The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-03-20
CYCLING.
LOOKS VERY STRONG.

The Strength of the Sailers Conceded
Over the Interstate Circait--De-
troits May be Invited TO Do Their
spring Procticc Here. y
All over the Interstate circuit the
concession is made that the Wheeling
team looks dangerous. and that it will
finish In the first division this season.
Here in Wheeling the fans" ore, begin
nina 10 realize the strength /. of the
Nallers ard although they do3not SO 70
the lsug,h Of claiming the peppant-a
oern!clous practice, especlally.in the
month of March--yet they look over the
nske.up of the seven other teams and
size them up with a mind unparalleled
and are unable TO pick out q nine that
looks so strong-or paper. or course
many things can happen before the end
ot September, and st Is even possible
Wheeling Is fated. to finish ut The tall
end, but from the viewpoint of the
prssen, the cranks feel justified IN
dreaming of pennants and "alch-like,"
end certainly the makeup. Of the
team Is sufficient incentive to induce
them to enthuse.
Now that Second-basenian Maizena,
has come TO his senses and signifies his
willingness to Sign a Wheeling contract.
,he lnfield appears to be all right, even IL
Woodock should hold out underIthe in
Huence OF Whistler's wiles. With Mey-
ers or Kihm on first, ManezJion sec
ond. BILLY" Niles on third, and either
Nood!Ock or Bammert at shortIfiefd. the
Springfield iniield OF 1898 will be I'M
proved 10 considerable eXtent-and In
'sS Il Hras accounted about the fastest in
the Interstate. So far as can be seen,
Bamncrt will be as fast as Weodlock
IN fielding, and he Is much stronger at
the bat Even II Woodlock signs now,
he will have to fight It out with Bam-
inert In the practice sedson before the
guardian Of short-hefd is selected by
Lyle.
And the outfield-it is made up OF
fast felders and strong batspen. The
last addition Is Billy Eagle, whose work
In u few games for the Washington Ma
tional League club attracted favorable
Comment last summer. 1t looks now as
though the outfield will be made up of
Dobbs In left, Eagle In center, and LIZ
tie in right. Two other outfeiders are
signed. Durrett, of last years Spring.
geld club. and Jack Donovan, @ local
serDi-professional; both will be given
thorough trials, and II they show up
faster than the trio mentioned they
Till secure 4 Job, otherwise they will
be sent adrift.
In the pitching department the club Is
exceptionally strong. with Dolan. Wells,
Crdbii and Poole, OF last seasons team,
and Harry Kane. OF st. Louis, q south
paw of whom great things are expected.
The quartette landed Springfield In
third place last season, and only re-
moved from the lead by few percent
age points. In the face Of the woeful
lack OF support and encouragement the
team received at tire hands of the
Springfield people. BILLY" Niles says
the team would have pulled down the
rag had the fans at Springfield given
them anything approaching decent
treatment. All OF the four who did such
fine work for Springfield vii! do better
work IN Wheeling. and will have the
aid OF young Kane, who Is touted as q
conner by some excellent Judges OF base
ball talent. In addition. the manage
ment is negotiating for well known
;Tirler, a man whom one would not eX-
lect to see even in such q top-notch
minor league as the Interstate. He
comes high, but President Howell IS de-
terrnlned to land winning agGrega-
ton, and It will not be his fault nor
Lytle's II one Is not secured.
President Howell leaves this evening
!or Mansfield to attend the Interstate
schedule meeting at Mansfield. Mana
ger Jack Giasscock, of the Fort Waynes.
leaves this morning, having received a
telegram calling MIN to the scene In adj
vance Of the meeting. Jack is getting
together promising team for the In
diana town, and 1t Is safe TO predict the
rivalry Between Wheeling and For.
Wayne will be at fever heat this sea-
Eon. ..-
President Howell may invite the De-
trof management TO come TO Wheeling
FOR the spring practice. Won der Beck.
It Is said, has intended going to Spring
field for the preliminary work OF his
team, but he will do we'll to reconsider,
and accept Mr.. HoYell's invitation. The
practice work OF the two teams could be
arranged without difficulty, and 4 SER
les OF exciting contests would doubtless
here.
The Wheeling management has re-
cslyea another signed contract. that OF
Billy Cassaboln, Of Chicago, the catch
Gr urhA ,,-tr1 = T., 10 Il