members of the eiub. The usual
dancing feature will end the night’s
enjoyment.
BASEBALL
Diamond News and Gossip i
Rube Robinson, sent up from the Tex
as league .<» Pittsburg, is spending the
winter in Lloyd, Ark., v.here he and Papa
; Robinson run a general store.
« * *
John Murph'. rhe. Giants' grounds "keep
er, is ]. uttir.g in a few flown beds at
th** Marlin ball ground. The Giants are
such an esthetic lot thev just demand
stuff like this.
>X t tjt
.lake Stenzel, who batted .409 in the
Nati<>nal league in 1893. and not under
.350 for the next three years, is keeping
bar now in Cincinnati.
\ Cincinnati manager must win a pen
nant or quit -pleasant alternatives in
deed. < >’l'ax was tired for finishing fourth
and they didn't pin any medals on the
noble breast of Joe Kellej for finishing
third.
Lee Tannehill was handed SBQ<I as a
present by Charley Uomiskey in lieu of
ns Cub-Sox series money Yt i Comls
kej let late out two months before ibo
series was played.
Aw. let s cut out all this valnmermg
about what to do with the Montgomery
■ franchise, chuck one other club and eu’t
the Southern league to six clubs Will
some other club kimllv volunteer to re
sign, along with Montgomery?
The Louisville club has retuse.' to a.-
eept Lat'r; McLean. The owners say
tin.' are located too near the distillery
district.
BRICKLEY HEADS TEAM
IN INDOOR TRACK MEET
NEW YOltK. Dec. 2S -Charles Bri. lt
lm. the Harvard baseball am! football
star, will head the Crimson squad which
will compete in the indoor tield and track
events to be hel.l here January -1. in' th.
Twent) second regiment armory.
BRITTON WHIPS KEEFE:
GOES AFTER M'FARLAND
PHILADELPHIA. De. .lack Brit
ton. the Chicago lightweight, who
knocked out Tommy Keefe in the second
round last night, renewed his efforts to
day to connect with McFarland in ti e
ring.
COULON MUST REST.
NEVX lollk. Dec. 26 —The physi
cian of Johnny Coulon, bantamweight
champion, has ordered him to tak.- a
complete rest for two montjis because of
i g. r ■al b' oakdown in health.
McMahon Proves Bush-Leaguer; Main Bout a Joke
••• V ~f‘.~ .'•••J.
Preliminaries Take Curse Off Christmas Show
By Sam Bell.
I-) ERHAPS Walter Little, the
Chicago lightw eight, who has
haunted local fight clubs for
nine months for an opportunity to
free himself from the odium of his
one-time fiasco with Terry Nelson,
deserves another try, after his start
at the Dixie Athletic club last night.
And again perhaps he e-oesn’t.
But let it be said for Little, if he
displayed no especial brilliancy or
powerful punches he really didn't
have a chance. Frank McMahon,
his opponent, came to Atlanta with
a bunch of newspaper clippings and
some fighting tojrs. If he had any
thing else it was not in evidence
last night. However, he had a crop
of long hair, carefully parted in the
middle, which he seemed to cherish
a great deal.
McMahon was a whipped man
when he stepped out of his corner
in the first round. If he knew what
to do with his hands his heart
beats were too faint to awake re
sponse. Little sent him crashing to
the floor for the count of nine after
about two minutes of the first ses
sion had gone, with a left to the
head that would have made a kid
like Spider Britt laugh. After that
McMahon hung on for dear life,
rarely taking a chance with Little’s
rather wild but vicious haymakers.
Little Was No Marvel.
The best that can be said of the
mill is that it was an exemplary
stalling match. The worst that
can be said for Little is that he
failed to show any real disposition
to stow the Kansas City pug away
until the sixth round. Even in the
sixth McMahon’s tell-tale heart
helped Walter mightily with his
finishing touches, although Little
t had sent in plenty of steam in the
fourth and fifth rounds, succeeding
in bumping McMahon’s right eye
badly, with a full-blue closing ef
fect.
McMahon's best tactic was the
good old hug. of strategy he dis
played none. After the first round
he braced a little and in the third
showed his best.-He dared here to
exchange body punches close in
and surprised himself with coming
out of the clinches with an edge.
Perhaps this fact heartened Mc-
Mahon a bit. for he took a fairly
large lacing In the fourth and fifth
and went down for the count after
a volley of right and left swings
which landed promiscuously in the
sixth. The blow he took his final
brodie on was a fight that Little
banged on his ear. If he wasn’t out
physically he was mentally, so he
was justified in staying down.
if Little can forget a penchant
for fancy stuff, and acquire a keen
er sense of direction for his rights,
he will doubtless come back to the
heart of Atlanta fans.
The semi-windup, a clean-cut.
hard-fought mill between Tommy-
Lavelle and Eddie Hanlon, in which
the decision wont to Lavelle, and
the ’third preliminary, between Al
Smith and Spider Britt, in which
Smith triumphed, were tlh night's
real bouts. \nd they were slashing
TEN EXHIBITION GAMES
SCHEDULED FOR DALLAS
DALLAS. TEX.. Dec. 26. -Joe Gard
iner. owner of the Dallas Giants, has ar
' nounced the pre-season schedule in Dal
| las with the big league teams next spring
The games:
1 March 1. 2 —New York Nationals
| March 8. 9—New York Nationals.
Mail'll 5. 16 Philadelphia Americans.
March 22. 23—St. Louis Americans.
March 29. 30- New York Nationals
REDS CAN’T GET BROWN.
C HICAGO. Dec. 26.—The announce
ment of President Murphy that the
Chicago dub has a string on Mordecal
Brown, who was released to Louisville,
will probaldy end tin efforts of .Man
ager Joe Tinker to -rcir-e him for the
Cincinnati club.
affairs from gong to gong—four
teen rounds of consistent give and
take.
Lavelle and Smith proved the
surprises—especially Smith, for La -
velle has been a preliminary card
• here for months, and has always
made more than good.
No fighter coming to Atlanta has
improved as fast under the eyes of
local fans as Lavelle. He sur
prised even his most ardent admir
ers last night with his cool, heady
milling and his lightning-like
rights. He shaded Hanlon in every
round save the sixth, and in the
seventh and especially the eighth
he administered a lacing that would
have caved a smaller man.
Tommy showed a marked faculty
for opening up his opponent with a
straight left and for catching him
coming in with a hard right that
went either to the body or the
head. He fought best at long range,
outpointing Hanlon consistently. In
the infighting Hanlon’s weight told,
but he did not shade Lavelle save
in the sixth round, when he rocked
Tommy's head with right and left
hooks.
Lavelle announced that he would
COBB, JACKSON AND
BAKER RETAIN HONOR
HAVE you ever stopped to
think how few players lead
the batters in their respect
ive positions for two seasons? Only
three players who were top-notchers
in batting in their places in the
American league hi 1911 again led
last season. They were Tyrus Cobb,
who led the league in batting; Joe
Jackson, of the Naps, and Frank
Baker, the Athletics' star third
sacker. These were the only ones
who topped their positions twice.
The uncertainty of baseball is
shown in these figures. Not that
the players who topped the batters
in tln?ir positions are the best in
the league, as. there are several
players in the American league out
side of these who are better than
tiie leading batters. But this was
the best batting team in the league
during the 1912 campaign. One
player who topped the swatters in
his position in 1911, was not even
in the league the last season.
"Scoops" Borton, the star first
sacker of the White Sox. who is
picked by many to be one of the
leading first sackers In the national
pastime next season, was the star
hitter among the first sackers in
1912. He batted .371 in the latter
part of tin- season. Jack .Mclnnis,
of the Athletics, the smallest initial
station guardian in baseball, led In
1911 with .321.
Carl Cashion, th- pitcher for the
Senators, whom Clark Griffith tried
to convert into an outfield' r at the
start of last season, led th'- hurlers
in 1911 with a great batting mark
of .324. Joe Wood was the leader
last season with .290, which is a
very creditable mark fora pitcher,
who takes part in about 10 games.
That the best players in the
league are not always the best in
the position Is shown in the catch
ers. Oscar Stanage. of the Tigers,
who is Hie best mask and phd man
in the junior league, never came
close to hitting well. Jack Lapp
led in 1911. while Ted Easteriy. who
played half the season with the
Naps and the other half with the
White Sox, topped the stickers in
1912. Both batted above the .300
mark by a goodly margin, but
would not be picked on tin all-star
team of the A. L.
Two great players, and no ora
will deny it. wvie tin* leading bat
■ ■ - ni« »nu !hi s| i.
tight the winner of the main bout,
and if Little is put on with him,
Walter’s work is cut out for him.
Al Smith Wins Again,
Al Smith, a 120-pounder from
Jacksonville, who made Myer Pries
quit in the second round a week
ago, took the measure of little Spi
der Britt in six rounds. It was in
the sixth round when Smith, willing
at all times to swap punches, shock
ed Britt with a series of blows. The
Jacksonvillian took the fight in his
hands.
Britt’s directors claimed after the
mill that Spider weighed in at IOS
pounds; but. while easily five o:
six pounds lighter than Smith. h<
looked fully- 115 pounds. He foughi
his usual hard-hitting, well-direct
ed fight, and gave Smith a ham
mering that he w on’t forget.
Smith is a fighter of the Rattling
Nelson type, without much but a
punch and an abnormal ability to
assimilate punishment and an over
weening confidence in himself. He
bored in on Britt at all times, save
in the third round, when he held on
a minute to save himself for a
knockout.
in the past tw o seasons. Eddie Co -
lins. of the Athletics, had t great
year in 1911 and was first with
.365. widle Napoleon Lajoie was
the king-pin batter of the pivot
station guardian the last season
with a hefty notch of .368. It's hart
work to pick the better of th
two, as they are both stars of
first magnitude.
The hardest hitting teams in
last two years:
1912. Pet. Position.
Wood . .290. .Pitcher Cashion .-;P
Easterly .311. .Catcher Lapp
Borton . .371.. First base Mclnnis
Lajoie . .368.. Second base.. Collins
Baker. . .347.. Third base... .Bakei
M'agner .274. .Shortstop . ... Elb'rf'l-i Li
Jones. . .294.. Left Held M'lntyn :
Cobb. . .41.0. .Center field... Cobb
Jackson .395.. Right field lacks"" •
Average .340 Average -W’
A good cigarette must
be the purest of to
bacco and most
choice in leaf. Such
■ is Fatima Cigarettes
the popular, mild
Turkish - blend now
smoked universally
■ in this country I
jS “Distinctively Individual