Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 142, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 June 1912 — BEST HITTING TEAMS [ARTICLE]

BEST HITTING TEAMS

Championship Pennants Won by Good, Hard Slugging. Counts More In Long Run Than Team Work, Base Running or Inside Play—Some Few Excaptions to the Rule. = Batting is what wins pennants in spite of the fact that now and then some fan or baseball expert will argue that team work or base running or Inside play is the factor that counts more than base hits in the winning of games. The claim is frequently made that the best batting team often finishes behind teams in the pennant race that are not noted for their prowess with the bat. Their argument has been good a few times, but In the majority of cases the club that leads the league in batting also wins the blue ribbon. It can’t be denied that the team that makes the most hits gets the chances to steal the most bases and otherwise takes chances that the weak batting teams cannot. There are, of course, exceptions to the role. The Athletics, winners of -the American League pennant last season, led all the other teams with a club batting average of .294 per cent. The Giants, prospective winners of the National League race, led the league with an average of .271 per cent. rr?" ~u. In 1910 the Giants batted some seven points better than Chicago, yet the Cubs won the pennant. On the other hand, the Athletics won out and led In batting also. In 1909 the batting leaders in the big leagues were Detroit and Pittsburg, both champions. In 1908 Detroit had the best batting outfit in the America and won the bunting, but New York led the Uhfcago_jrennant wlnnera aLthe bat. Detroit led both ways t 01907, but the champion Cubs were third by four points In the National League batting list. Back in I’o6 the Naps carried off the batting honors by a big margin, ,whlle the White Sox, who took off the championship, were absolutely last as hitters, the Naps finishing third. The Cubs, however, led in victories and batting-that season, only to lose the world’s series to the hitless wonders. In 1905 the Athletics, second to the Naps in batting, won the pennant and then lost the series to the Giants, who had led the National League batters. This resume shows that in the last six years four American League pennant winners have also led the league in batting, while in the National League three penhat winners have also been batting leaders, the champions twice being the runners-up in hitting.