The day book., September 26, 1913, Image 10

About The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

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Betting on th'e series is about even,
with a few partisans willing to give
odds on the Sox. Cub enthusiasts,
remembering last year's disaster, are
more cautious.
Honor to Hans Wagner, the Ger
man Pirate, theljrealest batter base
ball has ever seen, or probably will
see under the present system.
When Hans got his second hit off
Humphries yesterday in the Cub
Pittsburgh game he pulled his batting
average up to .300 for the seven
teenth consecutive season, a record
never before equaled.
Wagner started his big league ca
reer away back in 1897 with Louis
ville, under Barney Dreyfuss, for
whom he has played continuously
since. The first mention of Wagner
in the records is in connection with
an average of .344. Prom then until
the present date he has never fallen
below the .300 mark. His second
year was his poorest performance,
his standing being .305. Hans reach
ed high-water mark in 1900 with a
percentage of .380, figures he has
been unable to touch Bince.
Since 1900 Wagner's lowest record
was .320, collected in1910. He ral
lied in 1911 with .334 and dropped
ten points below that last season.
Hans had trouble at the start of the
present campaign, and kept below the
.300 line. He hit with his former
vigor, but the ball always traveled to
a waiting fielder. As the season pro
gressed he began getting his drives
safe, and though the pull has been
hard, he landed in the circle yester
day. Larry Lajoie is the only man who
even approaches Wagner, but the Big
Nap had a break of a couple of sea
sons. Cobb, Jackson, Speaker and
some of the newer stars have regis
tered records much higher than Wag
ner's for individual years, but the test
of their worth, as compared to the
Dutchman, will come as they travel
along the trail. Can they stick above
.300 for seventeen years in a row?
Will their marvelous eyes and high- j
strung nerves stand the strain of
nearly a score of campaigns?
It is highly improbable. There is
but one Wagner.
Mosely, a recruit, held the Mack
men to four hits while the Red Sox
mauled Shawkey ten times. Hooper
cracked three hits.
Another win for Walter Johnson.
He held the Yanks to four singles
and struck out seven. Ainsmith got
a homer and double and Milan spiked
a triple and two singles off the Yank
boxmen.
The Giants got 16 hits andMar
quard .held the Dodgers to half that
number. Doyle got a single, double
and triple; Herzog a double and two
singles. Harry Davis, Athletic coach,
was in the grandstand to get a line
on the Giants. Harry was not pleased
over the power of the Giant attack.
Cravath and Schmidt got two hits
in each game of the Philly-BostOn
double-header. Chalmers pitched fine
ball for the Phils in the opener. Dooin
used 15 players to cop the second.
Arthur Devlin, former star third
baseman of the Giants, has signed to
manage Oakland of the Pacific Coast
League. He will take charge Oct 15.
New York won "the toss at the
meeting of the National Commission
in Philadelphia yesterday, and the
first game of the 1913 world's cham
pionship series will be played at the.
Polo grounds Tuesday, Oct. 7. This
is the third consecutive year that the
New Yorkers have won the privilege
of staging the first game, and on the
two former occasions they were trim
mer for the championship. Pood for
dope-eaters. . A
William Klem and Charles Rfgler M
were named as the National League
umpires ana Tom uonnony ana jacK -
Egan as the American arbiters.
One new ruling is" that in case of
a tie game the contest will not be
played off the next day in the city
in which the tie occurred, but will be
transferred according to the sched
ule. In case of postponement the
teams will remain in the city where