Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-09-10
CRtAIES1 EVER.
Magnificent Squirt For
American League Pennant,
-Four Clubs In Running and All
Have a Good Chance.
Philadelphia Detroit, Chicago and
Cleveland Baseball Mad.

follows:
The greatest major league baseball
race in the history Of s3lc game is now
on and from the way which the four
leading teams have ls1en hanging to-
gethcr for the past two months it Is
becoming increasingly evident that
they are going down to the wire to-
Eether. The finish is now less than
four weeks away and as yet no team
has lead which may be called con-
elusive. 1t will probably be many
years before such a finish will be re-
peatcd, and the fans all over the coun-
try are watching the result of every
game to see where 1t puts the team
which they have picked as winner.
Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and
Cleveland are baseball mad, and it is a
dangerous joke for anyone in these
cities to venture the opinion that
some other club than the home aS-
gregation will win the pcnnant. Phila-
delphia seems to have the fever in the
worst shape, and politics and business
are overlooked in the wild roofing for
Connie Mack's bunch of players.
Cleveland is a close second in 50 far
as the enthusiasm of the pOpulace is
| concerned, but in Cleveland there have
been so many times when the Maps
have been SO close to the rag in The
| last half dozen years that there is feel
| ing that this year also Lajoie's lar
rupperS will be near winners, and no
better than that
But they are roofing hard while the
| field is vet open. Detroit wants the
banner. and wants it badly, and. the
| fact that the Tigers have consistently
remained in striking distance of the
| leaders lends wings to hope of til"
partiZanS in that city. The Chicago
| fans remember the gallant finish of the
SoX last year, and with the assurance
| born of long residence at the city on
| the lake they can see nothing but Chi
cage.
Boston will again this week play q.
big hand in the penant game. and ali
| of the other managers are offering up
libations and other things that the
Pilgrims will do to the Athletics what
| the Pilgrims did to the others except
Detroit For Boston and Philadelphia
play six straight games to fill out the
schedule. The first three Of these
games will he played at Huntington
avenue and the last three at Phila-
dclphia. Mack declares that he expects
| to take five out of the six. and Jim Nc
CURE has remarked that if Connie gets
away with five of the games something
! is likely to happen to the team repre-
scnting Boston in the American League
race The last time the Athletics came
to Boston, carly in the Mcclure regime.
the new manager had the laugh on
Mack. and he hopes that there won't
he any occasion to rub off the smile
he donncd at that time. With tie real
iZation that Philadelphia is playing
great ball ut present, Mcclure can't
figure ont how they will more than
three out of the six games and he was
suspicious they won't do as well as
that.
IF Boston does put it over PEiladcl-
phia this week. there is likely to be
another upset in the race. for All three
of the other teams are now near enough
| to take the lead from the Quaker
| bunch And if Boston does not hold
M its cnd this week it will be goOd-hy
to that fifth place that Mcclure wants
so badly. New York plays six games
with Washington. and if Boston slumps
very badly sixth place will be the best
thing Mcclure can expect.
! Which team can stand the awful
strain of the last dash for the flag?
| Can Detroit stand the pace?
can the White SoX regain The lead?
Can Cleveland maintain tic killing
pace just started?
Can the Athletics repeat on the homo
grounds the long list Of victories which
gave them the lead recently?
Individually Cleveland has the great.
est team in the world. But accidents,
the failure of Bradley. Turner. Clarke.
Stovall and Bcmis to hit anywhere near
their real clip. has kept the team from
! the lead all season.
Detroit leads in team hitting and is sec
| Ond in club fielding. Chicago is last in
! hitting. first in fielding Cleveland is sew
cnth in hitting. fourth in fielding. The
! Athletics are fifth in hitting, sixth in
fielding.
| And despite these facts, the four are
far in advance of the second division
| clubs. Poor hitting has not kept down
Chicago and Cleveland. Smuggling and fine
| fielding has not kept the Tigers in first
place. The Athletics. mediocre in both de-
partments are looked upon with dread by
opponents.
The White Sox have lost Isbell out of
the lineup for the remainder of the sea-
son: the Athletics have lost Coliins-all
| good news for Cleveland and Detroit.
The White Sox pitchers are not in the
best of form. Let them hit the stride
which last year made them terrors and
the team would climb to the lead Of the
league again.
Connie Mack's pitchers are going along
splendidly, especially Bender, Plank and
the mighty, if erratic. Waddell. So are
Cleveland's big three-Joss, Rhoades and
Liebhardt. Upon them will fall the brunt
of the work in these dramatic days at
the finish.
In Detroit. Hughey Jennings has mold
ed a wonderful aggregation out of ma
| terial left him by w. H. Armour He has
instilled into a snarling. fighting crowd
the do-or-die spirit of the old Baltimore
team. and as a result Detroit has proven
the hardest team in the league to beat.
7 It's impossible to pick winner. When
nv, an,.N -. e.