Strikeouts

To a baseball pitcher strikeouts are what homeruns are to a batter--an indication of letter-perfect efficiency. Last week, when 38-year-old Robert Moses ("Lefty") Grove of the Boston Red Sox struck out six batters in a game with the Detroit Tigers, he: i) won his third consecutive game of the current season and the 260th of his 14-year career in the American League, 2) pitched his team from third to second place in the pennant race, 3) benched himself in the lofty niche reserved for pitchers who have passed the 2,000-strikeout mark.

Only six major-leaguers in the long history of U. S. baseball had attained that niche before Lefty Grove: Walter Johnson (3,497 strikeouts in 21 years), Cy Young (2,836), Christy Mathewson (2,447). Rube Waddell (2,369), Grover Cleveland Alexander (2,184), Dazzy Vance (2,030).

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