The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-03
Play Ball N WESTERN
SEASON OPENS TODAY WITH THE
ST. PAUL AGGREGATION
IN ST. JOE
TO PLAY SOUTHERN CIRCUIT
Ryan's Team Looks Good on raper-
Some Managers Fear the Out
come of Games with the
Saints.

Today the Western league season opens
with st. Paul at St joe Minneapolis
at Kansas City, Omaha at Denver, and
pes Moinos at Colorado Spr ngs. The st.
Paul team will go from St Joe to Kansas
City and will then play a series of games
with the Des Moines and Omaha return,
ing home for the opening game here on
May II. All of the Western league towns
are having fine weather and, If no
cyclones drop out of the sky, and the
weather mans predictions hold good
there should not be a postponed game
today. This is one advantage Of OPEN
irs tire season at so late date.
The one topic among the fans. Of
course, is the relative strength Of tile
teams that go to make up the Western
and, strange TO say, very few have been
found VINO agree on any particular team
as a likely pennant winner In one
sense this lack of unity it not strange,
for the Western this year is a compare
lively new organization. Several new
cities have been added to the ciTcuit and
the great majority of the players are
new, at least to ST. Paul
One man who played in Western league
company last year and who knows the
company pretty well is Billy IIulen, an
old faVorite in the Twin Cities. FIulcn
includes the st. Paul team with Mime
apolis and Omaha as the three teams
that will land close to the top in the
finish. OF course, Hulen figures that his
Colorado Springs team VIII win the PEN
nant but he may have another guess.
Hulen and others must not overlook tha
fact that the Western this year, as has
been said before is practically a new
league. Several CT the weak cities have
been weeded out and larger ones sub
stituted This has made possible a bet
ter standard Of players. However, re-
ports from other cities are to the effect
that the Colorado town mas a good team
and one that will play ball.
DENVER GETS ICY NIT.
The Denver team is being roasted to a
brown turn both at home and abroad.
The general impression seems TO be that
the managers of the team will have to
do a lot of wedding and dc 1t quick, If
they expect to keep their team i'll the
race.
Tebeau has expressed himself as con-
fident that the Kansas City team viii
win the penant hands down. In thu no
ore can be found, who is familiar with
the situation, who will agree with him.
Tebeau has gathered up a very likely
looking aggregation of ball tcssers and
they have shown up strong in their bat
ting in practice games, but 1t does noe
stand TO reason that he can at this early
date, figure his team so much better
than the rest. Several Western league
players who know the Kansas City team
pretty we'll do not figure them better than
the tail-end of the first division.
The Nillers, in spite of the fact that
they have lost a lot Of practice games,
look good. They are said to be rounding
too nicely and are batting we'll 1t is the
general impression that they will finish
well up in the race.
The Des Moines team has come in for
good deal of knocking thus far, although
the Towans trounced the Millers hand
somely. A close insp ection OF the scores
of the practice games that Des Moines
has played brings out tho fact that the
aggregation is far from being a slow one
AS the team stands now it should finish
at least at the head of the second d.
vision.
Omaha Is something Of an unknown
quantity. Rourke has been making quite
q few changes in his team and promises
more The kidnapers have shown up
fairly we'll in their preliminary games
Even as they stand, they are good enough
so that several of the managers Of the
otner teams have given them a place in
the first division.
The list Of players whose names up
pear on st. Joe contracts looks like q
good one and the St. Joe team is among
those that will bear watching. McKibbe1
has succeeded in getting hold Of several
good sticlSers in the last few days and
his team Is now in condition to put up
very strong game. 1t seems to be the
impression however that St Joe will not
run one, two, three.