Omaha daily bee., 1907-04-05
RACE IN AMERICAN LEAGUE
st. Louis, Chicago, cleveland Picked s'
Contendeu with Detroit DARK HSTsa
BROwNs, MANY LINK, wI LANO EIRs1
Cleveland Not Wen Managed and sox'
Strongest Points Are COmiskey
aud Their Power 60
Finish.


ball judges. At least. the Browns are gen
orally regarded as among the contenders,
! II not the coming champions. McAleer has |
/ assembled team of batters, not over
! looking the good points Of the other de-
| partments Of the game. And the value OF /
! a batting team is hard to estimate. There |
| is Stone, the best Of all batters; Hemp |
hill, a terror with the stick; Pickering |
! Flick, Delehanty and Yeager, all strong |
/ swatters. These men are enough to run |
any pitcher crazy when they get after |
| him. The Browns will have better field |
| ing team and will be stronger in the box. |
] 1t is a coincidence that two left helders |
of the St Louis Browns, O'Neil of the |
| old Four-Time Winners. and stone Of the
present team, became champion batters.
The American league race this season IL
attracting vide attention. Many fans doubt |
/ the White Soxs ability to land in first |
place again. The race is conceded to be be-
| tween the Sox. the Browns and Cleveland |
! and Detroit is the dark horse. One thing
the sox have which no other team could
have, and that is the greatest Of all base
ball brains to direct them-Comiskey. The |
Old Roman will save them when all else
/ fails. without having II on either the
| Browns or Cleveland In point of actual |
| merit, the Sox are better finishers, and |
| this wins IN any game of life. 1t, together |
| with Comiskeys wonderful management, |
won the league pennant and the worlds
series last year. 1t was the most marvel |
Gus finish in the annals Of base ball. II
George Davis, the old vet, whose head on
the field has been worth so much to the
sox, does not get into the lineup the Sox
will be materially weakened. no matter
how good a man succeeds him. And It
looks as II Davis would balk for good.
New York is weakened in a similar way,
Hal Chase and Jack Chesbro, two stars,
bucking because OF salary Despite all the
hot talk Clark Griffith has handed out about
Chase being back in line he is not back
in line and unless new arrangements arc
made between this and the opening Of the
season. will not play with New York. I'm
less his new pitchers shine Griffith will not
have as strong a team this year as last.
And Cleveland, what Of Cleveland?
Cleveland, which many sober judges think
was good enough to have won the last two
remnants. where will this team land7 It
is puzzle. That 1t is a pennant contender
none can doubt. but with LAjoie,
phenomenal batter and as many think
the greatest second baseman in history
as manager can Cleveland win? Well,
LAjode certainly has not proved his ability
to get the best there is out of this team
Of nearly all stars. The question is. has
LAjoie's managerial instinct changed?
Probably not.
One Of the greatest tributes ever paid
| to q ball player is the silent compliment
that falls upon the shoulders OF old Lave
Gross by the utter failure of Connie Mack
to get a man to take his place, After all
the long, tedious years Lave. With Brother
Monte, was with the Athletics and when
he has gone his place can't be filled! Well.
IL 1t was filed the Athletics could be
counted in the pennant race. It is ex-
tremey doubtful If they will land out OF
the second division.
And what Of Washington Oh, well.
there are some things that simply cannot
be- Fate, inscrutable, immutable, mex
orable and all that sort OF thing, don't you
know-you know. Still. since Brother Joe
has taken hold Of the Senators they may
be able to bend the bow Of tradition and
land at the top of the second division. One
thing is certain, Cantillon will be fighting
! 30 the last. He really has some good
material Mig Perrine and Ganley. Altizer,
Jones and Hickman ought to help OUT a lot.
Now, Boston; what Of Boston. city OF
love. liberty and languor? Boston, DER
whose classic courts whose mantled-
towers, turrets tall and Hill of Bunker
have waved, not only the flag OF the free
and brave. but the flag OF National league
champions many, many times-Boston
can stand It. Somebody has TO finish the
thing, why not BOston2 Yet, while stahIs
godnE weakens the team. there are chances
Of improVemant over last year.
Practice is still the order OF the day at
Vinton street park and morning and after
noon finds the mon hard at IL under the
supervision OF Pa and Captain Buck
Franck With such an energetic leader
as Franck It is little wonder the men work
hard for he Is at it all the time Even old
Joe Dolan has made a change and is work.
ing hard 20 get in condition before the
opening Of the season He works just as
hard IN practice as the rest and when the
practice is over he takes his run with the
others to work up good sweat before
the baths
Nick Altroek' had switched to the other
division. He pitched the game Wednes-
day against Terra Haute which was
nearly won by Bueh Freese, but Nick Is
booked to be In Omaha Friday. just the
same.
The grounds are in better condition this
spring than they have heen for some years
and Pa keeps a gang Of men at work all
the time perfecting them before the open
ing OF the season. All that Is needed is
a good substantial rain 10 wet the diamond
thoroughly. The grass has had better
start than ever before and the big four-ton
roller has smoothed the rough places In
the outheld 70 the great delight OF the
tenders Of those gardens.
Whether the new leather cushioned seats
will be ready before the opening Of the
regular season has not been decided, be-
cause Of several delays. Abe extent Of the
grand stand to make room for these seats
Is completed and everything ready for the
installation of the seats as soon as they
arrive Brother Dave sprung his new and
thick cushions on the public for the game
with the Lee-Glass-Andreesen team last
Sunday. II was too cool for pink lemo
II Is said that McCloskey, manager OF the
st. Louis Nationals. has ANNOUNCED he viii