[Big Six]

Boston Herald, July 21, 1925

RED SOX IN PENNANT FIGHT
Sox and Browns Both Playing Well
Crowds Back at Fenway Park

BOSTON--Typically, we in Boston experiene summer's heat until September. This year, the American League pennant race shows signs of generating heat for at least as long. Heat generated by the sun causes us to seek refuge in the form of electric fans, cool lemonade, and shade trees in the Public Garden. That which results from a pennant race draws us in, and causes us to rush to Fenway Park whenever the opportunity arises.

Once again, as in days of old, the Red Sox are back in the thick of an exciting pennant fight. This time, the adversary is the St. Louis Browns, a club which has steadily risen from the league's basement to knock on the penthouse door.

In 1921, the ramshackle Browns finished in last place, winning only 63 contests. Their victory total has since then climbed from 65 to 73, and last year the Browns broke even at 77-77. That fifth place club finished the season in exactly the same relative position it occupies today: one game behind Bill Carrigan's Red Sox.

The Browns are led by stylish first baseman "Gorgeous" George Sisler, who is batting .317 and is among the league leaders with 60 RBI. A host of fellow .300 batsmen surround him in the lineup, including flychaser "Baby Doll" Jacobson, who stands at .339, and fleet outfielder Sandy Piez, who complements a .316 mark with 43 stolen bases. "There is not an easy out in the Browns lineup," states veteran Red Sox hurler George Dauss.

On the mound, the St. Louis club can throw a fine pitcher at its opponents every day. All-Star Molly Craft leads the American League with eighteen wins and a miniscule 2.53 ERA; fellow midsummer honoree Tim McCabe has been victorious fourteen times; Al Mamaux and Hal Schwenk add 22 more wins between them. Only in the bullpen are the Browns vulnerable, as Win Noyes is their only fairly reliable man.

The difference between the Red Sox of 1924 and this year's edition is easily summarized. This year, they are hitting the baseball. Carrigan's boys have hit more home runs, scored more runs, drawn more walks, and stolen more bases than any team in the major leagues, and only the Philadelphia Athletics have a higher team batting average.

The key to the Bostons' offensive resuscitation has been the explosion onto the scene of sensational young first baseman Lou Gehrig. The young slugger has blasted 21 home runs, best in the American League and only one fewer than Oscar Charleston of the Cubs, the major league leader. Gehrig leads all major leaguers with 83 runs batted in, is batting .321, and has pounded 22 doubles and 7 triples.

"Lou has worked very hard to make himself into a skilled hitter," manager Carrigan praised his young star. "He has learned which pitches he can hit hard, and which ones the pitchers want him to swing at. His eye has improved remarkably." Gehrig's 81 bases on balls are proof of his development.

Gehrig modestly deflected this compliment back to the veterans who have helped him. "I owe a lot to guys like Pat O'Farrell. I hit behind him in our lineup now, so I can easily watch him while he is at bat. Pat never swings at a bad pitch, and I am trying to follow that advice as well."

O'Farrell himself, while perhaps not the player he was in his prime, is still a star, and a key cog in the Red Sox machine. The thirty-seven year old from Stockbridge, who has been a star here in Boston for nearly two decades, can still make pitchers lose sleep at night. O'Farrell is batting a solid .292, has whacked 25 doubles, and can still fly on the basepaths; he has stolen 42 bases and scored 75 runs, numbers that look like those of a younger man.

His double play partner, Ray Chapman, who had lost his job at one point during the disaster of '24, has rebounded with a vengeance. He has raised his batting average over a hundred points, from .244 to .350, and has ripped forty-two extra base hits.

Walt Meinert was picked off the scrap heap, where the Indians had left him, and now he plays regularly in right field for Boston. His .332 average makes one wonder why Cleveland got rid of him.

It appears that Frank Frisch has recovered completely from his calf injury, and has brought his potent bat and deft glove back to the lineup. In his place, old pro Mike McNally filled in marvelously, whacking balls all over the lot.

The Boston pitchers have not, on the whole, been as effective as those toiling for the Browns. Hugh Bedient and George Dauss have thirty wins between them, but Art Nehf and Joe Wood have been inconsistent. Perhaps Waite Hoyt, who has been pitching well as both a spot starter and a reliever, will see more time on the mound down the stretch. Along with Hoyt, Neal Brady has been very effective in relief, as has young Red Ruffing, just called up from Providence.

Two evenly matched teams, each with their strengths, and with just enough weakness to make things interesting, will keep the heat at record levels during the hot summer months to come.